THE ASSIGNMENT:
paint an old, old tin as a Christmas gift for a man's wife. He had the thing already prepped & primed, so I gave it two base coats of folksy blue.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
A Christmas Commission
THE ASSIGNMENT:
paint an old, old tin as a Christmas gift for a man's wife. He had the thing already prepped & primed, so I gave it two base coats of folksy blue.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
End-of-the-Year Update
I'm feeling better than I have all year --- finally. In March I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Apparently, I've had it for 15 or 20 years but never knew what it was. Various aches and pains all over the body --- I just thought that came with growing old. But last winter I had it so bad, the pain was unbearable and I was suffering from a very bad bout of insomnia. I was so weak, there were times I couldn't even haul myself up out of bed. I just laid there and cried for hours. I finally had to see my doctor.
It's only been recently that modern medicine has finally recognized what I have as a legitimate health issue and have given it a name. It used to be called "hypochondria," or more simply put, "laziness." Everyone knows someone (usually, but not always, female) who just seems to be sick all the time, complaining about this or that pain, but in all outer appearances, they seem to be normal. They hurt so much that even housekeeping is too overwhelming for them, and they lose all interest in things that used to delight them. They don't want to be around people, withdrawing into an ever-thickening shell of depression. This now has a name: FIBROMYALGIA.
Giving it a name, however, doesn't mean a cure. Doctors don't know what causes it or how to cure it. In fact, with all the research I had to do on my own, I feel like I know more about the disorder than the doctors do. I was sent to a rheumatologist, who started treatment with one of only three meds on the market for fibro right now, along with a couple other pills. At first, it seemed to help. My pain was cut by 50% & I had great hopes. But after awhile, it lost its effectiveness. It's also funny (not ha-ha funny either) that the side effects of the drugs used to treat the disease are the same as the symptoms of the disease itself. After 6 months of feeling as bad as I did before treatment, I gave up on it.
The worst part of fibro is that the usual pain-killers have no effect. None of the opiate-based ones like Vicodin do a thing! I've practically lived on ibuprophen for years, even though relief was hit-or-miss. I recently read that NSAIDs are ineffective, so I switched to Tylenol PM to take before bed to make sure I don't wake in pain in the middle of the night. The other pain med that I take 3 times a day is Gabapentin, an anti-seizure drug that does seem to help with pain in fibro patients.
Needless to say, my life sucks big time. I'm doing my best to keep going. We recently built a porch onto the south side of our house and installed a hot tub. What a wonderful thing it is to soak away my pain every night before bed time. Temporary, but very effective!
In other news, we sold our cute little camper. With my illness, camping is no longer that enjoyable. I sure hated to say goodbye, but we were making payments on it and couldn't justify continuing to do so, when we used it so seldom. We still have our pontoon boat, and we'll just have to find pet friendly motels when we travel.
Gardening was especially challenging with our summer-long drought. Caring for it and hauling buckets of water to it nearly every day actually gave me a purpose to keep going and brought me through a long, hot, dry, summer.
I sold the "4 Bins" painting (see post below) at the Dec. Gallery Hop. The only painting I've sold all year. I also took on a small commission to paint an old tin. It has a Christmas deadline! My only commission this year too.
2012 hasn't been the best year of my life by any means. Let's hope the New Year brings better.
May you and your loved ones enjoy a blessed holiday season!
It's only been recently that modern medicine has finally recognized what I have as a legitimate health issue and have given it a name. It used to be called "hypochondria," or more simply put, "laziness." Everyone knows someone (usually, but not always, female) who just seems to be sick all the time, complaining about this or that pain, but in all outer appearances, they seem to be normal. They hurt so much that even housekeeping is too overwhelming for them, and they lose all interest in things that used to delight them. They don't want to be around people, withdrawing into an ever-thickening shell of depression. This now has a name: FIBROMYALGIA.
Giving it a name, however, doesn't mean a cure. Doctors don't know what causes it or how to cure it. In fact, with all the research I had to do on my own, I feel like I know more about the disorder than the doctors do. I was sent to a rheumatologist, who started treatment with one of only three meds on the market for fibro right now, along with a couple other pills. At first, it seemed to help. My pain was cut by 50% & I had great hopes. But after awhile, it lost its effectiveness. It's also funny (not ha-ha funny either) that the side effects of the drugs used to treat the disease are the same as the symptoms of the disease itself. After 6 months of feeling as bad as I did before treatment, I gave up on it.
The worst part of fibro is that the usual pain-killers have no effect. None of the opiate-based ones like Vicodin do a thing! I've practically lived on ibuprophen for years, even though relief was hit-or-miss. I recently read that NSAIDs are ineffective, so I switched to Tylenol PM to take before bed to make sure I don't wake in pain in the middle of the night. The other pain med that I take 3 times a day is Gabapentin, an anti-seizure drug that does seem to help with pain in fibro patients.
Needless to say, my life sucks big time. I'm doing my best to keep going. We recently built a porch onto the south side of our house and installed a hot tub. What a wonderful thing it is to soak away my pain every night before bed time. Temporary, but very effective!
In other news, we sold our cute little camper. With my illness, camping is no longer that enjoyable. I sure hated to say goodbye, but we were making payments on it and couldn't justify continuing to do so, when we used it so seldom. We still have our pontoon boat, and we'll just have to find pet friendly motels when we travel.
Gardening was especially challenging with our summer-long drought. Caring for it and hauling buckets of water to it nearly every day actually gave me a purpose to keep going and brought me through a long, hot, dry, summer.
I sold the "4 Bins" painting (see post below) at the Dec. Gallery Hop. The only painting I've sold all year. I also took on a small commission to paint an old tin. It has a Christmas deadline! My only commission this year too.
May you and your loved ones enjoy a blessed holiday season!
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