I survived!!!

Some of you may remember last week I was pushing myself way beyond my limits in preparation for a retreat this past weekend.  I made it through everything, and the weekend was beyond wonderful!  It was difficult forcing myself to pick and choose the activities I really wanted to do while still balancing my physical needs and limitaitons.  The weekend required a ton of walking, including a trip to the beach that is about .5 miles each way on a steep hill.  Luckily they provided cars for those who needed it, and I took advantage of that service.

There were also several reiki practitioners and massage therapists available to those who needed it.  I went in twice and each time left feeling so much better.  There is one guy who worked on me that I swear is amazing!  I found out that he lives not too far from me, and he has offered to heal and massage me whenever I want.  He's not "licensed" or formally trained, but he knows his stuff and really knew how to work on someone with chronic pain.  There was another woman there who even taught my hubby some massage techniques to use at home!

I am still pretty sore after all the activity, but I got to participate in so much this past weekend that it is worth it to me.  I refuse to let this DD take over my life!

I also had my first physical therapy appointment yesterday.  It was mainly the assessment and intake interview so she can come up with a treatment plan.  Kelly is so wonderful, she specializes in people with fibromyalgia so she understands and is very cautious with her touch and manipulations.  I am excited to see if this therapy will give me the ability to be more active again.  I really miss the impromptu hiking trips hubby and I used to be able to take.

I am now more determined than ever to find a way to beat this thing back into submission.  I realize that I may always have flares, and I may always have more pain than most people, and at the same time I am going to do whatever it takes to minimize it's impact on what I want to do.

Great Jamie! It sounds like you got just what you needed. I'm happy for you.

This last summer I went on a family vacation to the oregon coast (I was very excited cause it was my kid's first time to a beach) and we decided to stop at a famous fall in oregon to camp and hike the first night. Well I went hiking knowing I shouldnt have done it, it was several miles of uphill walking that caused severe pain, but once we got to the fall, it was so beautiful so it was well worth the pain, but when we got back to the camp sight, I couldnt move, and this was just the first day out of a week long trip. And once we got the coast, we had a wonderful spot, cause right behind us was the beach, but to get their we had to walk up a very steep hill made of sand, and coming back the other way was even more steep with more very soft sand, I thought I was gonna die from the pain, and it made me depressed cause my body made me so miserable when I should of been having a great time. And of course nights are freezing by the coast, and all I had was this small heater that I put right next to me and to keep me and my daughter warm, but I didnt wanna fall aslaap in case the heater fell over, and of course my legs ached from the coldness. I'm so jealous of people that can just go out and do all these physical things and I have to limit myself and of course my family doesnt understand, they just think I'm lazy, so of course their was some fighting, just isnt fair..... but I did have "some" fun, especailly when we went to the zoo on the last day, I really love zoos. This summer we're just going back to that fall to camp again and then back to that zoo, so hopefully it wont be too bad since it will just be a weekend thing, but I'm not looking forward to hiking again.

-hellokitty

Where in Washington do you live Emberkitty?? I live in the tricities, not too far from oregon.

-hellokitty

Twenty-six yr. old single mother of two. I take my hat off to you. keep going.