More Wheelchair Business

I had the next appointment at our state's Vocational Rehabilitation. The meeting went better than I thought. The counselor at least seems open to helping me. I am still going through the process. It was just exhausting. I guess I had not thought about all the diagnoses I have. The most upsetting part was how they feed into each other. I was exhausted after the one and a half hour meeting. The counselor was very thorough. The next step is the counselor is sending a release and request for information to my doctor. My doctor has already said she would help. I will post more as I learn more.

I have not posted in a very long time again. I guess I need to write some more about what is happening to me I find it hard to write about myself. I can write about the adult children with autism easier. Well all the adult children.n I am finally at the point that having Fibromyalgia is affecting my work in a large way. I am forgetting appointments on a regular basis. The joys of fibrofog. I am also not able to get places I need to be for meetings. I need a wheelchair. The one that would fit my weight is expensive though. At least expensive for me. I also do not have any way to get another vehicle so it needs to be one I can take apart. I have found one but the expense... I have insurance with the Affordable Heath Care Act. But as close as I understand they only pay for part of it. I made an appointment with our state's vocational rehabilitation to see if they can help. I will post more as I know more. Do you have any experience on trying to get a wheelchair? It would definitely be simpler if I could pay for it myself.

Keeping Warm with Fibromyalgia

I saw some recreational vehicles in the Walmart parking lot last night. It reminded me of my Fibromyalgia. I imagined that the occupants were people who had come here from up north. I imagined what it would be like to travel and live like that.

One of the things I wish when it starts to get cold is that I could winter in a warmer climate. Then I remember that I do live in a warmer climate. In Louisiana we have short winters and long summers.

I tend to hurt more during the winters. During the summers I am cranky. I do not like it when it is hot. Some people think that the winters here are more painful because it is a wet cold. I tend to think wet cold compared to temperatures below freezing are not really a comparison that is helpful.

My main goal is to keep warm. Keeping warm seems to reduce the Fibromyalgia pain. I have a pair of hunting socks to wear at night. Although it cost a little less than ten dollars for a pair of socks it was cheaper than the compression socks I started out looking for.

Those hunting socks are certainly warm too. They helped keep me warm all night. Unfortunately by morning they also made my calves of my legs hurt. I will have to remember to take then off sometime during the night.

I also use the disposable heating pads during the night. The name brand is Thermacare. I really do not buy the name brand though. I buy the cheaper off-brands. They are designed to lay and gently stick to the area that hurts. For me, my shoulders almost always have Fibromyalgia Pain so that is a good place to start.

I use them for that type of pain. I also move one around on various parts of my torso. They keep me warm when I am achy all over. The heating pad also lasts longer than it says they do on the box. Sometimes they last as much as four times longer. Maybe the name brand would last longer than that.

My fibromyalgia pain also responds to hot baths. I keep a box of Epsom salts around for the bath too. Epsom salt baths are recommended by licensed massage therapists after a massage. The salts draw out toxins that have been released by the massage. I also hear that coaches tell their players to use Epson salts after a work-out.

These are just a few of the things I do to help with the pain during this time of year. Except summering farther south, I just dream about that.

The joy of Fibromyalgia is that I forgot what I have done before. So if I have spoke about this before sorry!

One of my theories with no basis other than my own experience is that I have to find new ways of doing things in everyday life. One of those things is my grabber. My shoulders hurt to much to be able to reach things that have fallen behind stuff or things that are too high. The grabber is a big help. At least on days when my hands don't hurt.

So what is your favorite piece of equipment?