River Run

Saturday was supposed to be productive. I managed to get some paperwork completed and get a shower. Then began unpacking my suitcase and tidying the bedroom a bit. Somewhere in the shuffle, I banged my severely bad right knee on something, just above the kneecap. I went on and thought nothing of it. By the time I got most of the room straightened, I could not block out the pain in my knee anymore. I looked down and there was a lump the size of an egg! Not a little store bought egg either, an XXL double yolk farm fresh egg! I had no choice but to elevate and ice it. There went my productivity... so I resigned to finishing a Nora Roberts novel I borrowed from a friend.

It took a while to get to sleep, as the pain in my knee as well as the rest of my body kept me fidgeting to find a comfortable position. Once I finally reached the point that I could fall asleep, I suppose I was a bit more fatigued than I thought from the festivities and travel to my sister's wedding. When some crazy dreams woke me up, it was 3 o'clock in the afternoon! (I normally cannot sleep past 8am, and that is sleeping in for me) The pain and swelling in my knee was tolerable, and my other normally screaming joints were only a dull murmur. Up and at 'em!

I headed over to the farm house my best bud/boyfriend are trying to remodel, did a little tidying, found a bathing suit in storage there, and waited on him to get home from work. He had a little project to get done for his belated Mother's Day gift - replace the flooring in her bathroom - and I helped get him started on that. I went to feed my goats, he was about halfway finished when I returned. Thinking I should take advantage of how well I felt, I enlisted mama's help in setting up a larger run for our dogs, Timmy and Rattler.

Timmy the Tooth, Rat Terrorist

Rattler "Snattle-Rap" the TN Mtn Hybrid

By the time I was through, I probably should have gone in and rested a little while, but I was still feeling pretty good. So, JT decided we should take his other baby, Brantley, to the river.

Brantley the Alaskan Husky

It was dark by the time we got to Lower Paint Creek, but still a beautiful drive through the Cherokee National Forest. We stopped and let Brantley wade, after carefully checking the stone stairway to the swimming hole for snakes. Our fun excursion was cut too short though, due to a change in barometric pressure from a weather front moving in. Why would the pressure drop cut us short? Every time it does, a piercing pain starts behind one or both of my eyes. If left untreated for more than an hour or two, it becomes what my doctor describes as cluster ocular migraines (see also ocular migraines). Once home, I got my medication on board, but it is still trying to break through, which is preventing much needed sleep. 

I don't tell you these things to invoke pity, I just know there are others out there who fight similar daily battles. For those of you in this war, I have some advice - take one day at a time, one hour even, and learn where you can push through without overexerting. There are going to be times that you overdo it, and you may need more rest than you previously would have needed, or more than other people need. This is ok! When you are dealing with chronic illness that attacks your own body, it is so important to try to prevent further damage for as long as you can, while still having some quality of life. 

In my case, things I need to try to prevent down the road are ankylosing spondylitis, uveitis, and dysautonomia... as well as others. Since I have not been to see any of my doctors recently, it is possible I may already have one or more secondary conditions undiagnosed. I just try to take my own advice, and do something that I enjoy and that gives me relaxation each day. If those are the only things I can accomplish, then sobeit. I hope this can help allay some of the guilt associated with the changes that chronic illness can impose upon us "spoonies."