A Major Milestone

Today, maybe for the first time in...oh about 10-15 years, when I was at my massage therapy appointment, I had to think hard to come up with a second problem to tell her about. The first was tightness in my shoulders. Tightness, not pain. I can't think when I last went into an appointment without a litany of complaints to be worked on. After a work day!!

Yippety, Skippety!

I've been sticking to a regime of acupuncture and massage weekly. It's costing me a bundle, but for now I'm committed to doing it until I stop seeing improvements and can even out and be healthy and hopefully get on a less frequent maintenance schedule.

When my doctor suggested acupuncture, I was at first reticent, for all of the usual reasons. Needle aversion, etc. But after trying it and seeing how much it helped I thought, "Well, I've spent thousands of dollars on drugs and other therapies, I can justify giving this a try to the same extent - and it's probably healthier."

The acupuncturists I used in Ohio told me that acupuncture was the only modality that could actually cure fibromyalgia. This acupuncturist doesn't go that far, doesn't know that much about fibromyalgia - yet.

But she's awesome.

I even consulted her when I got my third and fourth cold sores since I've been here! She does this thing called "Circle the Dragon" and puts three needles in my chin pointing toward the cold sore and leaves them for the thirty minutes while the other needles are in the rest of my body. We caught this last one early and it worked so well I never really got the full cold sore. Whew! They're miserable.

She has also treated my pollen allergies which have really flared up here - the pollen is a phenomenon here - by putting needles on either side of my nostrils - and into the sinus cavity! It sounds horrendous, so I had to tell you for shock value, and so you'll think I'm incredibly brave. But really, it sometimes stings just a bit and makes the eyes water, but usually they go in with just a teeny prick and no other effect. And they work! The sinuses open right up and stop dripping.

I need my break-through pain medication only about once a week, on average, now. During December and January back in Ohio, it was usually daily. That's quite an improvement. I have many days now with little or no pain.

My liver thanks me - and thanks you who helped me get here. Yeah!!!

[My liver is doing the thanking because the drug is hard on that particular organ]

The Computer Bone Yard

Today I snapped some photos of the work in progress at the loading dock of the Information Services building, where some of our workers are constantly taking equipment in and out.

Here, no one worries about leaving them sit outside. They've already cleansed the drives of confidential information. Theft of this old stuff is evidently not an issue.

Apparently they need the extra space as the equipment is on its way out - and there's no worry about rain.

People leave upholstered furniture outside, too.
No worries.

I'm Older Than Methuselah!!

Check this article -

Accelerated brain gray matter loss in fibromyalgia patients: premature aging of the brain?
J Neurosci. 2007 Apr 11;27(15):4004-7.
This study shows that fibromyalgia patients had significantly less total gray matter volume and showed a 3.3 times greater age-associated decrease in gray matter than healthy controls. The longer the individuals had had fibromyalgia, the greater the gray matter loss, with each year of fibromyalgia being equivalent to 9.5 times normal aging. In addition, fibromyalgia patients demonstrated significantly less gray matter density than healthy controls in several brain regions, including the cingulate, insular and medial frontal cortices, and parahippocampal gyri.

I think it's trying to say I'm older than dirt. Fifty years of age plus fifteen years of fibromyalgia times 9.5 = EGAD! I'm 192.5 years old! That's older than Methuselah!

Sounds like I really should have no IQ left. But I'm not doing too badly, considering... Thank God for Provigil is all I can say. I forgot to take my morning meds once recently and I was just not the same without them. I struggled terribly at work. Trying to absorb audio information was almost impossible, which makes conference calls really tough. It just won't go into my head at times like that! I was thinking, "Darn, it's like I didn't take my meds or something! Oh! Doh! I didn't take my meds this morning!"

People say lots of bad things about medical doctors and the state of medicine in our society, but I say, "Thank God for those medications, the people who work to create them, and my blessed Doctor who prescribed them for me."

Someone asked me recently if I absolutely had to have them, and "What would happen to you if you didn't have them?" I said absolutely seriously, "I'd be dead." And I meant it. I would not be able to live with the pain of this disease without my medications.

The thing is...us old people forget stuff. And we forget the very stuff that we need. It's a bizarre disease, and a challenging one.