No Empathy From Me

I spent the past week sick in bed. This had me a little blue because I'm going to be 40 on Thursday. There are a few things I wanted to do for and by my 40th. I wanted to surf by my 40th birthday, which I had hoped to do this past weekend, but I was too sick. I also plan to celebrate most of the week, and I plan to go to Disneyland.

My body, on the other hand, had other ideas. I woke up last Thursday, and I couldn't put weight on my feet because the pain was so bad. I ended up going to my rheumatologist and she gave me an injection of steroids. She said I should start to feel better by Monday. Of course, I was Ms. Negative, thinking that it wouldn't work, and I'd feel that way for my birthday.

Geoff has a rowing machine, and he's really excited because he's trying to row for the Concept 2 Holiday Challenge. In this challenge he gets a tee shirt if he rows 200,000 meters. I know he loves his rowing machine, and I know he's very excited, but I don't want to hear about his aches and pains when I'm feeling so miserable. I know that it's wrong of me to feel that way, so I try my best not to be moody with him when he complains.

At some point over the weekend, he was talking about his rowing and how he got a blister on his hand. (I should point out that when my husband gets a paper cut, I hear about it half the day.) Anyway, he was pointing out this blister and describing the pain it was causing him, and I was thinking to myself, "You've got to be kidding me! I can't walk here!" I think what actually came out of my mouth was something to the effect of "Uh huh. I see." He responded, "Are you upset with me? Your toned seems resigned." I said, "I don't feel well Geoff." He then said, "Are you sure?" I then told him that honestly, I didn't want to hear him go on and on about his blister. That I was miserable and couldn't walk, and a blister on his hand seemed minimal in comparison. Especially since he got it rowing several thousand meters in a day, when I can't even think about standing up. He responded, "But the blister hurts." Then he said, I'm sorry you're not feeling well. I know it must be hard on you, but the blister really does hurt. I just rolled my eyes.

Empathy is pretty hard for me when I'm not feeling well. I know that's hard on my family because Mom/Wife is supposed to be empathetic, but my children are grown and nearly grown. My husband is definitely grown. They need to suck it up. I often do. As you can see, I'm not doing too well on the empathy thing right now.

Anyway, my rheumatologist didn't lie to me. I was able to walk on Monday. I'm still moving a bit slow, and I feel run down, but I'm hoping to be better by my birthday. Overall I feel lucky to be here to complain.

Have a lupie day.

LupieKat

Keeping Warm Lupie Style

I was going to write about how Geoff and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary this weekend, but then I read a post about a cold lupie and decided this post would be better served talking about keeping warm.

I think lupies are more susceptible to pain this time of year because it is so darn cold. It is very important to keep joints warm especially those hands and feet. Here are a few things I do to keep warm.

1. Wear gloves. Especially when you go outside. If you find that your hands get cold at work, and you do a lot of typing, get gloves and cut the fingers off. I also put a heating pad under the wrist that I use to mouse. For some reason that wrist gets cold. Also, when you're shopping wear gloves to help you grab things out of the freezer section. Especially if it hurts your hands to touch cold things.

2. Use a blanket. I carry a blanket with me practically everywhere I go. I used to feel really self conscious about it at work, but now it seems like I've started a trend because others are doing it too!

3. Wear booties, socks or slippers. I have slippers under my desk at work that I wear when I'm going to be sitting in one place for long periods of time. I also keep an extra pair of warm socks in my desk.

4. Sweaters are your best friend. Sweaters are great, especially at work. You can toss them on without looking completely inappropriate.

5. Get moving. Moving around vigorously is the one thing that helps the most when my joints get cold. Take a quick lap around the office to warm things up if need be.

6. Heating pads. Heating pads are wonderful. They can be a quick fix to cold areas of your body. There are also heating pads that you can toss in the microwave if you are short on places to plug in.

7. Wear a hat. My husband constantly reminds me that most of your body's warmth escapes through your head, so make sure to wear a hat.

These are my lupie methods to keeping warm. Feel free to add your own. The picture above is of me in Palm Springs at the top of the aerial tramway. I'm dressed very warmly. I'm also wearing sunglasses to protect my lupie eyes.

LupieKat