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ENUFF81020's Recent Blog Entries
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Friday, September 17, 2010
Hi there,
Nonsense is a great word. In the reading program that I have been given to use, they spend part of the time teaching the kids how to read and write nonsense words. I asked each group of children if they knew what nonsense meant and I got some interesting replies. Some of them came close and thought it had something to do with thinking. We had to discuss the word sense and what role the senses have to do with thinking and thenwe added the prefix "non" to that and I hope some of them understnad it a bit now.
OK, I am off on a tangent. I could go off on many. I am not myself and I am really full of a lot of weird tense energy. I am afraid to use my pain medicine becasue I don't need any other episodes at school. I cannot stand this awful burning pain in my right shoulder that is moving in on my neck and covering more territory. (Burning pain often is an indicator of arthritis...) I have tried sleeping in a different place than my comfortable old recliner where I have slept for years because I cannot lie flat with my back issues. I have tried a few different pillows and neck supports as well--one did okay, so I am going to try it again. I am really needing some relief.
I am pretty frustrated over my shoulder issues becasue it is now affecting my back. I am having trouble walking with my walker becasue of this grr-#$%$#&*## shoulder pain and I have everything out of whack. I called the ortho this morning since it has been a wek since my EMG to find out what the test showed and what surgery is in my future. The ortho's nurse wouldn't let me talk to the doc becasue she said they didn't have the test results yet--and told ME to call the neuro whatever specialist and ask him to have the report faxed to the ortho. (Please note that cell phones don't work in the newe school building, so I am having to try and duck into the lounge and make calls in between my reading groups and it isn't a matter of making a phone call. I have to get an empty line and then the specilsit's office put me on hold immediately when I called. I am going to start REFUSING when they answer the phone and say, "Good Morning. Dr. Joe Blow's office, do you mind if I put you on hold?") Anyway, that guy's office insisted that they did fax the reports to the ortho and I had to call the ortho back. They again said they didn't have them, so the other guy's office agreed to fax them again--and here I am, waiting another day for any kind of information about my shoulder. If I could get some uninterrupted sleep and be able to hold onto my walker so I could walk at work, I could say "Thanks and I'll manage." It is taking away my sense of humor and my patience; chronic pain is not fun and I cannot get help or answers due to the nonsense of today.
I'll quit fussing now and thanks for letting me blow off some steam. I've been trying to get to the bottom of this pain since early in August and I am feeling more than a little frustrated as it gets more intense each day. Take care of yourself and watch out for any nonsense!
Gentle hugs,
Sylvia
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Hi everyone,
It has been a really nice day here--I got a morning nap in to make up from all of the sleep I haven't gotten recently. Sometimes it just takes being tired enough for me to sleep through my pain issues. The best part was my time at the pool because although it was kind of busy, it was a wonderful group of well-behaved people who were enjoying their families. I enjoyed watching young children play with their parents and grandparents and the noise level was appropriate for the number of people present. The water was a perfect temperature as well and when we left, it felt a nice summer day. When I got home, my husband was already home from work and he and I ran some errands to buy pet food and people food with our youngest son. It has been pretty quiet all evening--life is good.
I had quite a week medically. I had my EMG test Thursday and am supposed to contact my ortho by the end of the week if they haven't contacted me first. That test is a bit of a stinker--they hooked some "jumper cables" to my arm and some electrodes here and there. He tried it out by giving me some kind of current that made my fingers and arm jump around a bit. Then, he stuck some sort of needle in my arm in different places and recorded the reaction. It wasn't the most comfortable feeling thing ever, but it wasn't excruciating either. I will find out what is up with this shoulder (I hope) and what treatment will give me some relief. Somebody was quite worried about the possibility of surgery, but anymore that is simply old hat for me. My husband and I did some thinking and it is true that I have had over 40 surgeries in the past 12 years, so we are pretty sure we can deal with whatever this may indicate. I don't want to have to miss school for this though--I am working awfully hard with a group of children who really need the help I am giving them.
Friday was the evening for my monthly vitamin B12 injection. Someone shared with me that it is less expensive if you do those yourself, but I think I'm fine with letting the nurses do them. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes during my sixth and eighth pregnancies and gave myself insulin injections, but it has been a while and I didn't do those in my arm--too awkward for me. I think I'll leave things as they are for now anyway. My evening at the pool last night was far different than today. there weren't even 10 people in the pool for the most part--but that guy who drove me crazy earlier this summer was there (for the second time this week) with 5 little kids who he torments and makes scream non-stop. He stays until around 9PM when they are also tired and if I could turn him in for abuse, I would. There is no excuse for his rude behavior--I wanted to tell him that nobody else was really interested int he sound of his children shrieking at the top of their lungs. He didn't throw any of them across the pool, so maybe somebody else got to him.
I wanted to share this short story from an email I received from a friend with you all--that explains the title of my blog:
A woman went to the doctor's office where she was seen by one of the younger doctors. After about four minutes in the examination room, she burst out screaming as she ran down the hall. An older doctor stopped her and asked what the problem was, and she told him her story.
After listening, he had her sit down and relax in another room. The older doctor marched down the hallway back to where the young doctor was writing on his clipboard. "What's the matter with you?" the older doctor demanded. "Mrs. Terry is 61 years old, has four grown children and seven grandchildren, and you told her she was pregnant?"
The younger doctor continued writing and without looking up said,
"Does she still have the hiccups?"
    
Did you expect something more serious from me?
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!
Gentle hugs,
Sylvia
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Hi Everyone,
I took a risk several months ago and volunteered to lead a Spark Class team--and lo and behold, a few months later, I received a request from Coach Jen to co-lead a team. I was co-leader on another team and it was simply a fun time for me--and doing more of what I was already doing. I figured it was going to be more of the same and that I would have fun with it.
Then another thing happened...I was asked to be a co-leader on another of my favorite teams. I saw no problem with this either and got myself going, doing a lot here and there. I am so glad that I agreed to do these things because they have put me in a unique position to get to know some wonderful people at every stage of their Spark program. The only down side to any of this is that now that I am back to work, I don't have as much time to do all of the things I love to do here at SP. Oh wow, again, I have to prioritize... I am beginning to be a little irritated at this fairly inoculous concept.
Spark Teams are a place of fun, support and information. I really love chat threads and I love celebrating things with other team members. It is so much fun to recognize somebody for an accomplishment and to write responses on those threads and fill them with fun emoticons and colors:           It is kind of thought provoking to figure out how to fit some of those little pictures into the words I want to share with others.
However, Spark Teams have led me to Spark Pages--which are people who I share either a team in common with or a common issue or concern in our lives. I really love going to other people's pages. I make sure that I am one of their friends so I can start with their "feed" and check out all of the cool things that person has been doing in the past few days. That feed lets me know how many exercise minutes, spark points, and other information the person wanted to share. I get to click on the "I like this" space and even add a comment to their daily activities. That leads me to the rest of their page--where I can leave a comment of any kind. I can also leave the person a goodie with points I've accumulated doing various SP activities--and along with that goodie, I tend to leave long messages that welcome, congratulate, comfort, support or simply say "hi." The other part of the person's Spark Page I can respond to is their blog section. I love to find happy things to say about blog my friends have written. I also am able to support them, welcome them, commiserate with them, congratulate them, learn from them, ask questions... the list goes on. It is a great way to meet other people on "my schedule." there are so many awesome, thoughtful and creative people here.
Now I know that you all know these things, but I wanted to talk about them because I really love these opportunities--yet I don't get to do them nearly as much as I did, like when I was off work for vacation or when I was on sick leave and not working full time. That doesn't mean I don't get to go to my team pages or my Spark Friend's pages, it just means that I don't get to go so often. I feel as if that isn't really very healthy for me because I get so much from each of you and that is the real reason I am writing this.
I learn so much from my friends here. I have read the information that says we get quality information when we are active in a weight loss community like SP. It is so wonderful to find out another way to do something--or an easier way to do it. I have learned a lot of ways to deal with my back issues from my Spark team and friends. I have learned some recipes that I use and I have learned some ways to plan my meals. Now, I know that I can learn some of these same things here at SP in several other ways, but it is so nice to have a friend help me with the tricky things I need. It also is gratifying to help my friends with something I know as well. Support is a treasure whether I am getting it or giving it. Anything that I can help someone else with reinforces the good things that I can do for myself as well. I love win-win situations!!
Recently, I have had the experience to meet up with another of my Spark Friends. This is the second time I have done so--both have been for special reasons and both times, it has been wonderful. Our online communications move right into verbal ones. We talked and shared a meal and met each others' families...It was fun and I totally recommend working out some opportunity to meet up with a Spark Friend one way or another if you can do so.    
The only down side with all of this has been my recent schedule (as I have mentioned a few times here...) I was so happy to have gotten caught up on my team pages and some of my friends' blogs over the holiday weekend between all of the activities we had. The rest of my week has been like this: Go to work, Medical appointment after work, Get home late and connect with my children and family with their activities, our errands and chores, and dinner, go to the fitness center to get my exercise time at the pool in, get home and go online until I fall asleep. (The laptop and I sleep together most nights--this blog was started when it was still Friday and the phone woke me up with it this morning...) I don't get as much "free time" or "me time" to visit everybody the way that I'd like. I have talked about this before here, because it is so frustrating to me--I love visiting with everyone so much--but time is a finite resource and that is everyone's reality.
  
Back to my new Spark class... I need to thank Coach Jen for the opportunity. Yesterday, I made it to one of the newer member's pages and met another really great sparker who is doing quite well. I had the opportunity to share some of the same type of things I have written here with this SP member and that's what got me to thinking about all of this. So much good can come out of reaching out to someone else--that is a big plus here at SP and we are blessed to take part in such a wonderful community.
Thank you SP for all you have given us--Every time I look, I find something else. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Gentle hugs,
Sylvia
Friday, September 03, 2010
  
Happy Labor Day weekend to my friends--and if you aren't celebrating this holiday in your country, Happy first weekend in September!!
It has been an interesting week. We have been busy, busy people as always. I am sometimes shocked by the amount of things we accomplish--and that is good because I can be rather saddened by the things that constantly remain unfinished around here. Lots of good things are taking place and I am so proud of that. I have a lot to do around here this weekend. It is time to utilize some more of these zucchinis in a baking project--I found a recipe for zucchini cookies here on SP that I want to try. They have walnuts and raisins in them, so they should be yummy and healthy (If nobody eats a dozen of them in one sitting. Don't forget that I have 6 sons and they are all hard-working and hard-playing big guys.)
I am trying hard to fall into the swing of things at school. I am using a new reading program that I am not too fond of--it is all phonics without any connection to actual text and I just don't believe in this kind of thing. However, I am using it within my lesson in between the kids' independent reading time and my guided reading time. I guess that I am thinking if it is in between important lesson components that involve real books that it will not stick out so much. The kids like it, but I am afraid that the reason for that is that it isn't challenging them. My big boss purchased this and believes it will make a difference, so I am giving it my best shot. I can do things that I don't much like--it just isn't much fun for me.
I haven't had a repeat of the spell that I had at work on Tuesday. I hope that cutting one of my meds in half managed this. The more I think about this, the more I realize that I wasn't asleep. It was something a lot deeper that went on. I am a bit offended that everyone in the entire school and beyond is aware of it. I guess when you are in education, the students are guaranteed privacy, but the staff is not. It was embarrassing to me--as my health issues often are. One of the teachers heard from somebody (and I don't remember telling anyone but the person in charge...)that I was most likely going to have another surgery. That was embarrassing to me as well. I hate trying to explain my arthritis issues to others, unless they are people I am close to and who care about me personally. I haven't had the EMG test scheduled yet, so I don't know what level of surgery that this may be. It is my intention to hold out and have the procedure during an intersession so it won't interfere with my work or the students' programs. our fall break is the first two weeks of October and it isn't likely that the medical folks will move fast enough to act on this then. That would be ideal, but I have to have the test and then it has to be "read" with the results sent tot he doc I saw. She will then refer me to the appropriate orthopedic surgeon to take care of my issues--and that doc will determine if it is carpal tunnel or if my shoulder needs a procedure as well. The third possibility is that this is about my upper spine and it will mean a procedure from my neurosurgeon (and that scares me out of my wits.) The real deal is that I cannot lose sleep night after night because of the intensity of this pain in my shoulder. That does little for the quality of life--and if you check out any of the articles on sleep here at SP, well, not sleeping interferes greatly with weight loss.
We have a lot of "celebrating" going on this weekend--2 parades, a potluck picnic, a family picnic/end of the year pool visit, a festival, my daughter's solo at church, and all of our regular stuff as well. It should be fun, interesting, exciting, and satisfying. I sure hope that there is something special going on in all of your lives too. This holiday is about all of us working people--and whether you work at home of at a job somewhere else, you are a part of it. I wish you all a wonderful time because you earned it.
Gentle hugs,
Sylvia
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Hi Everyone,
The computer lost my blog again...You would think I would know enough to copy it before I hit the send button by now.
I have had a lot going on--my plate is overflowing. Yesterday as I was teaching my fifth group of students, something happened. I don't really know what, but I didn't come out of it when they left of when my sixth group came in, until one of the fifth group student's teacher came in and took my shoulder and called out my name. I don't know if I was in a very deep sleep or if I passed out or exactly what. The principals both came in my room and insisted that I go home. I called for my ride and they took me to the nurse for a BP check and the like--it was fine (as it has been even since I went off of my meds in December.) I called my doc when I got home and between us we decided that it was probably the medication I am taking for fibromyalgia and nerve pain issues. When I went back on meds for that, my rheumy prescribed what I used to take, but considering that dose was for me 100+ pounds ago, it is likely what caused the problem. We have cut that in half, so I'll only be taking 300 mg three times a day rather than 600mg and that should take care of the problem. I have a complete physical with all of the labwork coming this month, so if there might be something else going on, we will find it. Anyway, I stayed home last night--I didn't even go to the pool. I thought that I would be able to relax and catch up on SP, but I kept drifting off into a sound sleep for 15-20 minutes at a time, all night long. Something was definitely askew with me.
I also saw the ortho yesterday. They are scheduling an EMG for me to determine the source of my shoulder pain. It appears that there are 3 possible culprits and any or all of them could need a surgical procedure. The easiest of the three is carpal tunnel. It could be something in my actual shoulder. It could be my neck and spine. An EMG will give them info so they know which of my friendly orthopedic surgeons I need to see. I hope that it is an easy procedure and that I can do it during an intersession. I am waiting for their call.
We had an absolutely wonderful weekend. We met up with my SparkFriend, JIMSQUEENIE at the Amana Colonies on Friday evening. We stayed at a delightful Bed & Breakfast with great hosts. They made some scrumptious breakfasts, that's for sure. When we met up, we just started chatting about everything from soup to nuts. Our husbands hit it off quite well as well--we also brought six of our kids and one of our son's girlfriend along with us. We spent Saturday touring the shops and one of the colonies. I walked a lot and I also did my pool exercises in the big pool that was at the Bed & Breakfast. That should have helped rescue me from a lot of the wine tasting and fudge and chocolate tasting we did, as well as some really good meals. The colonies are about a group of people who create so any things by hand--from woodworking to foods to clothing and so on. It was some great shopping too. On Sunday, we split up and part of our kids went to a nearby waterpark hotel to play and we did more of the same things we did on Saturday. One of the thing that I bought was a beginner's book to learn how to tat along with the tools I need to use. The book has a DVD to help me along and I am hoping that I didn't waste my money. My great grandmother used to tat and I'd really like to try. I won't get started on it until I finish the afghan I am making--it is almost done. (and I will take a picture and put it on my page when I get it finished...) The best part of the wonderful weekend was being with JIMSQUEENIE  She is so sweet and caring. She gives a lot of herself to others--she brought me a couple of wonderful gifts  as well as a most enjoyable weekend.
It is time for me to scoot--I am around and I will do my best here, but I think you all know that I lead a pretty hectic life. I miss you all when we aren't chatting frequently though and I hate being MIA. Take care of yourselves!!
Gentle hugs,
Sylvia
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Prayers to you in healing and pain relief 
Diana 
Member Comments About This Blog Post:
We just have to try to go on.
