Finding Direction: The Wind Vane Chronicles

I’m in a BIG mess today. 

Actually, I’ve been in a mess all week since turning over a new year’s page in my life on Monday.  I felt bad all day (another year older, comes to mind) and took a long nap Monday afternoon in Tom’s recliner.  No big celebration for us for my birthday, our 18th wedding anniversary and – of course – Texas Independence Day.  (See Monday’s post.)  Besides, it was a Monday.

Becoming a year older started off the week of rounds for fasting blood tests, to various doctors for check ups and to add yet another new doctor for yet another new problem (related to being diabetic she thinks – so what else is new) to the ever expanding list.  Yep.  #17.  (I only see a few of those on a regular basis, thank God.)

Personally, I think that having to go through the blood tests and numerous doctor visits with their various shots and tests is what has landed me in this position today.  In fact, I know it is.  I mean, you’ll notice that I have not written a word about my health now since – well – late last fall when I had that horrifically painful case of shingles.  I’ve been healthy so far this year!  Yea!  For me, anyway.  But, hey, that’s two months worth.

This week last year, if you remember, I had to go in the hospital for a week after falling badly three times here at home when my blood pressures crashed.  My autonomic vascular system had failed (due to being diabetic so long.)  And this week five years ago was when Tom took me to the ER for indigestion and I ended up two days later having five heart bypasses and spending nearly the whole month in the hospital from very serious complications, including 25 lbs of fluid from a form of congestive heart failure.  (Are you picking up a pattern here about me turning a year older every year and suddenly my body falls apart in a new and different way?!)

No wonder I so dreaded my birthday this year.  But, the good news is (so far this week, although I have a day and a half to go, admittedly) that at least my being in a BIG mess with my health today has not, and should not, land me in the hospital.  Lord willing.

Instead, I sit here this morning with still half dilated eyes and blurry vision after seeing the retinologist Wednesday (which necessitated another nap upon arriving home).  Tom had to take me, of course, because I’ve not been able to see a blasted thing for the past two days since without peering closely at it – like this big computer screen.  I also have very high blood sugar and sore hands from two cortisone shots I had to get in the palms of my hands yesterday afternoon when I saw a rheumatologist.  

Oh yeah – that’s my new problem.  Two "trigger fingers" on each hand.  My middle finger and ring finger on each hand lock up while bent and will not straighten up completely and hurt down into the palms of my hands like the dickens all the time.  I cannot grip anything very well, either.  Like my favorite cast iron skillet, or any of the others ones, either, actually.  I have to use both hands to try to lift anything.  It hurts to try to pull down on the sheets on the corners when I try to make the bed (I can’t do it – too painful), but what bothers me the very most – and this has been going on for more than three months – is that I can no longer wear my wedding rings because my fingers are too full of fluid and swollen.

I’ve been wearing my slim gold wedding band on my necklace with my beautiful gold cross Tom gave me many Christmases ago, but I so want to wear my rings again, you know?  I love them very much.   

Hopefully, my fingers will slim down again with the cortisone treatments.  Meanwhile, I have to go back to the rheumatologist in a week or so to have two more cortisone shots in my palms.  She only did the two worst ones yesterday – my ring finger on each hand – and needs to do the two middle fingers.  She didn’t want to give me any more cortisone yesterday than she had to because she told me it would make my blood sugars go up.  So, I have bad sugars to work with as best I can for a while.

My endocrinologist, who I see for my diabetes next Thursday (and for a bone density scan while I’m there), won’t be too thrilled about that, but I’m not either and could no longer stand the constant pain in my hands.  As it is, I’m limited to what anti-inflammatories I can take for them because of – again – being diabetic and having mild (at the moment, after being worse) kidney damage.  I got an Rx for pain medication yesterday, but have not gotten it filled, yet, trying to hold off on that if I can to see if the shots help.  So far, they are working and my hands feel much better.  I just don’t know how long the cortisone injections will last or how much of the inflammation/irritation of those tendons in my hands will resolve.    

Today is a good day, though, you know?!  It’s perfect weather here, for once, in the low 70s and sunny, so I have the house opened up to our lovely wooded view around the back.  We’re so high in the back off our deck that it is like living in a tree house!  I get to stay home all day today and I’m feeling very well (except for the high blood sugar, which I’m closely monitoring) – better than I have all week! 

Please pray that I continue to feel well and that my heath problems will all be "resolvable."  (Is that a word?)  Cheers & many Blessings to you each today!  I pray you have a great nearly spring weekend ahead.

Dee