I have to admit that today has been a great day! When you live with chronic pain, great days can be few and far between, and when you have a great day, you need to look upon it as a gift. It is so easy to be completely dragged down by the things we go through on a daily basis. Some days it seems that the only thing I do is try to find that one position which will give me a little relief for a while. Some days I can't quit worrying that I'm letting my husband and sons down because I can't do the things I used to do. Some days I wonder how I'm going to get up and walk to the bathroom, because just shifting my position in the bed is excruciating.
But none of those things happened today, and I am so very grateful. Now, you are probably wondering what I did today to make it such a wonderful day. I didn't win the Mega Millions Lottery. I didn't win an all expense paid trip somewhere on Live with Kelly. I didn't learn that George Clooney has decided to leave Stacey Keibler for me. The thing that made this a great day is the fact that I only did what I wanted to do today. This doesn't happen very often, and I really needed a me day, and I highly recommend them to everyone!
First of all, I woke up around 3:00 am this morning, and I thought that was a sign that the day was just going to be awful. I took same pain medicine and was able to go back to sleep around 4 am. I didn't wake up again until 9:30! I can't tell you the last time I slept that late, and it really felt good. Upon waking, I lay very still for a minute or two, and then started moving slowly to see what was going to hurt the worst this morning. And I realized that things hurt, but they didn't hurt nearly as bad as they usually do. I took my medicine, used the bathroom, and went in to turn on my coffee.
Soon, I had my first cup of coffee in hand and headed for the computer. I sat down and lit my first cigarette of the day (I know, I know! I need to quit; it's bad for me; it's a stupid thing to do!) and then I realized something:: my house was completely silent! I was the only one awake, and I knew that I was going to get my quiet time that I have to have every single day. I was in heaven! I spent most of the morning chatting with friends on Facebook, and playing some games on my computer. No one was standing behind me, telling me that they had to get online at just that moment. No one was telling me that they had to go here, there, and everywhere. No one was asking me to do something for them! I didn't know how I got so lucky!
Now, I knew that I had some errands to run this afternoon, but my day was going really well, and quite honestly, I didn't want to leave the house. I was comfortable in a ratty pair of shorts and a T-shirt. I finally got off of the computer and went in and took a hot bath, washed my hair, and shaved my legs. Once I was finished, I came into the living room, got into my recliner, and propped my legs up for a little bit. Dale was washing dishes, and I told him that I just really didn't want to get out and do anything today. Normally, Dale gets panicky about getting things done on schedule, or earlier than scheduled if possible. This time, however, he said that we really had until tomorrow to get these things taken care of, so I could just stay home! I couldn't believe my ears!
My two youngest boys are on spring break and they are at friends homes, so I didn't have to worry about them. Chris had to be at work at 4:00 pm and normally, I take him and pick him up. But today, I let him take the car so I still had no reason to leave the house. Dale and I have been the only two home all evening, and we would have been just fine with a sandwich and some chips for dinner. I decided, however, that I wanted to cook something, so we had smothered chicken breasts, green beans, and mashed potatoes for dinner. Dale even told me not to worry about cleaning up - he said he would take care of it!
Many of you are probably sitting back, scratching your heads and thinking, "That doesn't sound like a great day. It sounds like a really boring day!" And you are right! Before I started living with chronic pain, a day like this would have made me crazy. I was always happy to be on the move all the time. A great day for the old me would probably have had something to do with going somewhere and spending money, followed up by going out to a club. Now, those sorts of things are distant memories. This was a great day because I was actually able to do some things just for me, and I was able to do it with very tolerable levels of pain. Those days are few and far between, and we have to enjoy them to their fullest, because we never know when they are going to come back again.
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