Truth as I see it

I have had too much going on physically. I am overwhelmed and I have been trying to be strong not just for me but for everyone else. Today during a therapy session I touched back to my childhood and revealed where it all started------- In a hospital getting poked and prodded. Having my privacy invaded and ignored. It started when I was being told " be a big girl, don't cry, be strong". It was my mothers voice.  My experience started in 1964 and that seems like a million years ago if you look at today's medical environments. There were visiting hours and lots of rules. There were wards rather than rooms and a very cold sterile environment. Procedures were not explained to me I was told what to do but not what to expect. When I was eight I had both an upper and lower GI. The x-ray attendant was unkind and impatient which resulted in quite a mess. It just gets worse but now the picture is painted. I think we all look for something we have control over in experiences...

I just started the book Choose Joy which is very popular right now. It is made from blog posts Sara Frankl wrote before she died of a disease that is ten times more horrendous than anything I have to deal with. That is intimidating. I have sometimes complained of the low numbers of Christian bloggers who keep it real when it comes to chronic illness and pain. I have prided myself on the many coping tools I use. I have grown in my faith and praise Jesus so much more than ever until I have a 10+ pain day and then where is my faith? I realized as I ended the first chapter it's not about comparisons. I am reminding myself of what I say in my post Worst thing   on my other blog but it applies here also. What ever your worst symptom or pain  level is or has been, it is your worst thing.  It is the place where hope is losing and fear charges in. It is full of doubt and confusion and I believe not from God. It is what we try so hard to stay away from. Sometimes a new sympto...

Such an excellent post by my friend Kim at Grace is Sufficient Making decisions . I printed this nugget and will put it in my office to be a reminder. Yesterday was one of those valley days for me and if I had been pressed to make a decision it would not have been a good one. Sometimes we just need to ask for time and we need to pray. Prayer always helps to calm me and remind me I have a God that is greater than my pain and my bad day. He will work all things out for His glory! Kim is also doing a book club on "Choose Joy" written by Sarah Frankl - a christian woman with chronic illnes and Mary Carvers. I have never done a book club before but after reading her posts I am getting the book. Father you are amazing how you use others to give us your blessings. I want to lift Kim up to you today and ask to ease her burden and give her rest. She is such a precious friend to me and I appreciates that she uses some of her valuable time to reach out to others. Lord let this post t...

Can't believe it's time for double fives already! Starting a few white hairs coming though so no denying it. This last year has been another one full of change, acceptance and growth. Wouldn't want things to get boring! All in all it has been a year full of good memories and time well spent. I love Jesus even more than I ever have.  Michael and I are in a good place, a little bumped and bruised but happy and healing. My kids are living healthy happy lives with good people in them. I officially retired from nursing and am just grateful to have done it as long as I did. My favorite past time is coloring. I have been coloring to relax and bring calm in to my life for a long time.It is a positive memory from my childhood and comforts me. Now that adult coloring is popular I have more choices of what to color. I really like gel pens they make it easier on  my wrist. I pray for the person I am making the picture for while I am coloring, so it serves a greater purpose. ...

Had a very interesting experience last night. After seeing a podiatrist about my ankle we saw a man waiting for a cab with his foot wrapped and he looked discouraged. He asked us for a ride to the other medical facility 1/2 mile away, that seems so far when your unable to move yourself. It took us less than 5 minutes to take him. Turns out he was injured riding a motorcycle and it almost severed his foot. Here I am fighting for an amputation and he is fighting to save his foot. I know the issues don't line up but the thread of having a foot that doesn't work do.We both want to be pain free and as mobile as possible. I almost felt guilty for my perspective but reminded myself that he has not been dealing with this pain and foot issue for very long. Mine has been 25 years now. Not as bad as it currently is but repeated attempts to "fix" it have failed. I long for the day it is not attached to my body and other CMT'ers speak the same and are encouraging." It isn...

I hesitate to share this kind of day because I know there are some struggling with even more than I am. It is truth though and that is what I committed to when I started this blog. Just hear God's voice and promises in your life and believe in Him no matter what. Where are you Lord? The road ahead is not clear and it seems uphill. I haven't the energy to travel it alone. I am not even sure I can make it with you carrying me.    Inner strength-blog  I am so exhausted and feel like I am inside a fish bowl watching life go on with out me. The doctors are overwhelmed by me how can I expect them not to be? My body is screaming from the inside. Yet if I were given a choice that I could be healed of pain or of exhaustion it would hands down be exhaustion. I can ignore the pain better if I am up and about or can I? I have persevered through all kinds of pain my whole life. Lord do I have to choose? Can it be both? I look to you- Whitney Houston I keep focusing on ...

In July I was feeling tired probably from my trip to Colorado I told myself. Having CMT carries the danger of blaming any health related symptom on the CMT. Also because of CMT I have pushed myself hard my entire life. The kind of pushing a runner does to get through the marathon, beyond what your body tells you is  possible. This is not compatible with low thyroid however. So as we began the preparations to move I was pushing myself. I increasingly became more and more exhausted.  We were in the house just a few days and I had on of the worst UTI's I have ever had. The pain went away with medication but I was flat. All of the life sucked out of me. I returned to the doctor's office insisting that there was something else wrong with me. "are you depressed? It could be the fibromyalgia" were the comments I received from a doctor I had not ever seen before. Blood tests don't lie and are not usually subjective so I insisted on some. There was something wrong- low ...

The other night I left my computer open to move up the chair to the desk and I accidentally hit some buttons and the next thing I know it’s saying that it’s ready for dictation and I didn’t even know that I had dictation on this computer. I just recently purchased this notebook that October of last year when the screen on my old notebook died. It would’ve been great to discover that when my arm was in a brace for six weeks but I’ll take it now because I’m having such severe shoulder pain I can’t type. I don’t even really know how to get there to give it a shot. Yesterday was a day from hell pain wise.   Seriously one of those days when you realize nothing is worth bearing this pain. I had three days of it this week. I guess it was a flare of the fibromyalgia which is disappointing because I blame my fibromyalgia on Colorado. This is the third time since we’ve lived here which isn’t bad I guess. In Colorado it would be three, four, sometimes five days a week. Betwe...

Lord it has been a rough week so much pain so much weakness hard to put my head in a good place. You have put great people in my life who are encouraging me including a friend who suggested I get a book on tape and it has arrived so I plan to start listening to it. Is called the Power of positive thinking by Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. I saw a movie made about him and it really spoke to my heart. It is mostly about you God and being sure of who you are. How to rid yourself of self-doubt and free yourself from worries stress and resentment which are all things I am obviously working on. I do believe that you love me and some day's, that's enough. If I don't write because of the pain and then I just have to realize that even writing just a little bit is better than not getting my thoughts down at all. Sometimes I have to change my idea what my blog has to include it doesn't have to be fluffy or nice or pretty it just needs to be real in this week this is all I have to off...

    I found this great list of Mothers day ideas and wanted to share it with you. Help the people in your life learn how to help you. This is from my friend Kim and her site is Grace is Sufficient 10 Great Mother’s Day Gifts for the Chronically Ill Woman E ach year my husband and kids ask what I would like for Mother’s Day. To be honest, they usually come up with the best gifts all on their own. Here are a few great things I’ve either received or would like. I bet you can relate! Here are 10 Great Mother’s Day Gifts for the Chronically Ill Woman A slow cooker with a few ready to go freezer meals for those day’s you’re not feeling well. Having a ready to go meal in the freezer that just needs dumped in a crock pot can truly help on those days when you’re not up to cooking. A pillow for the bathtub. Hot water therapy is recommended for a number of chronic illnesses and chronic pain conditions. Why not have a tub pillow to allow y...