I don't usually post about my Fibromyalgia, but for some reason this post seemed to need to be written…. I know from experience what can cause nasty flares of my Fibro, and have learned what to do or avoid to keep flares to a minimum. This past weekend, that all went out the window, and now I am paying the price. Here is how I caused this flare… If I had not put off things that should have been done sooner, I may have avoided the flare, or at least not been hit this hard…. Living with this disease is a lifetime learning experience. Pardon any rambling, errors in grammar, etc….. Fibro fog here, too.
How to Cause a Fibro Flare 101
- Friday Evening- Finally start getting fair entries ready to deliver to fairgrounds by noon on Saturday.
- Start painting a piece of canvas needed for one of the entries. Hurry the drying process by blotting moisture from the canvas, then ironing over and over and over…. until it finally dries. Set aside.
- Finish edging on art quilt to be mounted on the painted canvas… OK, I enter things that are not fully finished….
- Stitch quilt to painted canvas…. Realize it doesn't look right… designs on canvas are too bright.
- Pull out paint and brush, thin titanium white paint to tone things down… remember the quilt is stitched to canvas.
- Late nite TV shows are now over…. go to bed…
- Saturday 7AM- Drag out of bed… fix breakfast of hot chocolate and cereal.
- Start eating cereal while checking email… no news from 2 military sons… try not to worry…
- Pull out fair entry form to lay everything out in order. Hot chocolate cooling down, cereal half eaten…
- Oops! find another item that needs work…. Fix it..
- Iron canvas that was over-painted last night… it looks OK!
- Staple canvas onto frame…. Checking to be sure the quilt is centered properly.
- Run out of staples in the staple gun… need only 2 more… can't find staples…. running out of time…
- Borrow staple gun from Ken who is finally working on our bathroom… another procrastinator in the family 🙂
- Look for wire and eye hooks to put on the back… can't find… steal from another piece not entered.
- Finally finished!! Eat a bit more soggy cereal… hot chocolate no longer hot.
- Cover name on quilts with tape… stack and roll, Oops…forgot… need rods to hang them….
- Put everything into the mini van…. drive to storage trailer- where are those rods?… find them.
- Drive to Ken's workshop to find dowels for smaller pieces. Find dowels, how do I cut them?? Look for something… find really rusty pliers that will work, sort of….
- By now it is 11:30AM… Troy Fairgrounds are 20 miles away…. pray for no traffic…
- Part way there realize I forgot my water bottle… getting thirsty… no time to stop anywhere…
- Lucky me… arrive at fairgrounds 11:55… take items to Home Arts building… leave most of my stuff
- Take last minute finished, canvas mounted art quilt to Fine Art building, drop off… I'll be back…
- Am told the piece is in the wrong building- it's not art… Yes it is… I'll be back…
- Check in quilts, etc. at the Home Arts building…. My canvas mounted piece is returned to me… not art?…
- Put piece into car… go to Fine Arts building to ask "What is considered mixed media??,
- Told there is no category for my piece… they do like it, though- "How did you do that?",etc…
- Mini meeting in back room…. The piece can be hung, but may not be judged, is that OK? YES!
- Whew! Done with that….
- Nearly 1PM, no water bottle, hungry…. go to McDonald's and order a Happy Meal.
- Sit and eat my Happy Meal… Realize I walked into McDonalds with a big rusty pair of pliers in my bag…
- Drive back home… much calmer now… pick up sweet corn and peaches at farm stand on the way.
- Arrive home, put away produce… Lawn Really needs mowing… it's not raining…
- Help Ken with a piece of drywall in bathroom…
- Lawn Really needs mowing….
- Check mower… add oil, drag air tank out of workshop, fill tire with air, lug tank back…
- Can't find gas… Ask Ken… doesn't know… find gas, yay! only a couple gallons and I can just lift it.
- Put on ear protection and plug into walkman… start mowing, will just do what shows most…
- Stop to help Ken with another piece of drywall.. good to stretch legs after an hour anyway….
- Back to mowing… after another hour, notice bulging front tire- not the one that goes flat…
- Keep mowing… when this thing stops, no mowing until fixed.. may be a while, so better keep going.
- Need a path to compost pile and veggie garden, keep mowing….
- Finally stop mowing without running out of gas or blowing a tire- yay!
- Hands and feet feel like being stung by bees- not fun… doesn't last long- Whew!
- Ready for a nap….
- Looks like a storm coming… yes one is coming… lots of drywall outside… full sheets, part sheets, etc….
- Ask Ken if prepared for storm… (I can see Not)… a few little sprinkles…
- "Should I help with covering things up??" No need to get big pieces into house and small ones, too.
- I help carry in small pieces (NOT that small) pretty heavy, this will hurt tomorrow…
- Now I could really use that nap, but time to fix supper….
- Cook corn and chicken on grill, eat supper…
- Can I babysit grandkids tomorrow so son can help with bathroom?? I know I'm going to hurt tomorrow…
- Kids coming… need to do dishes (sink piled and more on stove), kitchen is biggest space for kids…
- Take shower to ease aches….
- By now in manic mode…. no nap, stressful day… kids coming… need to get ready…
- Load dishwasher, load clothes washer, Ken goes to bed…. still dirty dishes… wash them by hand…
- Clean counters, stove, put away dishes…. move clothes from washer to dryer….
- I better get to bed…. nearly midnight… 2 late nights in a row not good….
- Sleep like a rock from exhaustion…
- Ken was up before me… unloaded dishwasher!! Yay!
- Wake Sunday 8AM… drag out of bed… make hot chocolate… go to studio to check email, nothing from boys,
- Find yesterday's unfinished cereal and day old, now cold chocolate… no wonder I got so hungry yesterday!
- Find clothes for church… top needs ironing, take to studio, turn on iron….
- Walk through kitchen while waiting for iron to heat up… Floor needs sweeping…
- Where is the broom?? Take out compost… Put bucket into sink with clorox and soap, start filling with hot water..
- Look for broom, find it on deck… Bucket is overflowing with suds and hot water..Oops! Sweep floor….
- Where is dustpan?? In bathroom being remodeled? too far… use a paper, sweep fine dust under trashcan.
- Almost time to leave for church…. where is my top? Oh yea, on ironing board, iron has turned off, turn it back on..
- Fix hair, iron top, get dressed…. gulp down rest of now cool hot chocolate… forgot cereal…
- Off to church eating a fiber bar on the way, don't get chocolate on skirt… Don't fall asleep during service…. good!
- Stop at grocery store on way home for a couple items….
- Arrive home, ask when kids are coming… 1PM??? it's 12:45! Kitchen table is still buried in old mail, etc.
- Put leftover mac&cheese in microwave for lunch… Ken already ate, he stayed home to work in the bathroom.
- Sort old mail, papers, put away various other stuff… find table top… Hey there it is! Pretty cobalt blue!
- 1:10PM no kids yet… wolf down mac&cheese… change clothes… no kids yet…
- Lay down in bed until kids arrive… head hits pillow, kids arrive…
- 3 kids instead of 2… Grandkids plus a cousin- 1yo baby, and 2- 5yr olds….
- Put baby in highchair, other kids at kitchen table with coloring books… they like I Spy better…
- Tell grandson and cousin to use one I Spy book… this grammy can't keep up with 2 books…
- Baby not happy in highchair, put up Pack & Play- fills kitchen… add little girl and toys…
- Baby not happy in her "cage" and very tired…. maybe a nap??? No nap.. try with playpen in bedroom, no nap…
- Daddy can't ignore the crying like this grammy can… gets his little girl to sleep for 5 minutes. Give up on that.
- Pack & Play back in kitchen… Daughter-in-law coming for supper… need to make salads…
- Entertain graddaughter while cooking pasta…. older kids want cereal, get it for them…
- Older kids still hungry… didn't eat lunch??? Find out they ate breakfast at 11AM
- Heat soup for late lunch for 2- 5yo's Forgot pasta still cooking on stove…. a bit overcooked…
- Make space in livingroom amongst stuff from remodel… unbury kid's table for puzzles.
- 5yo's busy with puzzles and games, I'm finishing salads…. baby acting sleepy….
- 5 PM… Fill bottle, baby falls asleep really fast… late for a nap, but a nap!!
- Older kids are OK in livingroom, I tell Ken and son that I'm taking a nap… baby is sleeping.
- Lay down… kids no longer in livingroom, outside in yard… sound busy and OK.
- Nearly 6PM, get up… time to start grill for burgers and hotdogs… DIL arrives…
- I find kids along the woods pulling walnut branches down to pick nuts… they have collected a lot.
- Find a place for the collected walnuts the kids will use for when they "hibernate" 🙂
- Serve supper on paper plates, eat supper… clear table, put away extra food, etc.
- DIL and kids leave… load dirty dishes in dishwasher…start it….
- Guys still working in bathroom… will it EVER be done?? Oh yea, it has to be done by next week…
- Check computer for signs of other sons- #2 in Iraq had a post on Facebook… he is OK… nothing from #3
- 9:30PM Crash into bed…. fall asleep even with the sound of the drywall screw gun…
- Monday 8AM, Ken up… 9AM, I can finally move enough body parts to get out of bed…
- Those are new pains!?… feel like I'm wearing a lead bodysuit… moving v e r y s l o w. . .
- Eat and drink breakfast while checking email…. find that son #3 is back in Hawaii, will call later- Yay!!
- Take phone to bedroom…. back to bed at 10:30AM…
Welcome to another Fibro Flare! Does anyone else do things like this???
I've been diagnosed for 3 years, now and have learned what will cause the worst flares. The problem is that when life gets out of hand, I don't always pay attention to what I am doing and do more than I should. It really is hard to not overdo things on good days, and the busier I am, the less pain I feel. Once I realize I have overdone things, and will probably feel bad the next day, I will end up in a manic phase and try to do everything that I know I won't feel like doing the next day….. Not that smart…. Today was a day to lay low… Tomorrow may be better, but may be worse…. I never know…. If I would not leave things for the last minute, I could reduce a lot of stress. I hate wasting the flare days in bed…. And son #3 called this afternoon!! Made a crummy feeling day better!
I am a former textile artist and new pattern designer with a degree in horticulture, wishing to share my love of nature, flowers and gardens with everyone through my photos, sunprinted fabrics, and now pattern designs. Chronic Lyme Disease has caused major changes to the direction my life. I have to limit the amount of time spent digging in my gardens, and quilting has become more difficult. I discovered pattern design as a way to get art back into my life. I now use my gardens and photos to inspire designs that can be used on fabrics and print on demand items.
