So, it was weird...
I had one of the seizures where my right arm locks up. It was more painful than usual, and the hand was in the claw-like position, not curled up into a ball. It was hurting for 20-30 minutes, a bit longer than usual. Then the pain drifted up my arm, and settled right about where my vaccination spot was. It stayed there for several hours, fading a little after about an hour. It's still a little sore two days later.
Told you it was weird.
Yep. Welcome to 2021.
So, got my first round. I got the Pfizer one. That day, a little sore. That night, a little sore. Next day, a little sore. Next night?
HOLY MOLEY!
It felt like a sledgehammer had been used to knock the stuff into me.
I spent four hours in misery. There was no way I could possibly put anything on the site. I took Advil (don't do that before your vaccinations, but it's okay after!) almost immediately, but it wasn't enough. There was no way I could have anything even touching the area, even clothing.
Then I got smart about four hours into this. I still had some spray-on IcyHot for when I broke my ribs. I went to town. And it actually brought it down to medium pain!
Moral of the story? Make sure I'm stocked up on spray-on pain relievers before the second round!
You have been warned!
My left arm got ripped out of its socket, and all the muscles got torn up in the process. It is gushing blood. Okay, typical day in the fibrohood. This time there is one difference. Usually when a body part is detached or missing, when I look at it, it returns to place. Then when I look away, it's gone again. So, any time I need a reminder that it's actually still there, I just look at it. Twenty years of this routine, it's ingrained.
Today's exercise in fibrocity, no such luck. I look at my shoulder, and can clearly see that it's where it's supposed to be, and there is no blood visible. But it still feels like it was violently removed and is not there. I still feel the 'waterworks' of blood. Staring right at it, even operating it, the fibro sensations are still 100%.
I can't decide whether to be fascinated by it, or to crawl back into bed in hopes that it goes away...
Silly, silly Fibro! My body is pretending to have pneumonia. During a pandemic. Is that more tenacity or just some nerve? Not sure...
Do I know it's pretending? Well, it's happened before, just not during a pandemic. My temperature is a little low. But that can happen in old folks with compromised immune systems. I'm almost old, and Fibro is usually lumped in with immunocompromised disorders. But that's mainly because they can't seem to find a better place to dump it. My immune system itself is pretty strong. And the low temp thing is a concern over 65; I'm about to turn 60. Am I hacking up phlegm? Feels like it -- but no actual phlegm involved. Pain breathing? Yes. But no problem fully inflating my lungs. And no problem holding my breath with them fully inflated. Those things don't happen when there's actually fluid in the lungs.
Part way through the day, or maybe tomorrow when I wake up, those problems will be gone, and new ones will appear.
Silly Fibro!
No news. Yeah, same ol'. Well, a tiny bit. With major seizures, like fish out of water, arms flailing seizing, Linus is also climbing on top of me. And holy cow does that speed up the recovery process! I think it might be because I actually have something to anchor myself to. My doctor said that is possible, or it might have something to do with Linus weighing 85 pounds, because that could be enough pressure to affect my circulation and/or breathing depth. But he had no concrete ideas, and neither do I. I'm just glad for the help!
Yeah, it's been a WHILE.
Kind of hard to focus on Fibro when so much of life is so weird. But I will say a few things. Whether it is because of aging, teaching on line, lack of social events, change in diet, misaligned planets -- who knows -- seizures are changing. I had a doozie while standing up the other day. This was not while pushing a shopping cart (the arm stuck in that position for too long) or standing in a line (the body stuck in that position for too long). It was just after I'd walked over to open the back door for the dogs. Not a typical 'trigger' for seizures.
And speaking of the dogs... Linus is REALLY turning into a service dog! With seizures, he stays close to me until they calm down, then comes up to touch me. With muscle cramps, he climbs on top of me immediately after my screeching starts to dwindle, which is surprisingly therapeutic! I had no idea. I have not trained him to do any of this; he just does it as a natural reaction. There is so much love in this dog! The morning after election night, when I had obviously been in a bit of turmoil, I woke up to Linus hugging me!
So, a bit of Fibro news, but more good than bad. Linus is making a huge difference in how I'm getting through it. I'm a lucky man.
