Clan Christmas
Before I start, thanks for all your well wishes and expressions of support. They mean a lot to me.
Because Dad is confined to bed we relocated Christmas to the family home this year, making it a BYO catering affair and doing our best to prevent Mum from doing anything. We used the legendary Good China and I believe it survived the experience unscathed once again.
Dad is very weak and sleepy so we took turns to make short visits to his room and tempt him with tiny bits of food. We were all pleased that he managed to eat a whole prawn, once it was cut up into little pieces. Dad has always been a huge fan of seafood so it was great that he got the chance to have a little taste of Christmas. He has been given the option of going into hospital but wants to stay at home, so he has daily Silver Chain visits now.
Unfortunately Youngest Niece is coming down with a cold and had to be kept away as Dad is immune compromised, so we were also missing one BIL, but we had London-Based Sister and Wandering Biggest Sister and Spouse so we made a good and traditionally noisy crowd. It's all very friendly but *boy* is it noisy. It's great to have healthy and mobile relatives as I'm no logistical use at all. It was also nice to have a Clan-only gathering; when we gather at Middle Sister's house for Christmas we are joined by her friend's family. I like them a lot and we're all quite friendly, but this year it was nice to draw together as a unit, albeit one with gaps.
I haven't been over to the folks place for a couple of days because my body started to seriously protest the abuse I've been dishing out lately. There's a reason why codeine is not a go-to drug for pain relief. The headaches were not too bad--it helps that I was (a) expecting them, and (b) not attempting to quash a headache in the first place. I also managed to deal with the intestinal issues. But the delayed neurological effects from the preservatives hit hard. I don't know for certain if codeine itself is a problem or just how it's delivered, but the effect is nerve pain ranging from all-over itching to stabbing. That on top of the original fibro pain I was trying to defeat and the effects of the extra driving and sitting... not good, and nothing to do but wait it out.
Well I *could* take some amitriptyline to suppress the side effects of the codeine, but that would make me depressed and sleepy and I can't really afford that. Patience and pacing are required in the short term at least, but they're both hard to come by. I hope to work my way back up to abuse in a few days.
Over the last few weeks I'm pretty sure I've pushed the non-beige food limits much farther than I should have too, in ways big and small. I've eaten The Wrong Kind Of Lettuce! Fruit! Licorice! (in my defence the licorice was to counter the codeine, but still...) And too much Japanese. Breathing is a bit restricted, but the heart isn't too bad. Insides are a bit less impressed with life, but at least I know how to deal with those kinds of symptoms. Apart from the non-beige food my appetite has been a bit off lately and I've skipped breakfast a few days in a row. That morning porridge mix is a cornerstone of my well being, so I've got to make more of an effort to get some of it down.
In the early hours of this morning I conceded defeat and took half a sleeping pill. The agomelatine does do a good job of regulating sleep but it is vulnerable to other factors. It doesn't make you sleepy; it just encourages the brain to consider sleep at the appropriate time of night. I've found in the last few months that illness will ruin the effect, and if one's mind is busy and you miss a certain window of opportunity to get to sleep, the opposing stimulant effect will keep you up all night. If nothing else I've learned that I need to take both my medications and won't try to reduce my dosage in the foreseeable future.
I'm considering the medicinal effects of alcohol. My relatives seem to be giving it a good hard go. Fortunately we're all very sensible about skippering and couching.
Tomorrow is BB's birthday; he would have been 53.
I have an upsetting project to work on about which I will post separately, probably under flock. I'll probably need to do that quite a bit in coming weeks, so if you're reading this without a livejournal login and wish to continue seeing these posts, send me a message and we'll work something out. I might be able to add you to a filter based on an Open ID or some such.
I think it will be helpful for me to blog more often again, to help to sort out my thoughts and deal with the current situation. I'll try to label posts with appropriate warnings. I expect the Pretty Rock posts will remain on hold for a while yet, but I'll see if I can sneak one in now and then. At the moment nothing looks particularly pretty.
Because Dad is confined to bed we relocated Christmas to the family home this year, making it a BYO catering affair and doing our best to prevent Mum from doing anything. We used the legendary Good China and I believe it survived the experience unscathed once again.
Dad is very weak and sleepy so we took turns to make short visits to his room and tempt him with tiny bits of food. We were all pleased that he managed to eat a whole prawn, once it was cut up into little pieces. Dad has always been a huge fan of seafood so it was great that he got the chance to have a little taste of Christmas. He has been given the option of going into hospital but wants to stay at home, so he has daily Silver Chain visits now.
Unfortunately Youngest Niece is coming down with a cold and had to be kept away as Dad is immune compromised, so we were also missing one BIL, but we had London-Based Sister and Wandering Biggest Sister and Spouse so we made a good and traditionally noisy crowd. It's all very friendly but *boy* is it noisy. It's great to have healthy and mobile relatives as I'm no logistical use at all. It was also nice to have a Clan-only gathering; when we gather at Middle Sister's house for Christmas we are joined by her friend's family. I like them a lot and we're all quite friendly, but this year it was nice to draw together as a unit, albeit one with gaps.
I haven't been over to the folks place for a couple of days because my body started to seriously protest the abuse I've been dishing out lately. There's a reason why codeine is not a go-to drug for pain relief. The headaches were not too bad--it helps that I was (a) expecting them, and (b) not attempting to quash a headache in the first place. I also managed to deal with the intestinal issues. But the delayed neurological effects from the preservatives hit hard. I don't know for certain if codeine itself is a problem or just how it's delivered, but the effect is nerve pain ranging from all-over itching to stabbing. That on top of the original fibro pain I was trying to defeat and the effects of the extra driving and sitting... not good, and nothing to do but wait it out.
Well I *could* take some amitriptyline to suppress the side effects of the codeine, but that would make me depressed and sleepy and I can't really afford that. Patience and pacing are required in the short term at least, but they're both hard to come by. I hope to work my way back up to abuse in a few days.
Over the last few weeks I'm pretty sure I've pushed the non-beige food limits much farther than I should have too, in ways big and small. I've eaten The Wrong Kind Of Lettuce! Fruit! Licorice! (in my defence the licorice was to counter the codeine, but still...) And too much Japanese. Breathing is a bit restricted, but the heart isn't too bad. Insides are a bit less impressed with life, but at least I know how to deal with those kinds of symptoms. Apart from the non-beige food my appetite has been a bit off lately and I've skipped breakfast a few days in a row. That morning porridge mix is a cornerstone of my well being, so I've got to make more of an effort to get some of it down.
In the early hours of this morning I conceded defeat and took half a sleeping pill. The agomelatine does do a good job of regulating sleep but it is vulnerable to other factors. It doesn't make you sleepy; it just encourages the brain to consider sleep at the appropriate time of night. I've found in the last few months that illness will ruin the effect, and if one's mind is busy and you miss a certain window of opportunity to get to sleep, the opposing stimulant effect will keep you up all night. If nothing else I've learned that I need to take both my medications and won't try to reduce my dosage in the foreseeable future.
I'm considering the medicinal effects of alcohol. My relatives seem to be giving it a good hard go. Fortunately we're all very sensible about skippering and couching.
Tomorrow is BB's birthday; he would have been 53.
I have an upsetting project to work on about which I will post separately, probably under flock. I'll probably need to do that quite a bit in coming weeks, so if you're reading this without a livejournal login and wish to continue seeing these posts, send me a message and we'll work something out. I might be able to add you to a filter based on an Open ID or some such.
I think it will be helpful for me to blog more often again, to help to sort out my thoughts and deal with the current situation. I'll try to label posts with appropriate warnings. I expect the Pretty Rock posts will remain on hold for a while yet, but I'll see if I can sneak one in now and then. At the moment nothing looks particularly pretty.