My Journey Thru the Inferno

 
I can't believe how long it has been since I put something out here. February 6th seems so long ago. I've been pretty sick with bursitis, a fibro super flare, and pinched nerves in my neck that have sent shooting pains all down my arms, legs, back, and up my neck into my head. Dizziness, weakness, and fatigue so bad it took all I could do to get out of bed. But one does. Because the alternative is death. 

So you get up and crawl if you can't walk. If you need to go to the bathroom, you hang on to the wall so you don't fall down. You pray you can drive to church or the store without hitting another car or ending in a ditch. You stay out of public as much as you can without going crazy from despair and pain. You don't dare talk to people. No, really. It isn't good to converse.

Last month saw nine low-pressure systems march across Indiana. Three at a time over the course of three weeks. I felt every one of those illegitimate children. My whole body felt attacked by hordes of marching monsters. 

Today, I walked a mile without a lot of pain. The sun was shining, and it was a beautiful day. Learn to appreciate such small blessings. Tomorrow I could be back on the floor trying to get out from under the crushing weight of fibromyalgia. 

I was researching some information about managing the autoimmune diseases I have, and this is what it said: 

That description of feeling "crushed" is exactly what a major barometric drop does to a body dealing with fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Nine low-pressure systems in two weeks is an absolute onslaught for your central nervous system and cellular biology. It is completely logical that your physical weakness and brain fog were severe during that time.The science behind the "crushed" feeling when a storm or front approaches, the barometric pressure drops, meaning the weight of the air pressing against your body decreases.

Tissue Expansion: Lighter atmospheric pressure allows the fluids and gases inside your joints, tendons, and muscles to expand slightly. In a body already hyper-sensitized by fibromyalgia and RA, this micro-expansion acts like an internal balloon inflating against your nerves, causing an overwhelming feeling of systemic pressure, pain, and profound fatigue. Oxygen and Circulation Changes: Rapid barometric drops alter blood flow and cerebrospinal fluid pressure, directly contributing to severe "fibro fog," heavy limbs, and a sudden drop in cellular energy

So, not in my head. Not over reacting. Not trifling. Real physical responses to weather. And unstoppable. You can't outrun it, nor can you hide. 

So, next time you want to say something like, "Well, you need to just ignore it and come to the dinner party" to someone suffering from this disease, don't be surprised if they are tempted to punch you in the nose, or if they do. And for the love of all that is holy, DO NOT SAY "let me tell you about my sore toe" or "let me tell you about having my last baby". We do not care. I had a natural childbirth my first time, and it was a cakewalk. No pain medicines at all. I wish my pain levels were that low. And that was even with an episiotomy and no anesthesia. 

I'd almost commit a crime for something to stop the pain now. Only I'm hypersensitive to most pain medications and can't take them. So... your Percocet? Yeah, I see shadow people. Lortabs? I vomit and fall down. Tell me about your pain and I'll probably laugh at you behind your back. You're not in pain if you can get to your car without crying. And if you can deal with a shopping trip, there is nothing wrong with you. 

I came across some new information today and spent a while researching if it might give me some relief before the next big system rolls in. There is always another one. I know what the weather is going to be three days before you hear it on the news. I have to if I'm going to live. 

My research gave me some information that might make some of my meds work better, but we'll have to see. I have to experiment on myself by taking things without knowing what they'll do to me. I have to research it, figure out the safe dose, and hope to God I get it right. I have to also take poison the doctors prescribe to prevent me from becoming a cripple. They don't work for the most part, and the side effects are from the most frightening science fiction movie about medical experiments gone wrong. 

Here are the side effects of my RA injection, just one medicine I take for it. Once you read this as the patient, you never sleep well again. And you never stop being vigilant. I take multiple medications for RA. They all have side effects. How do you know which one is causing a problem? You don't. And how do you know if it is the medicine or the disease? You don't. You just keep going and hope you get through it with as little pain as possible. For context, my doctors have me down as a person who usually had the most unusual side effects. I'm hypersensitive to many medications.

More common side effects

body aches or pain

cough

ear congestion

gas with stomach pain

hoarseness

lightheadedness

loss of voice

lower back or side pain

muscle aches and pains

pain or tenderness around the eyes or cheekbones

rapid and sometimes shallow breathing

shivering

stomach fullness

stuffy nose

sunken eyes

thirst

trouble sleeping

warmth on the skin

wrinkled skin

Less common side effects

abnormal vaginal bleeding or discharge

agitation

arm, back, or jaw pain

black, tarry stools

bleeding from the gums or nose

blindness

bloating or swelling of the face, arms, hands, lower legs, or feet

blood in the stool or change in bowel habits

bloody or cloudy urine

blurred vision

broken bones

change in size, shape, or color of an existing mole

change in skin color

chest pain, tightness, or heaviness

chills

clear or bloody discharge from the nipple

cold hands and feet

confusion

constipation

cough

coughing or spitting up blood

decreased urination

decreased vision

depression

difficulty with breathing

difficulty, burning, or painful urination

dimpling of the breast skin

dizziness

drowsiness

eye pain

fainting

fast, slow, or irregular heartbeat

fever

forgetfulness

frequent urge to urinate

general feeling of illness

hair loss

headache

hives, itching, skin rash

increased thirst

inverted nipple

irregular breathing

irregular pulse

irritability

light colored stools

loss of appetite

lump in the breast or under your arm

lump or swelling in the stomach

mole that leaks fluid or bleeds

muscle cramps or spasms

nausea

new mole

night sweats

no blood pressure or pulse

noisy breathing

numbness or tingling in your arms, legs, or face

pain, redness, or swelling in the arms or legs without any injury present

pale skin

persistent non-healing sore on your skin

pink growth

puffiness or swelling of the eyelids or around the eyes, face, lips, or tongue

raised, firm, or bright red patch

redness or swelling of the breast

seeing or hearing things that are not there

seizures

sharp back pain just below your ribs

shiny bump on your skin

slurred speech or problems with swallowing

sneezing

sore on the skin of the breast that does not heal

sore throat

sores, ulcers, or white spots on the lips or mouth

spitting up blood

stiff neck

stomach pain

stopping of the heart

sudden high fever or low grade fever for months

sweating

swelling of the face, fingers, feet, or lower legs

swollen glands

swollen neck veins

tiredness

trouble breathing

trouble thinking

unconsciousness

unexplained bruising or bleeding

unpleasant breath odor

unusual tiredness or weakness

unusual weight gain or loss

visual disturbances

vomiting

vomiting of blood or material that looks like coffee grounds

yellow skin or eyes

More common side effects

bladder pain

bleeding, blistering, burning, coldness, discoloration of skin, feeling of pressure, hives, infection, inflammation, itching, lumps, numbness, pain, rash, redness, scarring, soreness, stinging, swelling, tenderness, tingling, ulceration, or warmth at the injection site

pounding in the ears

Less common side effects

abnormal healing

decrease in height

difficulty with moving

difficulty with walking

dry mouth

heartburn

indigestion

loss of hearing

loss of strength or energy

menstrual changes

muscle or joint stiffness, tightness, or rigidity

muscle pain or weakness

pain in the back, ribs, arms, or legs

shakiness in the legs, arms, hands, and feet

swelling or redness in the joints

After Midnight

 We are still covered in snow. I have a glacier in my yard but managed to clear about 5 feet to get the car into the garage without sliding into the yard. It still slips but not as bad.

Side roads are just a mess. I haven't been out except for physical therapy. The back and leg problems persist. I had a steroid shot in my left hip on Tuesday. It's sore, but gradually getting better. They also reduced my Cymbalta back down from 60 mg to 30 mg. Side effects as usual. Now I'm having other side effects with the drop. Can't win.

I finished the first draft of the Dream Stealer Series: Book 1: Where Dreams Begin (working title) and began Book 2: Eye of the God (also working title). Feel so strange to say that. 

I'm exhausted tonight. It was a horrible day, and the night doesn't look good either. I'm struggling with some things. Can't go into it here. I don't want to go into it in my head either. I haven't been blogging because I've been writing for hours a day, every day. I stop to go to appointments and church, but with the hip and leg pain it's difficult to go much other than that. Around the house it takes longer to do the things that need doing, if I can do them. So, I've been doing them when I felt like it. Laundry in a basket on the couch for three weeks. All sheets and towels. Finally, put the towels away, but it's time to wash again. 

Truth is, I'm tired, y'all. Tired of everything. I said I wanted to get in my car and drive until the road ends. Maybe at the end, I can sit and not think or feel or do anything. 

Yeah, sounds like death. 

No, sounds like peace. But I don't really want to leave yet. Not sure how to handle it when both staying and leaving are unattractive. Kind of stuck in the middle. So, I had to make a decision that worked for me to just keep moving forward to an expected end. That's from Jeremiah 29:11. 

“I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” 

I've taken some hits in the faith department in the last seven months. No idea what is expected, and I certainly have no more expectations of anything. I've gone on autopilot and someone else can fly this bucket. I wasn't joking when I said I was tired. I'm beyond tired. And I don't want to think. I've thought too much since October. 

What I want is my brain quiet unless it's important or related to the story. Rehashing my life choices isn't important. I can't change them. Making plans was never my strong suit, and I am not doing that. I can get a travel agent. 

I think that's why I've been writing like an insane person to the point I've flared that damaged nerve in my left hand. Burns like mad. And yet, here I am, writing after midnight. Writing helps divert thoughts that would pour out like lava after I get into bed. They leave me in an ash heap. By morning I'm dealing with the fallout. 

Don't say stop thinking. If it were that simple, I wouldn't be exhausted and awake. I've tried scripture mantras, prayer, medicine, and teas. And yet, here I am, writing after midnight. 

The good news is that I've written 11,232 in six days. Insane. I'm taking more breaks, though. Eight-hour shifts of writing have nearly crippled me. So I'm trying to get up more often and walk around the house. Too dangerous to get out with ice everywhere.

The weekend is right there. Try to have a good one. Stay warm. Stay upright. Stay safe. 

Snowfall 2026

 

At the last measurement, around 9 a.m. We had 6.5 inches. It is still snowing and is 13 degrees. The city has mostly shut down. No church, and I'm guessing most stores are not open. 

I hate the snow. I used to love it. But 2009 did several irreversible things. One was to take the best thing that ever happened to me. The other was to remove any fondness for snow I possessed. I have photos from that event of me playing in the snow with my two yr old Sarah. It started as a beautiful day and ended in a frozen hell. 

So, I'm not enjoying anything about this day. 

I dealt with memories yesterday. I'm not glad to be doing it again today. Let's just say that the last few months have been a deluge of memories that I would rather not have remembered.  

Why I've been having this onslaught of memories is anyone's guess. Most of them, I haven't considered in years. And I mean more than a decade. The only thing I can think is that it's a cleansing. I hope that is what it is because otherwise I probably need some help. 

Cleansing happens, well, in my opinion. That's when things just pop up and you're forced to deal with them. As Christians, we're taught to get any negative emotions out of our life, and that means out of our heart. That's where we carry the garbage. If any exist. If you pray about this, the first thing you're going to notice is that stuff surfaces you didn't expect. Memories of events you forgot about. Feelings you didn't know you had about a person. Attitudes that you thought you'd conquered. 

Laugh if you want, but it's true. 

Start praying over any potential anger issues you may harbor. I'd say in a week, you will have lost your temper over so many things you won't know what hit you. Everything will annoy you, frustrate you, and irritate you like sandpaper. You will have to deal with every level of anger you are carrying. Mild irritation, mid-level annoyance, and vicious anger. Keep notes so you can track it.

Try lust. If you have a problem with that and start praying for it to be removed, you're going to get hit with the biggest, most disgusting things you can imagine. 

Keep in mind that every bit of that stuff is inside you. It's like a boil erupting and spilling out poison. That's what you want it to do. Don't stuff it back down; deal with it. Because pushing it back only makes it worse. 

I think that's what's happening to me. I've been hit with so many things in the last 6 months I can't keep up. Painful stuff that I can't forget or solve. All tied to who I am. 

What's that even about? 

And that anger? Yeah, it's at radioactive levels. At so many people, situations, and events. There's a ton. Sometimes I'm fine, but other times it boils over, and if I were a really nasty person, I would have slayed a dozen folks with my tongue by now. And some of them are already dead. 

I'm a mess and can't get it under control. 

To top it off, I keep running into to people who make it worse. Really nice pieces of work that make me want to bite nails. Or punch them in the nose... no... take a board to them. 

How long can this last? 

I'll let you know. 

Memories

 Today a memory came back I hadn't thought of much in 40 years. In fact, the event happened when I was 16, just before I turned 17. I don't think I've mentioned it but once in 53 years. 

I used to sing with three other girls in my church. One of those was the piano player. I was the oldest. I wouldn't call us great friends, but we were church friends. Meaning we got along well enough to sing together. Our church was a small town church of about 60 people and mosts of them were over 50. So our experience didn't matter, but we did all right for teenagers. We weren't the Lennon sisters. And if you don't know who that is, you can look it up. 

Vicky, our piano player, was the youngest at about 13. She played for the whole service, so she was adequate. She played by ear and was pretty good for her age. Diane and her sister, the other Vicky, were close to my age but still younger by a couple of years. Then there was me. I don't know how it started, but we were a "group" and became popular at church. Well, the older ladies loved us. 

One day in 1972 or 73, a young man showed up at our church. Johnnie was his name. He was in his early 20s, but we noticed he could sing well. And he could sing harmony. So, Johnnie began to sing with us. We liked it. We liked him. Everyone liked him. 

Look, it was a small town church with very few men at all. There were no young couples. Most of the youth came with grandparents, and there were fewer than a dozen of us. I dated the only two boys in the church. One I won't mention, he was the first. The second was Johnnie. 

Yes. He was older than me. But my mama trusted church boys. Everyone liked Johnnie, and he was faithful. So, I could go skating with him. 

Let me be clear here. At no point did I or any of the other girls think of Johnnie as anything other than a friend. He was too old for us. He wasn't very attractive. And he had poor dental hygiene. Had Johnnie attempted to kiss me, I'd have puked on him. 

We went skating on a Friday night. I rarely got to go out because, well, no boyfriend. I was a Pentecostal girl in a town of about 10,000. It wasn't likely to happen. It eventually did, but that's another story already posted here somewhere.  

But we went out. I was nervous because I didn't know why he'd asked me. I was concerned that he was thinking of me as more than a church friend. Still, we had a good time, and I was relieved when we got home.

He missed church that Sunday, but we weren't worried. The next Sunday I asked one girl if they had heard from Johnnie. One of them had, in fact, heard from him. 

Brace yourself. 

Johnnie got married the previous weekend. The same weekend he was out skating with me. 

I laughed when they told me and told them about the date. No one could believe it, but they knew me. We knew next to nothing of him. We didn't even know he had an actual girlfriend. He'd never told anyone, nor had he brought her to church. 

Why am I telling this? 

I do not know. 

Why did I remember it? I think there is a reason, but I'm not sure. Sometimes I know things, but from the back door, not the front. Meaning, I won't get it until it reveals itself as true. 

Is that mysterious enough for you?

Thought so.

At any rate, today when that memory came up, so did the word "placeholder".  I understood that. Johnnie couldn't go out with the girlfriend on Friday because they were getting married. But he had a friend he could do something with that weekend. Me. We were friends. We attended the same church and talked, and I wasn't interested in him any other way. But I became something a bit more important that weekend. A placeholder. 

And just like that, 50+ years later, I got angry about it. No one deserves that kind of treatment. Had he asked my mama if he could come over and hang out and told us why, she would have friend chicken for him. To be used for entertainment until you get what you want is not a nice thing. 

My mama liked him. Everyone liked Johnnie. Until they didn't. 

He came back to church a year later with his wife and child. I didn't speak to him. I don't know who did. 

Years later, 1980 to be exact, I met someone in N. Carolina who knew Johnnie. What are the odds? 

They were a military family from Alaska, and we were all stationed at Ft. Bragg. Her dad was a pastor in Alaska. Johnnie had been a member of the church in Alaska with his wife and kids. And Johnnie had messed up badly. Johnnie was in prison for rape. 

I was surprised. But I don't know if I should have been. I was just glad my mama was already gone and never knew. Mama would have been so disappointed. 

Today, I think I received a memory that reminds me not to assume everyone is good. My personality is such that I am open, getting closer than I should. Because of that, I can stray into areas I shouldn't and end up with bruises. 

That memory. It was painful in a way today it never was before. 

Rundown of the Weekend

 The leg is better. Have I told you about the leg? 

My lower back (SI joint) has flared up. I overdid it at the gym one week and walked the next week. Felt good at the time, but I did too much. Results were an inflamed SI joint and bursitis in my left leg, flaring all the way to my knee.

They started PT last Friday. It helped a great deal. For a couple of days, the pain was so much better. It came back, but not as bad. Today I'm wearing my diclofenac patch. That actually seems to help the most, but I have trouble keeping it on my back. It isn't glue but a kind of foamy, sticky substance that thins over 12 hours. Hits the pain hard, and I feel good if it stays where I put it. But it slides around. 

I will have PT twice a week for about six weeks. They used a TENS unit, and that was amazing. 

Writing has kind of stopped with this latest pain but I think tonight I'll start back up. Or tomorrow if I am too tired. 

I'm not sleeping well most nights. Either too worried, too upset, or too excited. My brain just doesn't shut off. One night I spent all night writing in my sleep! It wasn't a deep sleep, and I kept waking up. I considered getting up and writing. But I was so tired. 

I think I am going to plan a trip home. I need to go. And it would get me out of my head for a bit. Mike goes to Indy for an appointment with the neurosurgeon to get his brain disease checked for treatment. We know there's only one treatment at this point. But we need to know his status. Maybe when I get back, I can head home. 

Planning on getting rid of at least one cat. I simply can't cope with three anymore. Also, I may get rid of the second one. I love her, but again, I'm at my limit. And I want to get away more. Of course, Jet is not going anywhere. I think he's too attached and wouldn't do well if he were re-homed. Besides, I talk to him a lot. I actually talk to them all. And they try to answer back. 

Reading four books at the moment. I haven't done that in a while. Mostly because I had been reading a book a day since November. Once I began writing, I couldn't read a book a day. It took three days. So, I finished one yesterday and began two today. There are two others I was already reading. And yes, I can keep up with them. 

For now, I'm headed to the shower.