Yesterday I had another episode where my entire body locked up for a good 30 minutes from severe pain.
Was it the weather? Was it lifting a heavy pot of water to boil pasta? Or was it just the Fibromyalgia doing what it does?
I had spent the morning making a lasagna with my daughters, complete with home-made sauce (the Italian in me always whispers home-made!) The lasagnas nearly done and lunch being eaten, I suddenly remembered the cold front was coming and I needed to pick the green beans and peppers before the frost that night.
Off I went with one daughter trailing behind as the drizzle of cool rain began.
Three large bowls later and we headed back inside, when, as I approached the kitchen, my body literally began to freeze up to the point I could not get my coat off.
The pains were excruciating!
I knew the feeling as it’s happened to me several times this year, so I got into a chair as quickly as I could before I was completely locked up.
Tears of sadness and pain slowly made their way down my cheeks. My nose was running from the cold outside, but I could not even will my hands to move, let alone raise them to wipe my nose. The only movable things on me were my eyes, which noticed the concerned looks on my three daughter’s faces.
That made me want to cry more.
Instead I told them that Mommy was being very brave battling this monster and that seeing their sweet faces only brought me tears of joy!
Twenty or so minutes later my hands began to move, then my arms and a much-needed Kleenex, and then Ibuprofen, then a walk down the hall to lay down and rest. Less than 3 minutes and I was out!
I awoke an hour later, still sore and “jointy”…I managed to climb into a hot shower…
After redressing (which is a chore in itself) I entered the kitchen to find the beans washed and snapped and hot jars in the boiler ready to be canned.
How blessed am I???
With a birthday the next day (actually two, my youngest daughter and I share the date…but I relinquished my birthday with aging years ago to her!! Ha, ha!) I still needed to make her an ice cream cake.
She has a sweet disposition and quietly came up to me and said she did not need a cake this year. (Bless her heart! She did not want me to feel more pain making it. That is all the more reason she will get one!)
And so, one mint chocolate chip and Oreo ice cream cake was born!
The Ibuprofen had barely taken the edge off, but I could feel it wearing off, nonetheless.
I spent the rest of the evening curled up with the almost birthday girl as she curled up with her “bestis birthday momma” and we watched a couple of movies.
This is just a day in the life with the new normal for me.
Fibromyalgia is a drag, but having a loving family makes it bearable.
I awoke this morning to a beautiful birthday card from my husband and wrapped presents in the family room from the kiddos!
Even with the rainy autumn day, it promises to be a good one…pain or more pain!
God Bless-
~The Fibro Momma of Ten