Author and Inspired Writer

My minister has been going through a special kind of hell these last four years, ever since her husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. It appears he’s in the last stages and she is devastated this long goodbye is finally ending. Would anyone reading this send her a kind thought or silent prayer? It would be most appreciated. Thanks!

Last night I had to speak with my choir director about reducing my involvement in several upcoming concerts.  Wednesday was a very good day for me – good energy all day, decreased fibro aches, and I even picked up a new editing client.  I started to think this slump was going to be short-lived.  But then came Thursday and I knew I had to start telling people I had to cut back on events.

On March 25th and April 1st, in addition to the usual Sunday services, my choir will be singing a Holy Week Cantata in the Burg one week and in Windsor the next.  Just the idea was overwhelming, and I was especially hesitant about approaching our director since she’s such a powerhouse – organist, director, pharmacist, mother, wife, gardener, handyman, er, handyperson, she never stops!  And just when you think she might be slowing down, she’s drives to Windsor to do 40 laps in the University swimming pool!  I am in awe of her energy!  So imagine me trying to tell her I need to back out of some engagements because, well, um, I’m tired you see….

But of course there was nothing to fear because in addition to perpetual motion, this woman just oozes compassion and understanding.  I said, “I can only do one service each Sunday, either the morning service or the cantata service, but not both.  Which would be the most helpful to you?”  And I told her she could think on it and get back to me.  No need!  “Skip the morning service on the 25th and sing the cantata service here that evening.  Then sing the morning service on April 1st, since that’s the Communion Service, and skip the cantata in Windsor that evening.”  Oh my!  Problem solved.  An elegant solution that removed all my anxiety.

I am blessed!

Well gentle readers, for those of you concerned with the well-being of yours-ever-faithfully, you’ll be pleased to know, we’re doing better.  Able to sit up and take nourishment, as my dad used to say.  I am taking rest periods throughout the day, and my energy is slowly returning, but the weakness still overwhelms me at times.  Not to worry though, the awful “fibro-aches” are much less, and I fully intend to keep to my recovery schedule and get back to my old self faster than you can split a lickety!

I felt well enough to attend my Writer’s Salon last night, and received a wonderful compliment.  We all hand out copies of whatever piece we’re presenting, and after we read it aloud, everyone who wants to gives some feedback does so, and some will make comments on the copy itself.  I presented one of my Magdalene Poems in which Mary says something in a “fierce whisper” to Joseph of Arimathea.  When I went through the papers after I got home, someone had circled those two words and added that everything they had read of mine fit that description – the Magdalene Poems are a “fierce whisper.”  Such a compliment!  So glad I was there to receive it!

Bit of a downturn healthwise, gentle readers.

I have this chronic fatigue thingy that comes and goes.  For about the last year, it’s been gone and my doctor said I was “managing beautifully” – so much so she wanted me to speak to a chronic fatigue support group and let them know how I did it.  Only, I don’t really know how I did it, and I thought if I bounced in there all perky and stupid, it would be like telling a bunch of new mothers, “Oh childbirth was nothing!  Couple cramps, pushed once or twice and that was it.  Don’t know what your problem is.”  Might not go over too well.  Might get me tarred and feathered.

Then lately I’ve been noticing the fatigue creeping back in.  It was explained to me that chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia are two poles on the same continuum – in chronic fatigue the overriding symptom is unrelenting, sometimes debilitating fatigue complicated by deep muscle aches and joint pain.  In fibromyalgia, (which my older, much wiser and by times annoyingly insightful sister suffers from) the main symptom is the muscle and joint pain complicated by severe fatigue.  Anyhoo, I started noticing I couldn’t complete my workout at my usual level of intensity and had to cut back.  But I didn’t think too much about it.  Then my knees hurt and my hands.  My back and shoulders.  My jaw, my neck, my head…  But I soldiered on.  Then I came home from a doctor’s appointment on Monday, just that, and I could hardly sit up I was so exhausted.  OK, I finally said, I think the CC is active again.

One of the things I wanted to talk to my doctor about was increasing my Vitamin D level which has been sliding over the past three years and is now so low it barely registers.  But she has been cautious about raising it in the past, so I didn’t know how she’d react to my wanting to go on a short course (six weeks) of 5000 IUs.  To my surprise, she said, “I’m going to put you on 50,000 IUs once a week for four weeks.”  Nearly swallowed my teeth!  But yahoo!  I’ve been reading that megadosing Vitamin D under careful medical supervision (I have to have my level tested again in 4 weeks) can among other health benefits, arrest an episode of FM/CC.  I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

Last night, I dreamed I was barrelling down the road when I encountered construction and had to pull over and drive on a rutted and muddy shoulder.  I hit the brakes but couldn’t slow down and ran off the road.  When I woke up, I said, “I was driving too fast for the conditions.”  What I heard was, “You’re driving yourself too hard for your condition.”

Oh.

OK.  I hear you, dear body.  I’ll slow down.  And thanks for the warning!