Manic Mondays

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and start to the year. Mine started off decently enough, migraines notwithstanding, and then I ended up in Urgent Care Saturday afternoon.

I legitimately thought I was having one of those days where putting contact lenses in simply wasn’t going to happen. Normally this only happens once in a while during the summer, but after having no problem with the first one, I proceeded as usual. The other lens caused excruciating pain I’ve never felt before (at least not in my eye) within 10-15 seconds of it going in. It took me roughly ten minutes to pry the lens out of my left eye by force, because the pain was unbelievable and the body’s immediate defense is to practically lock the top lid down, which only makes it worse. I was actually screaming as I tried to remove it, and both of my eyes were tearing. It was not a good moment for me and I’m glad no one was here because I scared the hell out of myself, G-d only knows how someone else might have reacted to my shrieking like a banshee. I tossed the lens immediately because I couldn’t see a tear or a micro-tear to have caused a problem, but I wasn’t about to fight with a thin piece of plastic, it’s just not worth it. When in doubt, throw it out.

Unfortunately after that, I was temporarily unable to see a damn thing out of that eye, which scared the crap out of me. My eye swelled up, was bright red, and I couldn’t open it until a few hours later. In some type of solidarity, my right eye also swelled up. Thankfully Urgent Care was quick, efficient, and verified that I have a scratched cornea beneath my pupil. I was pretty certain that’s what it was after deciding I likely hadn’t had a stroke (It was that scary, I’m not dramatic. Plus, women don’t always experience traditional stroke symptoms, so I had just cause to be concerned.). It takes a LOT for me to seek medical attention because, over time and through much negative experience, I’ve lost all respect for the medical field on a whole. I’m tired of being treated like crap all across the board, but when it comes to my vision, there’s no negotiation. I am grateful it is something simple that is treatable. I’ll be better later this week. In the meantime, I have a “fun” antibiotic gel to help it heal and to spice things up with some humor, my brother called yesterday afternoon to find out if they gave me an eye patch. I should have said “Yes, and I’m hoping to be an extra in the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie.”, but the question caught me off-guard and I momentarily thought he’d lost his marbles.

And so, I sit here stressed, sleep-deprived, contemplating writing a number of different things, with little energy to do much of anything. I have often said that anger fuels me to be a better person, and at times, it does, but this morning I discovered that the flip side of anger can easily poison the mind and make you hostile and bitter. I’m lethal enough on my own, I certainly don’t need anger to fuel rage or any other negative emotion. I am glad I was able to see it for myself, not allow my own brain to poison me, and did something productive by talking about what I am going to do to nip that thought process in the bud, because in all likelihood, it will continue to creep in and I’m trying to move forward, not take a giant leap back into muddy waters. I don’t like involving Western medicine to handle this sort of thing, but it’s technically the only option I have at the moment, so I’m going to give it a shot. I spoke with my doctor and he suggested cutting the pills in half so that I don’t get slammed by coma-like drowsiness. The second I caught myself “going to the dark side”, I grabbed the bottle out of the drawer and began cutting a few pills in half. Perhaps tonight, I will sleep like a regularly scheduled human-being, because between last night and today, sleep was a cute little joke waving to me from a billboard. 😦 I wasn’t the least bit amused.

The other day someone e-mailed me about Fibromyalgia surgery in Dublin, Ireland. No matter how much research I did, there was no information available about this so-called “surgery that stops the center of the pain”. If Fibromyalgia is triggered by something in the brain, wouldn’t that, in all likelihood, be some form of brain surgery?

What I did find in my research is a toxin draining program which makes little sense to me since flushing toxins out of the lymph nodes need not cost somewhere between $800-$1100. While it claims to have an 80% success rate within 8-12 weeks, people who have actually completed 12-18 weeks of the program in the desperate hope to come away pain-free experienced no difference in their pain levels at all, just a vast decrease in their bank account. 😦 I strongly urge people to be aware of things of this nature. Yes, every Fibro patient on the planet would probably eat bark every day for a month if it was guaranteed to cure them, but we often forget that there is currently no approved cure. There are treatments in the works, but there is currently no cure. When there is, there will be a collective sigh of relief from sufferers all over the world, but until that day, don’t fall for bullshit that is going to leave you broke. Research DIY ways of flushing toxins out of your system, if you so desire, but until you know 10-20 other people who’ve successfully received a treatment method, do what is right for you, not what others claim has a chance of helping. There’s a strong chance it will snow tonight, someplace, somewhere, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to wake up to a winter wonderland, or be healed.

If you love someone who sufferers from the debilitating disease that is Fibromyalgia, I assure you they’re not “being lazy” or “sitting around doing nothing”. They’re in real pain. They will tell you they’re okay and cry privately. My family sees me limping around, barely able to move much of the time despite the fact that I push myself so much these days, but often expect me to do things “like a normal, healthy person” because even after all these years, it still has not sunk in that I’m legitimately not well.

Everyone wants the athletic, healthy Lisa back, and so do I, but the more I have to hear about how I’m “ALWAYS sick”, the worse it makes the pain. Stress exacerbates Fibromyalgia. It’s important to leave your personal expectations on the side of a road, cover them with dirt, and look closely at your loved one’s face. No one should have to mask their pain, sensitivity to light and sound, or any other symptom in order to make you feel better about yourself. We’re suffering, don’t make it worse for us. And if you cannot stick it out, for whatever reason, be honest, and please let the door hit you where the Good Lord split you.