General life update, mostly fibro and massage stuff (with links)
Ow. owowowow. Nothing wrong with it, but hellasore after yesterday's massage. Hot shower is totally on the To-Do list today.
Me to massage therapist: Yeah, the muscles in my neck are pretty tight.
Him: That's not "tight" that's corded steel. I could work on just your neck for two hours.
He was also finding trigger points absolutely everywhere. We mostly focused on my neck and upper back, given the migraine problems, but he got a general feel for my lower back and the mess through my lumbar vertebrae and sacrum.
Next appt is Sept 4th. Hoping that working out some of the tension will help with the tension headaches that crawl up the back of my neck and meet the migraines in the middle, thereby making everything worse. I'm hoping to schedule appointments every two weeks for the foreseeable future (I'd do weekly, but that gets too pricey even with the employee discount -- it's $45/session). It's something I've wanted to pursue for quite a while; there's moderate support in the literature for massage as an effective short-term therapy for fibromyalgia symptoms. It won't fix things, but done regularly it may help alleviate symptoms. And alleviating symptoms can leave more space for exercise to combat deconditioning (that's also part of why I don't have a car; it's harder on me, but also requires greater activity levels -- haven't figured out whether it's a worthwhile trade-off, but it's combined with financial burden issues and heavy med/driving safety issues). And massage isn't another med in my system, which is important to me.
Related: Physical therapy in the treatment of fibromyalgia (I already have access to TENS and some of the other therapies, but my hot tub is broken so no awesome hot soaks for me. Boo.)
Hypermobility and deconditioning: important links to fibromyalgia/fibrositis. I'm hypermobile as well, fwiw. Strengthening the muscular support for loose joints is definitely beneficial. (really old article, though)
So the appointment itself? Great. The trip there? Really, really not so great. Walked down to Unique, picked up some cheap leather belts ($3 for DIY bondage gear), and some great books for Kidlet ($4 for a whole stack, including a glow-in-the-dark dino skeleton one!). Awesome! Yay! Now carrying said stack of books and belts with me for the rest of the trip, so I have two bags instead of just my usual messenger bag crammed full of crap. Finished the walk down to W. 25th instead of waiting on a bus. Exercise is good, I was feeling decent. Google says that's .6 miles, and I walk it pretty frequently when I'm in condition to do so. A rapid, a bus, then according to Google I only had another .5 walk to get to my appt at TRW (it's where my office might move, but I've never been there before). Well, yes and no. That got me to the beginning of the fucking .7 mile driveway (we measured on the way out afterwards). I almost cried at several points as I rounded curves and realized I still wasn't anywhere near there. I'd heard it was set back from the road, but are you kidding me? "Wellness Center" and "Integrative Medicine" -- really not accessible to anyone with chronic pain and mobility problems who has to travel by bus (and that's a lot of us, since chronic illness tends to make you poor and often leave you in "driving is a bad idea" kind of shape anyway). I'm just glad I didn't hit it in the middle of the day or the middle of the winter. I can't imagine. It's kind of embarrassing that under two miles of walking in a 2 hour span can fuck me up, but it does. And there are a lot of days it would be flat-out impossible. That's a great deal of what triggered the near tearbursts during the walk up the drive while everyone drove past me; the fears and anxiety it brings up about my own mobility and functionality.
So by the time I got to the actual appointment I was 20 minutes late, in massive pain, and on the edge of tears. Fun. My massage therapist was very chill about the timing though, and didn't give me any guilt for it. I really appreciate that, not sure I could've coped at the time if he'd been shitty about it. The massage was lovely, and we chatted a bit about the kinkster/chronic pain overlap I've noticed anecdotally, as well as a number of other topics. Chad picked me up afterward, although we got lost trying to find the mysterious and apparently imaginary "Center Elevator" (found East and West, couldn't find anything in between them) that went back down to the parking garage, so we had to walk around the entire building to get back there. With the TRW preferences for wide looping drives, this was a much longer walk than I wanted, but not the end of the world by any stretch. And I think I've spotted the shortcut that only involves hopping a low fence to get straight from Legacy Village parking lot into the actual part of the TRW property where the buildings are. Good to know for future reference, definitely. Would drop the walk from the bus stop from about 1.2 miles to about .1, I'd bet. Oh, here's a map: 1950 Richmond Rd -- See that "A" marker? That's totally not the building. Look directly below that, you'll see the main entrance and the long as fuck looping driveway (it'd be lovely for birdwatching and such; it's gorgeous woody land). The actual building is the cross-shaped one directly above the mall. Oy. Had I known, I could've gotten off at the Legacy Village stop, walked straight back through the parking lots, and hopped the fence. Instead, I got off at Richmond and Cedar, walked from there to the front gate and down the entire driveway. Couldn't short-cut anywhere on those big loops because I didn't know where the building would ultimately be. *grump* But, now I know!
A bit of crosspost from FB yesterday:
Oh frabjous day! Callooh callay! Massage appointment on my way! (from the bus)
Been going commando vast majority of past 25 years. Only actually own underwear now for doctor's appts and kink value, and that amounts to about five pair (that I actually had to go buy for that express purpose). As a result, I have to write notes to myself reminding me if I need it, am inordinately pleased with myself when I actually remember to leave the house wearing it, but as a side-effect feel insufferably kinky and crotch-focused the entire time. It makes me giggle. Also, makes me horny.
I've been trimming my nails obsessively. This is pretty much always a direct indicator of my libido. *evil grin* (from the sex filter, but I'm more conservative about that over there than over here, since it's behind an LJ-cut)
I don't know why, but Spike has been SO friendly recently. Even all about the bellyrubs, which he normally doesn't allow. Don't know the reason, but really digging it. My bedroom's been the best and most controllable of environments with the unending migraine, so I'm kind of planning to work on re-organizing that today, and doing a few general household chores, probably in small chunks.
Huh. Updating my Fet profile in another window. Did they add more gender options? I don't recall Genderqueer being an option before, or I'm not sure why I wouldn't have chosen it. Yay! *switches*
To Do List:
Catbox
Yard cleaning
sort kids' books
sew/repair Kidlet toys (two stuffed animals with holes, and I should hit BaDa, my old teddy bear, as well)
Finish sorting grocery list for shopping tonight
Hot Shower
Sleep
Meds
Finish two unfinished posts (sex filter)
Sort inbox
Grocery shop with Liv
Me to massage therapist: Yeah, the muscles in my neck are pretty tight.
Him: That's not "tight" that's corded steel. I could work on just your neck for two hours.
He was also finding trigger points absolutely everywhere. We mostly focused on my neck and upper back, given the migraine problems, but he got a general feel for my lower back and the mess through my lumbar vertebrae and sacrum.
Next appt is Sept 4th. Hoping that working out some of the tension will help with the tension headaches that crawl up the back of my neck and meet the migraines in the middle, thereby making everything worse. I'm hoping to schedule appointments every two weeks for the foreseeable future (I'd do weekly, but that gets too pricey even with the employee discount -- it's $45/session). It's something I've wanted to pursue for quite a while; there's moderate support in the literature for massage as an effective short-term therapy for fibromyalgia symptoms. It won't fix things, but done regularly it may help alleviate symptoms. And alleviating symptoms can leave more space for exercise to combat deconditioning (that's also part of why I don't have a car; it's harder on me, but also requires greater activity levels -- haven't figured out whether it's a worthwhile trade-off, but it's combined with financial burden issues and heavy med/driving safety issues). And massage isn't another med in my system, which is important to me.
Related: Physical therapy in the treatment of fibromyalgia (I already have access to TENS and some of the other therapies, but my hot tub is broken so no awesome hot soaks for me. Boo.)
Hypermobility and deconditioning: important links to fibromyalgia/fibrositis. I'm hypermobile as well, fwiw. Strengthening the muscular support for loose joints is definitely beneficial. (really old article, though)
So the appointment itself? Great. The trip there? Really, really not so great. Walked down to Unique, picked up some cheap leather belts ($3 for DIY bondage gear), and some great books for Kidlet ($4 for a whole stack, including a glow-in-the-dark dino skeleton one!). Awesome! Yay! Now carrying said stack of books and belts with me for the rest of the trip, so I have two bags instead of just my usual messenger bag crammed full of crap. Finished the walk down to W. 25th instead of waiting on a bus. Exercise is good, I was feeling decent. Google says that's .6 miles, and I walk it pretty frequently when I'm in condition to do so. A rapid, a bus, then according to Google I only had another .5 walk to get to my appt at TRW (it's where my office might move, but I've never been there before). Well, yes and no. That got me to the beginning of the fucking .7 mile driveway (we measured on the way out afterwards). I almost cried at several points as I rounded curves and realized I still wasn't anywhere near there. I'd heard it was set back from the road, but are you kidding me? "Wellness Center" and "Integrative Medicine" -- really not accessible to anyone with chronic pain and mobility problems who has to travel by bus (and that's a lot of us, since chronic illness tends to make you poor and often leave you in "driving is a bad idea" kind of shape anyway). I'm just glad I didn't hit it in the middle of the day or the middle of the winter. I can't imagine. It's kind of embarrassing that under two miles of walking in a 2 hour span can fuck me up, but it does. And there are a lot of days it would be flat-out impossible. That's a great deal of what triggered the near tearbursts during the walk up the drive while everyone drove past me; the fears and anxiety it brings up about my own mobility and functionality.
So by the time I got to the actual appointment I was 20 minutes late, in massive pain, and on the edge of tears. Fun. My massage therapist was very chill about the timing though, and didn't give me any guilt for it. I really appreciate that, not sure I could've coped at the time if he'd been shitty about it. The massage was lovely, and we chatted a bit about the kinkster/chronic pain overlap I've noticed anecdotally, as well as a number of other topics. Chad picked me up afterward, although we got lost trying to find the mysterious and apparently imaginary "Center Elevator" (found East and West, couldn't find anything in between them) that went back down to the parking garage, so we had to walk around the entire building to get back there. With the TRW preferences for wide looping drives, this was a much longer walk than I wanted, but not the end of the world by any stretch. And I think I've spotted the shortcut that only involves hopping a low fence to get straight from Legacy Village parking lot into the actual part of the TRW property where the buildings are. Good to know for future reference, definitely. Would drop the walk from the bus stop from about 1.2 miles to about .1, I'd bet. Oh, here's a map: 1950 Richmond Rd -- See that "A" marker? That's totally not the building. Look directly below that, you'll see the main entrance and the long as fuck looping driveway (it'd be lovely for birdwatching and such; it's gorgeous woody land). The actual building is the cross-shaped one directly above the mall. Oy. Had I known, I could've gotten off at the Legacy Village stop, walked straight back through the parking lots, and hopped the fence. Instead, I got off at Richmond and Cedar, walked from there to the front gate and down the entire driveway. Couldn't short-cut anywhere on those big loops because I didn't know where the building would ultimately be. *grump* But, now I know!
A bit of crosspost from FB yesterday:
Oh frabjous day! Callooh callay! Massage appointment on my way! (from the bus)
Been going commando vast majority of past 25 years. Only actually own underwear now for doctor's appts and kink value, and that amounts to about five pair (that I actually had to go buy for that express purpose). As a result, I have to write notes to myself reminding me if I need it, am inordinately pleased with myself when I actually remember to leave the house wearing it, but as a side-effect feel insufferably kinky and crotch-focused the entire time. It makes me giggle. Also, makes me horny.
I've been trimming my nails obsessively. This is pretty much always a direct indicator of my libido. *evil grin* (from the sex filter, but I'm more conservative about that over there than over here, since it's behind an LJ-cut)
I don't know why, but Spike has been SO friendly recently. Even all about the bellyrubs, which he normally doesn't allow. Don't know the reason, but really digging it. My bedroom's been the best and most controllable of environments with the unending migraine, so I'm kind of planning to work on re-organizing that today, and doing a few general household chores, probably in small chunks.
Huh. Updating my Fet profile in another window. Did they add more gender options? I don't recall Genderqueer being an option before, or I'm not sure why I wouldn't have chosen it. Yay! *switches*
To Do List:
Catbox
Yard cleaning
sort kids' books
sew/repair Kidlet toys (two stuffed animals with holes, and I should hit BaDa, my old teddy bear, as well)
Finish sorting grocery list for shopping tonight
Hot Shower
Sleep
Meds
Finish two unfinished posts (sex filter)
Sort inbox
Grocery shop with Liv