Good things

My hands are stiff and hurting a little today, and my shoulders are absolutely killing me, so I'll keep this brief.

I talked to my madre this morning for quite some time. It was great! I miss her. She also helped me to sort through something that has really been affecting me since it came up (more on that later), and told me humorous anecdotes about the pigs on her boyfriend's pig farm.There's one pig that she named Sugar, so when she gets pregnant and has babies we're going to call them SugarBabies. My suggestion was Sugar Cubes, which led to the thought of naming each one after a different type of sugar, like Granulated, Powdered, Dark Brown, Light Brown, Cane, etc. We had a good laugh over that one.

I saw my rheumatologist today. She was not happy to see my walker, but I've brought it in before and it seems she didn't notice it then. She said that she feels it's "a crutch" (it's a walker, silly! kidding...), but I told her that I see it as a valuable tool and explained why and how I use it, and she was satisfied. After going over my developing symptoms, she told me that we need to be sure of what it is we're treating. The pain in my hands and feet caused her to re-order some tests after poking, prodding, and rotating me for a bit, because fibro doesn't follow this path of development she says. So I may be dealing with an entirely different beast, which wouldn't surprise me. A lot of these things have overlapping symptoms that mimic one another. I see her again in a month, so I'll know more then. Also, I got a referral to a pain specialist! She found the only one here in town that takes my insurance and is accepting patients, so she's getting me in. I could kiss her. She also changed my pain killers from hydrocodone to oxycodone, which is Percocet. I was on that briefly after the big accident, and I remember that it metabolized well with me, so I'm hopeful. I made it a point to inform her that I have not been abusing my prescription drugs, since we had that "talk" last time. Anyway, it was a good visit, and a quick, efficient one. I am satisfied.

I cooked lunch today! During my appointment, I was struck with a strong craving for rice and fish, which I indulged. I cooked the salmon with minced onions, some seasonings, and a bit of agave-sweetened apple cider vinegar. It was pretty phenomenal. What's more, it's staying down quite well. I'm even still hungry after waiting for a bit, so I think I'll follow it up with an apple. I am just being very careful not to eat too much, because I really don't want to relapse again. Every time I do, it's more miserable. But I'm making good progress in getting back to regular eating habits, or even eating habits that were better than the ones I'd fallen into. I'd like to cook more often, and I intend to make the effort. My intentions are good; we'll see about the follow through.

It's been a good couple of days. Yes, I've been sick as a dog, but I've read some good books, cuddled with my husband, talked to J and my mom, and watched some good movies. Oh, and done good stuff with work. I'm totally wiped out, but I feel good about how things are going.