Trying Again - With Help This Time

Once more I'm feeling fairly well, and want to get active.

The trouble is, that hasn't ended well for me before.

You see, I feel good, so I do things. That goes well, so I do more.  I'm still feeling OK, so I do more.  Then I crash in a heap, and it takes me ages (weeks or even months) to recover.

This time, I'm going to be smart.  I'm getting professional help.

I'm seeing an exercise physiologist.

To start with I'm walking the dog every day (15 minute morning walk), and doing another exercise on alternate days.  At the moment, she has me using a beginners tai chi lesson on you tube, and exercising in the pool. I'm not doing the full hydrotherapy session I used to do, just a few minutes of walking in the pool, a couple of push-ups on the side, and a couple of arm raises and leg raises.

So the program is one day of just walking, then one day of walking plus tai chi, one day of walking, then one day of walking plus the pool.  I have to be careful to do the tai chi or pool only on days I don't already have something else on.  So days I do groceries, or go to church or Toastmasters, I only do the walking and no other exercise.

It's early days yet.  So far it's going well.  I feel good.

However,  I'm starting to get a bit bored, and restless, as I do when I feel well and am not constantly doing things.

My big challenge is to keep within the boundaries set for me.  Hopefully, I will keep feeling well, and keep having to deal with that challenge, for a long time.

Otherwise, I'll crash and try again when I recover.  (And I know I won't be the only lupie doing that.)

Survival Vs Achieving Things

After a couple of weeks of having no energy, and lying exhausted and in pain on the couch, I'm
starting to want to do things again.

I've been going for walks again.  I've learned my lesson - I'm not going for hour long walks as I did a while back - which was great until I crashed.  Now, I'm taking a couple of ten minute walks each day - breaking things down and trying not to overdo it.

Today, I've dug out my Calorie King app and started to track what I eat again. 

I'm getting restless, wanting to do more than just sit mindlessly in front of the television.

I'm starting to care again. 

That means one thing.  I've been having a couple of good days. (Hopefully, it could be the start of a good week, month, dare I hope year?)

The difference between a good day and a bad day is simple.  On a bad day, I have only one aim - survive. (On some bad days I don't care if I even achieve that.)  Sometimes I feel a little frustrated I don't have the energy to do anything, but most of the time, I don't even have the energy for that.

On a good day, I feel like doing worthwhile things.  I have energy, and my pain levels are manageable, and I remember that I'm more than just a diseased lump lying on the couch.

I used to feel bad about all I didn't achieve, once I started to feel better. But I've realised that's just a waste of precious energy.

On bad days, all I have to do is survive.

On good days, I can do practically anything, as long as I'm careful with the energy I have.

Great Gifts for the Lupie in your Life

Every lupie needs The LupusEncyclopaedia, by Dr Donald
Thomas.

I've just about finished my Christmas gift shopping. (Yes, I'm one of those people.) I don't like going
to shopping centres at Christmas time, when they're crowded and all the kids in the area are on school holidays, and the air conditioning just doesn't seem to be able to cool that number of people. So I get my Christmas stuff out of the way earlier in the year, and just shop on line from late November until about mid-January.

Wrapping presents made me think about the best gifts for lupies.  Here's my suggestions, from a variety of price ranges, of things most lupies should have.

• The Shade UV light sensor. This could save a lupie's life. It helps track the amount of sunlight she/he is exposed to, and for many of us, sunlight is a very dangerous thing.
• The Lupus Encyclopaedia, by Dr Donald Thomas, from Johns Hopkins University Press.  For all the general information every lupie needs.  (For specific, personal advice, always speak to your own rheumatologist.  For everything else, Dr Thomas is a great source of information.)
• A heat pack.  Everyone needs a heat pack or a hot water bottle for the occasional pain that just won't go away.
• A Tens machine.  This is the machine the physiotherapist uses to help control pain.  Electrodes

  

  A tens machine, this large type,
  or a small portable one is great
  for temporary pain control.

  are attached to the skin, and gentle electrical pulses help ease pain.  (I have two of these: a big one that also has foot pads to rest my feet on while sitting, and a little portable one to carry with me.)
• 
  
• A couple of ready-made home-cooked meals to keep in the freezer for a bad day.
• A soft blanket, or Egyptian cotton sheets. When you spend a lot of time in bed, you appreciate nice, comfortable bedding.
• Cute and comfortable pyjamas - for the same reason as comfortable bedding.
• A massage. (Or a massage chair - if you have the money - or a massage mat that goes on the bed.)



A Shade UV light sensor gives the
freedom to know how long it is safe to
stay outside.

• A pill sorter, the type that has three or four sections for each day of the week, and each day's pills can be removed, so it's possible to take enough pills for a day out, without taking the whole week's worth.
• Something from the Lupus Business Directory, where your purchase will help out someone with a chronic illness, while giving you a unique gift.