Blog

It’s been a busy, busy month! We did so much: like continuing physical therapy. My shoulder pain is getting worse. I’m going to make an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon very soon, probably after we return from New York in mid-November.

I still continued to wake up between 3-4am, which was a bummer. But for the past week or 2, I’ve mostly been able to sleep through the night, so that’s good. I haven’t paid enough attention though to see if this makes a difference.

The shakes are as bad as ever, but not too bad compared to before. Still hard for me to insert contact lenses, and sometimes (still) insert a crochet hook into a stitch. Also, my hands shake whenever I try to do something like eat. If I pick something up with my fork, you can bet it’ll roll off and not make it to my mouth.

We went to an apple festival! I was so looking forward to this festival that has only been held for 3ish years. I knew they were selling seasonal caramel apples (the kind on a stick), and I get some every year, but at the owner’s store.

I don’t know what I was thinking, but Apple Fest was the most horrible idea ever because anxiety. It was way more crowded than in previous years, and the crowd was going in all directions, some standing in the middle of the street — just stopped where they were, to take pictures! Couldn’t they stand to one side?

In addition, Rudy was with us because we wanted to give him an outing. So not only did we have to navigate through these bodies, we had to make sure Rudy was able to come along instead of stopping at places to smell the smells. Next year I think I’ll stick with my original plan and buy the caramel apples at the store, even if Rudy loves all the smells!

I’m still volunteering, 2 hours once a week. I’ve settled in to volunteering as a helper with the dogs, or to writing thank-you cards to donors. That keeps my volunteering time balanced, in terms of what I’m doing.

We’ve done so much this month, and despite the Apple Fest, had fun. Happy Halloween! 🎃👻💀

Do you have a dog?

So I’ve been showering regularly (every other day)!! Some of you know how much trouble I have with that. It was tough at the beginning of the month, but as the month progressed I was better about it. Sometimes I still have to push myself, but not too much or too often. I will attempt to shower every day when I’m ready.

As for sleep, it’s unbelievably worse! I used to wake up around 5am every day, and now it’s more like 1:30 or 2am!

For some reason, the shakes, which are a side effect of lithium, grew worse. It’s hard to crochet because I have trouble inserting the hook into the loops. My hand shakes too much. I definitely can’t put on mascara because the wand shakes really badly. It did before, but not as bad and I was still able to put mascara on, but this time it’s just so bad. I contacted my psychiatrist and he increased the dose of propranolol, which is a beta blocker that helps reduce the shaking. After a week the increase made no difference, so he now has me taking a lithium twice a day instead of all at once. So far, it’s only improved slightly.

Speaking of crochet, I signed up to crochet various items for sick people. I get the pattern and yarn sent to me, and I do the projects. After, I can do whatever I want with them or I could send them to an organization that works with patients, particularly chemo patients.

I will also begin volunteering at a local dog rescue starting tomorrow!! I’m excited and nervous at the same time. At least the shelter will be closed that day so I won’t have to deal with the public. I am scared, but I am looking forward to it. Some readers know that I’ve been wanting to volunteer for a long time. Now it’s a reality. That just blows my mind.