I'm way overdue in posting on here. Again.
I always have the best intentions. It seems that is a common issue in my life. I have the best intentions but I don't always follow through on them. I'm working on that! :)
So, I say to myself, "Okay, you are definitely going to post on your blog every week." Then 3 weeks go by.
Then I say, "Well, that's obviously not doable for you. So ok, no pressure. Just post monthly."
Then a few more weeks go by and before I know it, those weeks have turned into months.
The older I get, I feel like my life just keeps speeding up. The weeks go by as fast as a bullet train. Anyone else feel that way?
I think it is the pace of our world. It seems that everyone's lives are so busy.
Filled with so much.
With all of our amazing technology, one would think that it would make our lives so much easier, that we could all slow down in some ways. But, we just seem to fill our lives with more and more.
Living with chronic illness has taught me so much about slowing down. Yes, some days the fatigue, weakness and pain force me to stop and rest. But I have also learned my own limits and I know that in order to avoid major flares, I must pace myself and not overdo every day. With having children, that doesn't always happen. Sometimes I overdo it because they need me. But for those things within my control, I try to not pack my days too full. That means I don't over schedule myself or my family. I do things at my own pace. For instance, I can no longer clean my house all in one day. Also, I can not be out running errands all day and then be able to cook dinner and enjoy time with my family in the evening. Sometimes the non essential things don't get done and that is okay!
By slowing down and not filling up our schedule, I have found that it is not only good for me but also for my children too. They are not over scheduled with involvement in too many extracurricular activities. They have time to enjoy being children. Even before I became ill, my husband and I decided that we would not allow our children to be involved in too many things. We did not want our children to grow up feeling pressured and overwhelmed and too busy to enjoy their childhoods.
We have been practicing the art of slowing down this summer for sure. We have been sleeping in, spending our days at the pool, watching movies, taking evening walks. Just enjoying summer and enjoying family time. My husband has been able to work his second job a bit less and has been able to spend time with us more. That's been wonderful!
Health wise, I have been feeling a bit better in some ways. My joint and overall body pain seems to always be better in warmer temperatures. I have been having more frequent headaches since the beginning of the year. After a visit with my neurosurgeon to review my recent MRI, he stated that the cerebrospinal fluid flow was adequate so there was nothing surgically that needed to happen. Thankfully! So, he referred me to a headache specialist.
I finally saw that doctor in May and he felt the I have three different types of headaches. I have Chiari headaches which cause pain in the back of my head and are more of a pressure type of pain. I also have migraines which are in the front of my head and cause sharp pain with sensitivity to light, sound and nausea. He also diagnosed me with Occipital Neuralgia. This is where the occipital nerve, which runs up both sides of the back of the skull, gets pinched and causes sharp shooting pain up the back of the head to behind the eye area. I was having this type of pain very frequently and it was awful. He placed me on preventative headache medicine in hopes that it would help prevent the migraines. It has worked really well! He also referred me to a pain management doctor for the occipital neuralgia.
I had a nerve block done for the occipital neuralgia 2 weeks ago and it has worked so well. I'm also getting some trigger point injections to help with the chronic neck pain. These are working well also.
So that's what's up with me. I hope you enjoy a slower paced and relaxing summer!
Thanks for reading!
~ Sonya ~
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