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self care?
The past few months have been a whirlwind. Of what, I’m not sure. But it feels like every day the minutes slip away and I’m constantly fighting to be more efficient, to use time wisely, to check all the boxes of ‘things to do’ … and yet, I still manage to feel constantly behind.
A few weeks ago on my Instagram feed (the MS one ~ ilooknormal) I posted about self care. That I hadn’t meant for 2018 to be shaped by it, but somehow, that’s what has happened. For a few weeks I’ve been going to the chiropractor three times a week. It is actually crazy how much that changes your life. And for two months I’ve also been hoofing it to yoga multiple times a week. Plus riding the bike. Plus switching to a Keto diet (um, yeah, I’m not super good at it, but it definitely has its benefits).
Let’s rewind here a minute.
I am not working. So it makes it easier for me to prioritize yoga and chiropractic care and sleep and cooking every day , etc., etc., etc. But after all these weeks of ‘taking care of myself’ I feel a little lost. I mean, I know that the things I am doing are good things. My body does feel better. But, if I had a job, or any other obligation whatsoever, how could I possibly fit all this stuff in?
Sometimes I wonder if it’s the fatigue. If ‘normal’ people just have more hours in the day because their bodies require less sleep. Or, even if they do require as much sleep as I do, they just skip it and manage to be okay. That is not the case for me. Two nights ago I slept for about six and half or seven hours and spent the following day feeling like I was going to die. Eight hours isn’t negotiable for me. It is a requirement. Nine is better. Otherwise all the carefully placed cards in this little house of mine crumble to the ground in an instant.
So.
How do I prioritize this ‘self care’ (most of which is physical) and ALSO manage not to lose my mind?
This is an interesting conundrum.
For the first time in more than a decade, I went to a therapist. This was prompted by my neurologist who pondered during my last appointment if the troubles I was facing in my MS journey were not, as it happened, brought on physically but rather, mentally.
That’s a cold bucket of water to the head if there ever was one. I’d been so focused on the physical side of my disease that I’d completely forgotten that the insidious monster doesn’t discriminate when it comes to triggers. And how (this I asked out loud) could the issue be mental when I’d left my job (y’know, the one with all the stress and anxiety and b.s.) nearly fifteen months earlier?
Mmmmmm.
So, self care is about a little bit more than a chiropractor and yoga and a Keto diet.
To me, right now, it’s about finding an anchor. And figuring out the direction of the wind. I feel physically better since I’ve been doing all of ‘the stuff’ but I also feel adrift and confused and lost. I’m not sure what I’m doing and at 38, retirement doesn’t feel right. So how can I leverage all this stuff and do something I love?
Yeah, I haven’t figured that out yet.
I love writing, but I never seem to find the time. I love cooking, but at the end of the day (when most of the cooking is done in our house) all I want to do is curl up on the couch and be quiet and still. I love traveling and restaurants and using my brain. But what with all the hot yoga and bike riding and chiro appointments I am too tired to even contemplate doing anything else. And if I went back to work full time, I’d give up everything that I have found to help control the disease. So, that’s a little like my own private Sophie’s Choice.
Anyway. My goal is to get back to this blog more regularly. Like Stephen King wrote in his amazing book “On Writing,” you really need to do it every day. Keep the muscles fresh. Keep honing the skill. Maybe, while I’m doing all this, something will clarify and I’ll find my way. Until then, I’m on my self care journey & I’m hoping that it keeps getting the job done.
starting again
When I left my job last January, I didn’t really have any idea what I was going to do. I was quite certain that I would spend February sleeping & watching junk TV (mission accomplished) but after that … it was sort of nebulous.
Last year was a good year. I found myself again, I worked through some things. I decided I wasn’t actually that bad of a person. I’d just maybe spent too much time in toxic situations surrounded by toxic people. (Let’s take a time out for a minute — I don’t think I really understood what a toxic person was until I understood myself, so that’s kinda the catch with toxic people. They come in all shapes and sizes and their toxicity is different depending on who they are interacting with … so it can get complicated.) But the thing is folks — anyone who makes you feel bad, who makes you doubt yourself, who is constantly stating the negative… probably toxic.
Also, being around people whose values, morals, ideas of life matched mine in a lot of ways — much healthier than being told all the time that I was doing it all wrong.
I think I’ve distracted myself with this train of thought. So I’m going to diverge for a minute. Just because my values and morals are different from yours doesn’t make mine right and yours wrong. It doesn’t even classify them. It’s just that I see life one way, and you see it another. And both those ways could be awesome. They could be fulfilling and exciting and full of adventure and learning and fun. It’s just that I prefer to do things my way, and you prefer to do them your way. If either of us start pointing fingers and belittling the other — that’s when it gets bad. I don’t necessarily agree with a lot of things. But it isn’t my place to tell you that YOU can’t do them. And in turn, you shouldn’t criticize my life because I make different choices. I’m not trying to solve the worlds problems right now. But I think this past year has given me a lot of perspective that I had lost.
Right, so my point of this post.
Next week I start a new job. It’s a scary job and it is completely outside my comfort zone. It isn’t like anything I’ve ever done in my entire life. I am terrified. But I am also hoping that this new step allows me to have purpose, earn an income and do something to help other people. Sitting at home for a year really helps you figure out your drive (or lack thereof). It tells you what you need to feel happy and fulfilled. And I’m hoping that going back to work and being part of society again is something I am able to handle without sacrificing everything I’ve worked so hard on this past year.
and now, we are here
This month has been a little crazy for me. Sooooo many MS appointments, needles in my arms, big magnets, life-saving drugs, etc etc.
Today, Facebook reminded me that a year ago, I left my old employer. It blew my mind that it has both been a year, and been.a.year! So much has changed.
To be fair, I probably should have left a lot earlier than I did. I don’t think I had any concept of how wildly unhappy I was until several months of decompression had occurred. Suddenly I wasn’t angry any more, I wasn’t constantly stressed out about things I couldn’t control and I began to see my life a little more clearly.
Multiple sclerosis is pretty serious. I mean, it is but it also isn’t. I think I’m just used to it by now. It’s just how my waking hours are shaped every day. I learn, I make adjustments, i forge on. I don’t think I spent nearly enough time thinking about that and how my life had changed with my diagnosis until I wasn’t working any more. I mean, my job controlled my whole life. It was always priority number one.
And let’s be honest. For years, it was a one in a million job. I had lucked out. But then, suddenly, it wasn’t anymore. And I had to call it. I don’t regret that.
I know this post is a little bit of a ramble through my mind, but everyone’s journey is different. Just like everyone’s MS is different. We all get up in the morning and do our best … and sometimes that’s enough and sometimes it isn’t. When I lie down to sleep every night (well, y’know, most nights when the fatigue hasn’t totally clobbered me) I do an inventory of the day. Did I drink enough water? Did I eat well? Did I exercise? Did the chores get done, the laundry folded, the groceries bought and put away? Did the damn floor get cleaned?!? (It is the bane of my existence). Did I moisturize, brush my teeth (this one is a little hard for me to forget, I’m manic about brushing my teeth!) did I take care of all my MS stuff …. I mean, the list doesn’t end. I’ve usually fallen asleep before I get through it.
MS makes you think about other things as well, when you’re ready to think about them. It makes you think about how you spend your time, how you spend your money, what you prioritize, who your real friends are. It helps you to shape your life in a better way — both mentally and physically. Possibly emotionally as well, but I’m not sure I’ve gotten there.
There are a million ways to live a life. When I left Z, I worried that I’d made the worst decision. That I would look back and regret it. I justified. I got angry. I twisted everything up and over-examined it. But you know what really healed all the pain that it had caused me?
Time.
Time away. Time pursuing other dreams. Time that rolled on and moved away. And suddenly, all the angst, all the introspection, all the heartache and self-doubt and stress and anxiety that those seven years had caused me feels very far away. And I feel free.
ebb & flow
Life can be a beast.
Sometimes it gets to you, it invades your thoughts, your heart. You become angry, feel helpless.
But I also believe life is like waves in an ocean. Everything ebbs and flows. The tough times help us appreciate the good times. The sadness helps us know the full extent of the happiness.
We flew home from Jamaica last Saturday. It was a long day. Snow and ice rain delayed flights … cancelled flights. We spent far too much time in a dumpy airport bar with Pizza Hut personal pies. I felt as though I’d never felt so tired. (Which is saying something, as I am intimately familiar with fatigue!).
But on either side of that misery was family, our home, goodness. Home cooked meals and evenings of laughter. Palm trees, blue ocean — soft blankets and drifts of white snow.
Snow has begun to fall again today. The skies are gray. I had to cancel my girls weekend because somewhere along the way, I got a head cold that knocked me sideways.
But Christmas is around the corner. Family and good food and snuggles. Ebb, flow.
never-ending
I’d like to believe that there’s a part of every single person that believes inherently that they are destined to do great things.
I mean, if we don’t all believe that, what are we doing? Are we really content with just being mediocre? Being middle of the road?
I don’t think that’s a thing.
And yet, in the months I’ve been home, I’ve come to see my restrictions so clearly it can be frightening. I’m tired — all the time. Not sometimes, or in the afternoon, or after a long day. All the time. When I’m rested, when I’ve eaten well, when I’ve slept through the night (it does happen!). I’m always tired. Sometimes it’s mild — like, whoops, I went to bed too late, but I can power through this day. Sometimes it’s so all-consuming I’m unsure whether my brain will ever function normally again. When I’m really tired, I forget things. A lot of things. It feels like I’m drunk, or perhaps drugged … like the world is faraway, and I’m seeing it all through water. I play a game every morning, just to test myself. I always try to remember what movie was on when I fell asleep. Sometimes it’s easy. I remember right away. Sometimes I have to ask John. Sometimes I just can’t remember, and I get so frustrated.
Today I wondered if I would ever be able to do anything ever again, the fatigue was so shattering.
And yet, I have to believe that if it’s something I care about, something I feel passionately about, I’ll get it done, I’ll figure it out.
There are a million things I want to do in my life. And I certainly don’t want MS to be the obstacle preventing me. And as I lay in bed after my nap today, I also knew deep down that I don’t want to be mediocre. I don’t want to come and go through this life and not leave a mark.
I think I’m finally ready to figure out my next phase, my next step, the next chapter of my life. If I can stay awake long enough! 🙂
gratitude
Do you know who you are?
I mean, really for real, deep in your gut, know yourself?
Do any of us?
Aren’t we all a work in progress, an exercise in trying and failing and trying again?
On Monday an old co-worker called. I think of him more as a pseudo brother ~ we had one of those relationships that ebbed and flowed and sometimes there were tears (mine, not his. And quite a long time ago). And a lot of time there was laughter. We enthused over Eminem years after his Marshall Mathers LP dominated my life. We were the blind leading the blind for many years, learning as we went, always being on call. He let me be me, and I think I did the same. We had an unspoken understanding of ‘how things were’ and we both worked hard to make everything perfect. We both got tired.
I’ve been spending this year trying to figure out who I am, what I want — what direction to go. Every few weeks I panic and send out a million resumes to jobs I don’t want (haha! They usually don’t want me, either!). I would get so tired I’d spend an entire day trying to make it to bedtime … only to get up every two hours throughout the night. I got frustrated, discouraged, afraid. And I was always exhausted. A little forlorn.
My conversation on Monday began to change all that. I remembered my passion for things, my determination. I remembered what I have to offer.
And for that, for that feeling of re-ignition, I am profoundly grateful. November is always the month when we post daily gratitudes (an exercise that I find invades all aspects of life, and somehow spreads sunshine on the darkest of days). But to feel that spark again, that motivation to act, to clear the cobwebs and once again move with purpose — there are no proper words of thankfulness.
There is only the warm glow of knowledge — of friendships forged in trenches, of industries full of passion and wonder, of unbridled love for food, and beverage and hospitality. Feelings that I thought died long, long ago. I am so grateful for new beginnings, for true friends, for second chances and for untapped opportunities.
hashtag me, too
When I saw the first #metoo post in my FB feed, my stomach flip-flopped and I felt a lump in my throat. I was overwhelmed with emotion. Let’s be honest ladies — we don’t talk about it. We never have.
Quite awhile ago, I told my husband about something that happened to me in college. I circled around the issue, I argued for and against. I justified, made excuses, twisted it up so much in my mind that I wasn’t sure exactly what had happened anymore. I knew how I felt then, I know how I feel every time I think about it now. Confused, scared, gray. But could I tell you the details? Not all these years later. I know that when it happened, and I talked about it the next day … or maybe it was several days … the reaction wasn’t good. It wasn’t accepting or understanding or sympathetic. It was distant with the acrid underlying of suspicion. If I hadn’t known before then — and I probably had — we just don’t talk about it. We soldier on. We endure.
I’m not a stupid girl. I have never knowingly put myself in silly situations. I’m quite certain I’ve never “asked for it.” I’m strong and I’m smart and it has still happened to me. More than once. In more than one environment. Being smart or strong doesn’t make you immune.
Several years ago something happened at work. It made me feel very uncomfortable. Very vulnerable. Kinda gross & icky. The reactions from co-workers were the same as the reactions had been in college. Even the sympathetic eyes were guarded, silent. No need to be drawn in. Just move on, forget about it. For God’s sake, stop talking about it.
My mother, on the other hand, was appalled. She immediately called for my resignation. My father was quiet. He didn’t say much of anything. Maybe he didn’t know what to say. Maybe it’s all so ingrained in us that this is what happens. This is what we must overcome.
I didn’t quit. I stayed. But I never forgot.
The thing is, the #metoo movement means more than just violent rape at a college fraternity party. It means more than stereotypical ideas of sexual harassment and assault. It is the idea of bringing attention to a systematic thought pattern in our society. That not only is the habitual act of sexual harassment wrong, but also wrong is the idea of shaming those who choose to talk about it. Those who would like to make a difference.
As a woman who has experienced a myriad of sexual harassment and discrimination, I have stayed silent because I felt powerless. Who would believe me? Would it be worth the inevitable pain and suffering of bringing things to light?
I’m okay. I have soldiered on and endured. In many ways, i have forgotten. But that doesn’t make it alright. It doesn’t make it acceptable and forgiven. It is a tough, painful thing to contemplate, to consider wading through to the other side.
In the end, we are all human. We should all treat others as we would like to be treated. (Although this calls into question if all people want to be treated as we ourselves would like to be treated ….). We should treat others with decency and respect. With thoughtfulness and kindness. Unfortunately, we do not currently have a leader who demonstrates these things. That makes it challenging. It makes the going feel tougher than it should.
I stand in solidarity with all the women, all the humans, who posted #metoo. I stand with you in strength and in understanding and with love and compassion. I know how hard it is to admit these things that we have swept away, that we have hidden under layers of defenses and justifications. I stand and I hold my head high. Because even though it’s hard to comprehend sometimes, I didn’t do anything wrong. And neither did the other women who have suffered in silence.
sometimes
Sometimes it’s virtually impossible to be positive.
Despite this blog and my obsession with Instagram ([at]simplygwyn if you are curious) I’m a pretty private person. I don’t relish in other people’s misfortune (or fortune) and I don’t always like to share my own. Have I had tough times? Oh, yes. Have I had amazing triumphs? Yes, it could be said. Do I tend to share those specifics either here or via my social media identity? Usually not.
Today has been a brutal day. For many reasons. MS, obviously. I finally slept through the night but I woke up exhausted and without motivation to do anything. Feeling that way is frustrating, sometimes as though I’m watching myself through a thick pane of glass, all the details blurry and no way to communicate to myself. It’s hard for others to understand — there’s nothing physical that signals my distress, my struggles. I look fine, so I should be fine. I discriminate against myself using that logic all the time.
When you start a day feeling listless and then one thing after another pummels you — it’s very hard to rally. I rode my bike — something that helps sometimes, but doesn’t always. I did one of my longest rides ever — 32.1 miles in 90 minutes. Yay! Go me …. I think.
John got home close to 4pm and brought in the mail. Yup, I’d been such a slug all day, I hadn’t picked up the mail on Lucy and my afternoon walk. It happens folks, that’s the reality of my life. In the mail was a delightful form letter from our new insurance advising me that after review, my MS medication would not be covered and all future costs would be 100% our responsibility.
Whomp. Whoosh. Air sucked out of my lungs, tears stinging my eyes. And this was at the end of an already brutal day.
I’ve been on five drug therapies for MS. I’ve read all kinds of blogs and posts about controlling MS without drugs. I drink green smoothies religiously. I can be enormously fussy about the food I eat. I work hard every day but I cannot NOT be on medication. Before Tysabri I had Lydia (my cane, for those who weren’t reading my blog in 2014). I could barely walk up stairs. My disease progression was aggressive and scary and bad. And now, here I am. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has decided that they won’t cover the only medication that has ever worked for me. Somehow, a huge insurance company now controls my life. Literally, my life.
Today, it must be said, has not been a good day.
doctor daze
Now that I’m in my third year of Tysabri I get to see Dr. M four times a year — every three months. Plus side, only two of those visits require MRI scans. Minus side — it’s four times a year I feel outside of myself, unable to articulate myself, overwhelmed by fear.
Yesterday, as John and I made our way back to the car, hot tears stung my eyes and I clutched my paperwork tightly in clammy hands. I’d felt five years old in that office. I’d felt out of my depth, unsure, wrong. It’s a terrible way to feel.
I go to see Dr. M armed with a list of queries typed haphazardly in my phone. I don’t know why I even bother. The answers are always the same. It could be MS. It could be something else. It could just be aging. It could be something different entirely.
Do doctors want us to spend our lives in and out of waiting rooms, forever chasing answers to unanswerable questions? Here’s a referral to a urologist, one for a psychiatrist, another for a gastroenterologist; here’s one for a DIFFERENT neurologist, because that’s not in my realm of practice. Perhaps also a cardiologist?
Clearly, all us sick people have copious amounts of time and energy at our disposal to spend time on the phone (making appointments, haggling with insurance, etc etc), driving to and from all the appointments, following up on treatments and recommendations. It’s a true joy to be told the same thing over and over.
They just can’t be sure. It might be this, it could be that. Have you seen so-and-so yet?
And it’s not just me. It’s my mother, my father-in-law … so many other people struggling for answers, for a direction.
As we approached 95 from 76 I turned to John. “I think we need to make doctor days sushi days. Can we do that?” He smiled and nodded.
consequences
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about consequences.
A little bit about how as we get older, we are much more aware (wary?) of the consequences of our actions. Some thoughts about how when we were young other things informed our decisions – fun, experience, etc.
Sometimes consequences have to be dealt with even if we wouldn’t have chosen the action. I deal with the ‘consequences’ of MS every day, and I have to admit, I mostly wish I didn’t. But here’s the thing — some consequences of this disease have been good. I’m infinitely healthier than I might otherwise have been. I get more sleep, I eat better food, I work out a.lot more than I ever might have. I drink a ton of water every day. None of that is bad.
But I also have to think about everything. If I do something physical, what are the risks of hurting myself? If I hurt myself, how long will it take this broken down body of mine to heal? I recently went to Hilton Head for a few days with my parents. We drove down (it’s a long ride in the car, let me tell you!) and I flew home. I tried as hard as I could to maintain normalcy for this finicky body but despite my best efforts, I spent about 36 hours after getting home trying to recover. From what, you ask.
Excellent question.
From life. From the dehydration I accidentally caused myself by not keeping up with my water drinking. From the strange schedule that my body couldn’t find the rhythm to. From fatigue caused by not sleeping in my own bed, in my own sheets, with my ceiling fan and window.
I know, this all sounds ridiculous. I need to buck up, stop being such a fuss pot.
I one thousand million trillion percent agree.
Only, it doesn’t work like that for me anymore.
I quit my job at the beginning of the year. For many reasons. Being wildly unhappy was the final catalyst, something I’d pushed down for years (I understood the consequence of giving up my salary and wasn’t ready to take the leap for a long, loooonnng time. That maturity and awareness had not informed my earlier years of job hopping because I didn’t think about the financial consequences quite as much in my early to mid twenties and before MS).
Anyway, I quit my job. As the months have passed, I’ve come back to myself in so many ways. I’ve remembered who I was before I was so completely miserable. And I have also become more aware of how everything — and I mean everything — is affected by my disease.
Which brings me back to consequences. Every action I take has a consequence. In some ways, our lives are the result of the consequences of our actions. Every time I decide to stray from my routine, my body manifests the consequences. I’m not one of those people who can pop an Advil or two, drink a tall glass of water, and not feel the effects of a day at a bar the next morning. I feel all of the effects. Pain in my body from sitting on a bar stool, pain in my abdomen from eating too much processed food, pain in my head from having one too many glasses of wine (despite also drinking a water with each one). And worst of all, the pain of unrelenting fatigue.
Here’s the thing, too. Sometimes, adrenaline keeps me going for a few days. When I was in Hilton Head, i didn’t feel bad. I felt a little sleep deprived but nothing horrible. It wasn’t until I got home that my body succumbed to all that ailed it. When I was working, I pushed through. I knew my responsibilities and I got things done. I didn’t really feel the fatigue or the emotional toll it had all been taking until it was over, and my body collapsed from the sustained effort to keep going.
It’s a delicate balance, the art of considering the consequences and choosing what to do and what to pass on. I know that people must look at me sometimes and wonder what my problem is. “But she looks so healthy! She looks better than she used to look!”
Yup. But I don’t feel better than I used to feel. I am not, in actual fact, healthy. I mean, relatively, I am. But I still have a disease eating away at my brain and spinal cord. I still have to journey to the hospital every twenty-eight days to be infused with powerful medication. I still feel the slow deterioration of my abilities. I am still so, so, unbelievably tired.
So yeah. I’ve been thinking a lot about consequences. How to minimize them. How to choose wisely. And I’m still so, so tired.
D5 Creation