Weird Weather

That's about the size of things here in my little town. Last summer, we had some wild weather that ended up causing our town to flood massively. The street I live on and a few others was basically the island of dry land on our side of town. It's taken a fairly long time for the town to rebuild itself. But yesterday we had one heck of a downpour all at once. Several areas of the town began to flood again. The rivers and creeks began to spill from their banks. I have no doubt that several people affected by last year's flood were feeling anxious that this was going to be a repeat. For the damage that the heavy rains and severe weather did, it really wasn't as bad here as last year. So I'm thankful for that. However, the front didn't help my pain level any. Lol, I spent most of the day feeling as though someone had placed me into a vise and forgot to release me. Today is a bit better. Still feeling the muscle ache and the exhaustion. For some reason, I have had very little to no energy over the past two weeks. The doctors aren't sure what's causing it. Of course, it could be a number of things. Most likely, it's a combination of the Fibro kicking my butt and the Arthritis saying, "Oh, an opportunity to sneak in!"

I do have to admit that we've been having a mild summer so far. Not really a lot of hot, humid days as of yet. There's some expected over the weekend but really, we're below average. I'm not too saddened about not having them. Even though my breathing seems to be getting better, I do have trouble on the really humid days. The lung doctor wanted me to wean myself off the oxygen during the day except for when I was being active and then to wear it while sleeping. So far I have managed to spend many days with the oxygen off for a couple of hours before I have to wear it a little while. Since this month is basically "touch base with all the doctors month", I have a lung function test at the end of the month to see if my lungs are doing ok and if I will continue with the oxygen or not. *fingers crossed* Okay, not really since I'm typing. You know what I'm saying.

Still trying to read 100 books in a year. Lol, I have the books to do it. There's plenty here. It's just that I get so tired that I start to nod off when I read a few pages. Not to mention that I'm doing some super secret craft projects at the moment. I try to spend some time doing a little bit of everything and spoil my dog rotten. Even though there's 24 hours in a day, I feel like my days have been shorter since I haven't rested. I think I'm up to nearly 40 for the year so far. In March and April, I did a huge amount of reading since I really wasn't able to do a lot after getting out of the hospital. Since I've been getting stronger, I have been reading less and working on other things more. I still sneak some pages in there. Just need to do it more often, I suppose. The other thing I really need to do more of is writing. Since Billy died, I haven't really sat down and had a five hour writing session of old. Maybe one day.

For now, I'm tired. Probably going to lay down. Have a great day.

Hello Again

I know that it's been a super long time since I've written here. To be honest, I haven't done a whole lot of anything over the past year and a half. I half-heartedly tried to start things back up in the hopes that I was ready. Unfortunately, it proved to me that I still needed some time to get back to square one. Then real life decided to take a drastic turn for me and those I love. I'll get to all that in a little while. But first let me say that I am promising to do my very best to post something every day that I'm able to do so. I don't know if it will be interested but I'm going to do my best.

For those who are new (may be just a couple of you), I've spent the last 2 and a half years dealing with the loss of my younger brother who passed away due to Lupus (SLE). He and I were very close. I believe that we were so close because we went through many of the same trials. There are still a large number of experiences that he had that I haven't. But we still were taken out of a "normal" life at a young age and made to create some sort of a life with what we had been given. He was one of my closest friends. When he left this earth, I was in auto-pilot. Literally, I just did and said whatever I knew was expected of me just to get through the day. For a lot of the days, I don't remember much because I was given medication and basically put to bed. The last year, I feel like I have dealt with a lot of the emotions, anger, and wondering why that I had shortly after his passing. There's so much life happening while I was clinging to the thought of what might have been. I finally realized that I can honor his memory while living.

My health has played a large part in my acceptance of his passing. In 2006, I was rushed to the hospital with pneumonia only to discover that I had a blood clot in my right lung. I was treated and sent home on a coumadin therapy that my doctors and I thought was working great for me. Unfortunately, it wasn't the case. Beginning of this year saw me in the hospital for difficulty breathing. After a battery of tests, the doctor discovered that I either have a new blood clot that is as large as the bottom part of my right lung or the clot I had in 2006 had grown despite my being on the blood thinners. Just before my birthday, I was released from the hospital. Bad thing was that I ended up back in the hospital a few weeks later. I was put in ICU for a few days and then admitted to a regular room because they wanted to make sure that whatever was in my lungs besides the blood clot could be treated correctly. While in there, they took about 35 vials of blood to test me for everything from Lupus to other blood disorders. After nearly a month in the hospital this time, I spent the next couple of weeks going to specialists to discover that not only do I have to contend with the Psoriatic Arthritis and Fibromyalgia, I have something called Hughes' Syndrome or Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome. Yeah, not something I would have known anything about at all.

But for now, my eyes grow heavy and I just feel stiff and tired from the storms we had roll through my area. Off to try and get some sleep. I'll try and keep this going the way I had intended.

Hugs&Love