March 6, 2009
Back for another update...
Here it is, almost spring. It has been a long, cold, snowy winter. I had good results on the medication I was on until just before Christmas when its effectiveness had worn off. After Christmas I went on a newer medication but had an adverse reaction to it so now I am just on a medication for pain until it is all out of my system. I am feeling quite a bit better now and with spring fast approaching I am looking forward to a great summer!
I am looking forward to getting out on the MOTORCYCLE this summer. We didn't get out a lot last year because we had so much rain.
We had our two mares bred in October so we are looking forward to having the foals born in September. It will be fun to have two babies playing together.
I got a NetBook for Christmas and am having a great time with it. It is nice to be able to sit with it on my knee and read and check my e-mail and surf the web and not have to sit at the Desktop. We're still on dial up out here in the country but who knows! Maybe before too long we will have high speed access. I don't think I will hold my breath til then though.
I found a wonderful site last week called SparkPeople that is a diet and healthy living community! I have been reading it for a while and I still have a lot of exploring to do! I hope to make some new friends!
I think that is about it for my update this time.
July 13, 2008
Time for an update I think!
So many things have happened since I wrote my last entry here. ONE OF THE BEST is that my Family Physician has started me on a new medication and as far as I am concerned it is a MIRACLE! I was in so much pain - pain in my hands, up both arms, in my shoulders, across my back, up my neck, down my back - constant, never ending, drive you crazy kind of pain - as well as the transient low back achy pain, knee pain, ankle pain, foot pain, groin pain etc. and headaches... that go with fibro. I was a mess.
Anyway, I got the prescription filled, took the first dose of the medication right away and the next at bedtime and woke up in the morning pain free. I thought I must be still asleep and dreaming! I kid you not!
That was three months ago. I have had a few "not so great days" and I put my back out once - I felt the vertebra move out of place and I couldn't straighten up - that flattened me for about three weeks - and I had an allergic reaction to raw onion (in Chinese Food) that put me under the weather for a week but other than a few aches and pains that are generally related to changing weather and full moons - I am so much better - it is hard to believe I am ME! LOL
I really have to watch what I eat these days. Seem to react more to foods that I have sensitivities too. Sometimes I wonder if it is the food or if they have preservatives or insecticides on them that are the culprits. I don't do well at Pot Lucks that is for sure - because everyone seems to think you need onion in salads to give them "flavour".
I got my hair cut, not too short but it is layered so it curls - I have spent so much time straightening it and blow drying it, it is a treat to wash it, comb it, toss it around, fluff it, scrunch it and go... I could straighten it, it is feathered around my face but I am liking this easy "Doo" way too much.
I have been doing some cleaning too. Things tend to pile up when you aren't feeling the best so I have been sorting and discarding and putting things in File Boxes - labeling them, so I can find what I want and things should be better. Unfortunately, everything is still a big mess right now! I'll get to it. One thing you learn when you have fibromyalgia is patience. At least I have. I have learned not to let the little things bother me and when I feel good I go and do good stuff! Stuff that is fun.
Hey! We bought a motorcycle! Imagine that! A Kawasaki Vulcan Nomad Cruiser with a nice passenger back rest for me! Don has had his M License for about 30 years but hasn't ridden in about 30 years so it took him a few times out to get some confidence in his driving.
My tolerance level is so much better. I hardly lay down at all during the day. I am not sleeping really well but I guess I am getting enough to keep going. The best part is that I hardly ever need to take anything for pain now! WOW! eh?
I checked the number of visits to the "Symptoms of Fibromyalgia" page today and it reads 30,724. I wonder if that can be right??? That is a lot of visits. When I put that list up there were very few lists, whereas now there are probably thousands and thousands. I didn't do a Bibliography or Reference anything because some of the info came from a survey my daughter had done in College and a lot came from things I just picked up here and there. I really started to make the list for myself but then it grew.
The first I had ever heard of Fibromyalgia was in a Family Circle Article in 1991 called Pain, Pain Go Away. There was a book mentioned in the article. I went to the library and got it. It had one chapter on Fibromyalgia but not much information. When we got online I looked up Fibromyalgia and there were about five sites. IMAGINE - HOW many are there now? You don't even know where to begin looking with all the sites that come up.
Regardless, even though it can steal so much from you, I have always found the best way for me to think of it is that I have fibromyalgia and fibromyalgia does not have me... sometimes it almost gets me - but I won't let it.
There seems to be so much research going on into it now too, surely they will be coming up with answers and more approved medications that can help. I think those who get diagnosed early now are lucky. I went undiagnosed and untreated for so long, it had to have a bearing on how severe the symptoms got.
But off of that topic. We have four beauuuutiful Haflinger horses now that Don and his friend Al, who has four beauuuutiful Belgian Horse) hitch and take out in the wagon or buggy in the summer and the sleigh in the winter. Misty was in foal when we got her so we have a gorgeous year old filly now, Mackilee. When they started to hitch Misty and Mylady, Mackilee got quite distraught so we bought a little gelding to keep her company. Nate is a bit older than Macki but isn't a lot bigger. Haflingers are awesome horses. Very gentle, good natured and affectionate. They love marshmallows and peppermint candies. Oh and apples and carrots go well with them too. Another time I will put a bit more information on about them, their colouring and breeding etc. but I am starting to think I am getting ready to shut off the computer now as I have spent a fair bit of time here today.
Until I return, I hope if you have found this site you enjoy exploring it a bit. It you are a knitter you will probably enjoy some of the patterns. If you are looking for inspiration some of the stories in My Links are very uplifting and I think most of them are true. Enjoy yourself and come back whenever you feel like it.
2004/2005
I took my first homepage down some time ago, as I was ill and not keeping it up to date. I was diagnosed at a Diagnostic Clinic last January 2004 with a Mitral Valve Prolapse with severe regurgitation. I had a Mitral Valve Repair with a Cosgrove Ring on August 28 and am still recuperating - so it is a good time to put up a new page.
We got a new German Shepherd Dog in July 2004. She is two years old and has been so much company and fun. We got her from a Kennel not too far from here, where she was the youngest of ten dogs so she is quite pleased to be getting all this undivided attention from us. She loves to go in the truck and loves playing ball. She is especially fond of squeaky toys - the squeakier the better! In the photo above we are wearing our matching bandanas from the Santa Clause Parade. It was great fun!
I wanted to put a page up again with a link to The Symptoms of Fibromyalgia, although I know that there are lots of sites available at present. I am amazed at the number of times it has been visited however, so want it to be available. I am also amazed that up to 75% of all fibromyalgics have Mitral Valve Prolapse. So many of the MVP Syndrome symptoms are the same as the symptoms of fibromyalgia.
I will put some of my other links back up as well. I have dishcloth patterns that I have put up and this winter I have been making hats. I learned how to use circular needles so they have no seam up the back, which is kind of nice. There are lots of great patterns online but I sort of devised my own, to work with the size needles I have and the yarn, I have been using Red Heart, so I will post them too. They are all really easy. "Bette's Hats" link on this page has pictures of all the different ones I have tried.
With circular needles you do not turn the work so it comes out in stockinette stitch just knitting. For the hats with ridges you purl. You just have to be sure your work does not get twisted on the first couple of rows. It works well if you pull the Cast On tail through the first stitch on the needle. You can pull your work together tightly then and sew the tail in neatly. If you find something in the pattern that doesn't seem right, please let me know so I can fix it.
I have made a few matching scarves and some two needle mittens but find I have to pay more attention when I am knitting mittens with the counting involved. I am a lazy knitter! Scarves are actually rather boring to knit. You can knit a hat in an evening easily while watching TV or whatever.
So have a look around. Check out Teqniques With Theresa for using Circular Needles. Her instructions are super!
I have added some Christian Inspirational Sites and will update the pages that I had up previously and get them online again.
HAPPY KNITTING! Happy Reading!
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