Search This Blog

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Lupus and pain scales

When you tell your doctor that you are experiencing pain, the doctor often asks what type of pain you are feeling? Sharp pain? Stabbing pain? Dull pain? But the problem with lupus is that the answer can be all of the above. You can feel a dull ache in your joints while resting, but an intense, sharp pain when you try to bend them.

And the answer is also complex when the doctor asks, "On a scale of 1-10, how is your pain?" Different areas of the body experience different levels of pain. And as a lupus patient, you live with almost constant pain during flares. So, you start to get used to pain. And as your pain threshold grows, your pain number can decrease despite no change in actual pain levels.

When I'm stressed, my pain levels fluctuate so dramatically. This makes it so hard to plan activities and to plan projects. And not being able to plan projects makes the stress levels increase. It's very cyclical.

Anyhow, this pain has made remodeling and building difficult. In the last 3 months, I've not accomplished as much around our new-to-us house as I have planned. We have a huge list of to-dos, but haven't made as large of a dent in it as I'd like. But we have made a dent, and I'm thankful for that. We have had our wood floors refinished. One of our bathrooms has been remodeled, although the contractors didn't do a very good job and we're going to have to redo it. I have made a beautiful upholstered bed and tufted headboard for our bedroom, a new rustic & modern dining table, an upholstered storage ottoman, a tilt-out garbage bin, a liquor cabinet, a side table, and refinished two chairs for our den. I still have to finish a daybed, chairs for the dining table, a bench for the dining table, a laundry basket dresser, a shoe dresser, and two small square ottomans for in front of the daybed. The to-do list just seems so large! I just hope it's not too cold of a winter as the cold makes the pain worse! I just have to remind myself that I need to suck it up and deal with it :-)

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

No races right now

I haven't be able to run any races in a while because too many other things are going on in my life.

First, my blood pressure has been too high, and my Dr. doesn't want me to stroke out while I run. So, she told me not to run until we can figure out if my lupus is hurting my kidneys, and until we can get my numbers down. Luckily, it's slowly getting lower, and will hopefully be back to normal soon. I can't wait to get clearance to run again!

Second, my husband and I just bought a house. It was a foreclosure, and it needed a lot of work. We've been using our spare money (a.k.a., my racing fund) to renovate and furnish our new place. Working on our house has been a physical drain. With the stress and physical activity, I feel like I'm in a constant flare-up. It's really hard to hold a saw steady when your finger joints are swollen and inflamed.

Third, any extra money we have that hasn't gone into the house is being saved so we can visit my grandparents. My grandfather has inoperable, un-treatable pancreatic cancer. I want to spend as much time as possible with him before he leaves this world for a better place.

With these three interrupting factors, my racing has been put aside for a few months. In a couple of months, I should start again. But for now, there are other things that need my attention.