Scattered Thoughts . . .

It has been warm the past two days and today is looking to be a beautiful, sunny, warm spring day too.  I had planned to utilize the good weather to start working on things outside where sawdust is not an issue.  This week is looking good for that and I have a bunch of small projects that need to be accomplished.  Actually, I've been waiting months to be able to pull out woodworking tools to accomplish a few things. Unfortunately, once again, my health is being a bit uncooperative.   My ankle is still healing.  Sheila and I wandered outside yesterday to take down wreaths and Christmas lights.  I stepped up on the first step of a stepladder and quickly realized my ankle was still in no condition for climbing a short stepladder.  I instantly fell off and onto unlevel snow on the ground.  This hurt both of my ankles again setting me back a couple of days.  I have no need for my cane now but getting around is still a bit painful and slow-going.  I'm taking small steps and taking th

The past few days, Sunday through Tuesday, have been spent recovering from a busy day over the weekend.  Whenever I use a lot of energy, my health really suffers and it can take days or weeks to recover. This past Saturday was a very busy day for me and I used a lot of energy which was compounded by missing my much-needed daily nap. Even on a good day, I need to lay down for a few hours every afternoon. That never happened on Saturday though. So... what happens if I wear myself down? The best case scenario would be that I am simply fatigued at an overwhelming level for a few days. This fatigue makes just showering or cooking for myself impossible at times. Sometimes the fatigue gets so bad that walking to the other side of the house is a daunting task. Even reading can require more energy than I have to use! Worst case scenario would be that in addition to the overwhelming fatigue, my overall health suffers significantly resulting in breathing difficulties, dizziness, cognitive d

Like most days, I had a plan for this morning.  It was an extremely simple plan, but I had a plan...  1.  Get up out of bed as soon as possible... 2.  Take my cocktail of morning medications... 3.  Start a load of laundry... 4.  Shower and shave... 5.  Get dressed... 6.  Eat something small so I don't stress my body unnecessarily and run out of energy any sooner than my health dictates... 7. Start the car and clean off the snow (Sheila cleaned off the snow this morning before heading to work so my car was good to go)... 8.  Drive to town to pick up a refill prescription (took the last pill last night)... 9.  If I still have more energy, then try to tackle a small project in the house (I still need to finish that fireplace project)... Well...  I only managed to get to number five, "Get Dressed", before running completely out of energy.  So, here I sit, completely spent for the day simply by getting out of bed, starting a load of laundry, showering and s

In a previous blog post, I briefly mentioned "The Spoon Theory" which accurately, and yet in an almost heartbreaking manner, describes how I must manage my energy each moment of every day. This spoon theory was written by Christine Miserandino who struggles with Lupus.  In this case, the illness is irrelevant. What is relevant is the fact that most chronic illnesses sap all of our energy and we must figure out the best way to manage and minimize this problem in order to "live", not just "survive".  Although I have always struggled in finding the best way to describe this ongoing problem to family and friends so they can accurately understand my now often flaky behavior, Christine has concisely and eloquently found the words to graphically describe this struggle in energy management in her "Spoon Theory".   Before you continue with what I have written here, I urge you to read Christine's "Spoon Theory" so you will understand