It's been a while since I posted. Part of that is because things have been relatively calm and quiet on the healthcare front right now with Terry, and part of it is I've lacked the energy to do anything else. I've officially entered the "Terry is ok for now, so Caren's body must give out" phase.
Because of my Rheumatoid Arthritis, extreme stress takes an even bigger physical toll on my body than someone without it. Without fail, each and every time Terry has had a major medical event, I've gotten through it physically without much issue. Until afterward....at some point my body figures out the immediate stress and demands are over, and it literally shuts down on me. The fatigue and the pain of RA rear their twin ugly heads once I think I've made it to the homestretch, and humble me by forcing me to slow down. It never ceases to surprise me, because I continually want to believe it won't happen THIS time. But it always does. Thankfully there seems to be a longer and longer lapse between his health problems, and my following and corresponding health problems.
All things considered, I should be happy that my physical meltdowns occur AFTER his medical events, rather than simultaneously occurring at the same time as his. I'm not sure how we would get through these times of stress if we both were down. Hopefully we won't have to find out.
As far as Terry is concerned, he still complains of discomfort and still isn't sleeping well. I'm not sure why that is, but think we do need to get some answers about those issues now. My biggest concern, and again, keeping things in perspective it's not a big deal, but his voice is still not back. He's raspy and doesn't have any volume, and he's closing in on 3 months since his surgery. If there's an upside to that, I think the number of times he has to repeat himself because I could not hear him may have given him some insight into why I get frustrated at times when he can't hear me and I am continually repeating myself. It does get old....
So, as we limp into September, we have his birthday, and my impending retirement from work on the 24th to look forward to. Once I quit working, my goal is to use this blog as a basis for a book on caregiving, and I am ready, willing, and able to take on that new challenge. At least I know in the immediate future if I have days like I've had lately, I won't even have to get dressed and out of my pajamas if I'm not feeling up to it!! Oh, to simple pleasures.....
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