Neurologist

Well I survived my first neurologist's appointment.  They did a battery of tests, upped my dosage of cymbalta, scheduled me for a sleep study, and sent me for more blood work (7 tubes worth). The doctor wants to rule out sleep apnea before determining the next course of action.  I have my sleep study scheduled for Saturday night.  Should be fun, NOT!

Fibro Fog Moment!

I have my appointment with the neurologist this afternoon.  I've known about this appointment for almost a month now.  The appointment is scheduled for 1:00 p.m., so I figured I would work half a day, and call in a substitute for the other half.  I get to work this morning and one of my colleagues asks me why I'm there.  I look at her and say "I work here?"  She then asks me why I had a sub in my classroom.  I give her my best confused look and say "I don't know!"

So I go to my room, and sure enough there is a sub there. Luckily this is a sub I have called in many times over the last 11 years, and I look at him and say "What are doing here so early?" Now he gives me the confused look and says "you put in for me for a full day."

Me: Really?
Him: Yes.
Me: Wow, I'm losing my mind! Oh well, I guess I'll enjoy my full day off! Have fun! See ya!!!

And I ran out of the building before anyone could change their mind!  I seriously thought I had put in for a half day.  I could have slept an extra hour this morning before getting the boys up and ready for school.  I guess I better double check all the other days I have requested off for doctor's appointments to make sure I have put them in correctly.

Extremely Bad Day!

Yesterday was a very bad day.  I woke up with pain in both my hips, knees, feet, and elbows.  It hurt my shoulders to carry my coffee cup down the hall at school, and to top it off it was Science Expo day at school. This required us to move about all over the building watching other students explain what they are learning in Science. By the time I got off of work, I could hardly move.  I was walking like a little old lady, and had a difficult time getting up and down from my chair.  The good news is, my headache hasn't been too bad this week. I'm finally going to see the neurologist on Tuesday, so we'll see what happens there.

On a brighter note, it looks like Spencer is going to be okay. The doctor took xrays and said that while his neck muscles are inflamed and bulging, nothing appears to be broken.  He gave him a muscle relaxer for bed time, and told him to take ibuprofen during the day.  Spencer says he is still a little sore, but the pain isn't nearly as bad as it was last week.  I talked to the assistant principal at his school again on Tuesday, and he told me the coach has been reprimanded and written up. This will go in her permanent file.  Hopefully she has learned from this, and doesn't do anything to hurt another child.  She is lucky that Spencer wasn't seriously hurt.

She Better Hope I Never Run Into Her in an Alley!

Last Tuesday was the beginning of the new semester for our school district.  Spencer had finished his foreign language requirement and signed up for an SAT prep class to replace his Spanish class.  His school somehow managed to screw up this simple change and he ended up in a Weights and Conditioning 2 class (he's never taken Weights and Conditioning 1 and let the coach know that this was a mistake). He let her know that he has never taken a weight class and has no idea how to lift weights. 

Now normally this wouldn't be a big deal.  All we had to do was call his counselor Wednesday morning and have her make the change for him (she wasn't there on Tuesday so he couldn't change his schedule then).   Since this was his first period class, we were told the change wouldn't go into effect until the next morning.  Still not a big deal, right? Wrong!!! This is where it gets ugly!!

Spencer comes home Wednesday night barely able to move, and is complaining that his neck hurts. I asked him why he is hurting.  He tells me that he got to his Weight and Conditioning class just as the tardy bell was ringing.  He and 2 other students got there at the same time.  The coach does not like anyone to be tardy to her class, and proceeded to have the three of them do 50 lunges with a 40 pound weight bar on their necks (remember he had told her he had never taken a weight class before).  She didn't show him the proper technique to use the weights with the lunges, and as a result he is still hurting.

I met with the assistant principal Friday and let him know that I was not happy with this situation, especially since we are a non-corporal punishment district (I made sure to wear my school shirt so he knew I worked for the district).  I also let him know that if Spencer's neck continued to hurt, I would be taking him to the doctor for x-rays.  Luckily for the assistant principal, he was in agreement with me.

I'm taking Spencer to the doctor tomorrow, and the assistant principal is going to wait for the medical report before dealing with the coach.  She better hope she didn't damage my child!!!

Bonnie Bon and the Funky Bump! (Sorry Marky Mark)

A couple of weeks ago the back of my knee started to hurt. I figured I must of overstretched it somehow, and pulled something back there. A few days later I discovered a bump on the back of my knee. It is kind of sore and I have to make sure I don't keep my knee in one position for too long. Of course this is the same knee I had surgery on 2 years ago for a misplaced kneecap and torn meniscus.

I went to the doctor (AGAIN), hoping that it wasn't going to be anything serious like a clot. Luckily it turned out to be something called a Baker's Cyst. Apparently this can happen after surgeries like mine because the joint fluid bulges to the back of the knee to form this cyst. So now I need to go back to my orthopedic doctor and see if they need to do any kind of surgery, or if they can simply stick a needle in there and drain it (not really looking forward to either of these options). Hopefully it will go away on its own!

I Will Not Be Afraid! (Yeah Right!)

I have never understood those people who enjoy the thrill of being scared! You know the ones, the people who love haunted houses, scary movies, jumping out of airplanes, etc...

I definitely do not fall into the category of adrenaline junkie! I hate scary movies, refuse to enter a haunted house, would never jump out of a plane, and even have a hard time getting on roller coasters. So imagine my dread when I realized my oldest son is becoming one of these people!

He has recently decided that he enjoys watching horror films. Now this hasn't been too bad because his grandma (my mom) also loves horror films (she is one of these adrenaline junkies who would probably jump out of a plane if her health permitted it). So anytime a new horror film comes out, they go see it together thus saving me from the inevitable heart attack! This arrangement has worked out wonderfully for the last year or so, until my son decided that he needed to buy these movies on DVD.

'Now normally this wouldn't be a problem because he has his own DVD player in his bedroom. The problem is, while he enjoys horror films, he does not like watching them by himself! This is where I come in! Being the good mother that I am (after much begging of course), I have become his at home horror film partner!  It's bad enough I have to watch these movies with him, but to endure the laughter that comes from him every time I jump is just a little too much! Seriously!

I just hope he doesn't decide to take up skydiving!!!! :-)

Long Week!

This week was super long! I didn't get any teaching done this week, instead I spent the entire week testing my students.  They had to take district benchmark tests every single day this week. The benchmarks only took 90 minutes a day, but then my schedule had to be modified to meet both my classes. Instead of meeting each of my classes for 2 1/2 hours a day, I only had them for 1 1/2 hours. I had to use this time every day to do mid year reading assessments.  My poor kids spent the entire week testing and working independently while I did their individual reading assessments.

I don't know why, but testing is exhausting! This week has left me drained and in pain.  I woke up with pain all over this morning.  My body feels like it has been hit all over by a baseball bat.  Luckily it is a three day weekend, so I should be able to recharge for next week.  I'm relaxing today, and hopefully will feel well enough to spend the rest of the weekend doing something with my family.  Maybe we'll go to a movie!

Weekend Fun!

Today has been a pretty good day. My headache is down to a dull ache, and my body isn't hurting too bad. I went and watched my boys bowl today (Spencer bowls with his grandpa and Shane bowls with his dad), and then we went to Bahama Bucks for some shaved ice. Not sure what the rest of the day is going to bring, but at least I'm up and around!

So hopefully the rest of the weekend goes smoothly!

One Day Back and a Migraine!

Yesterday started out pretty good. I was excited to see my students, and they were on task and ready to get back to work. Halfway through the day, MIGRAINE!!! Who knows what set it off, but the rest of the day ended up going down hill!

I had managed to go a whole 3 days without a headache, and now it's back with a vengeance. I have my appointment with the neurologist on January 31st. Hopefully he can help with the headaches.

On the plus side, at least it is a short week!

Last Day of Winter Break!

This break went by way too fast. I spent the first week of it in severe pain, and the second week of it getting used to the new medications. My headache is finally gone, but my neck and lower back are still hurting.

I am looking forward to going back to work to see my kids, but I'm afraid of having another flare up. I've spent most of the break trying to rest up, but once I'm back at work life will be nonstop again. I spent most of November in severe pain, and missed several days of work. When I was at work, the headache was so bad, I really wasn't able to give my kids the attention they need. I really hope I'm able to get back into a routine, and am able to give my kids the quality education they deserve. I love teaching, but the last couple of months have been trying!

So tomorrow it's back to reality!

A Brand New Year!

I have decided not to make any resolutions this year. I don't see the point! Every year I resolve to lose tons of weight, and by March I have quit trying.

This year I have decided that instead of resolving to lose weight, I'm just going to try and live a healthier life. Now that I'm dealing with fibromyalgia, it is imperative that I change my way of life if I don't want to have major flare ups. I have read about how different foods and preservatives can cause a flare up. I have already started cutting back on my coffee intake (which believe me in not an easy task), and will be switching from artificial sweeteners to a more natural sweetener.

Tomorrow my hubby and I are going to join weight watchers, and take it one day at a time. I'm hoping all the new medications I'm on will not work against me in trying to lose weight.

So no resolutions this year, just going to try my best to live a better, healthier life!

Happy New Year!!!