FIBROMYALGIA

Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition characterized by widespread pain in your muscles, ligaments and tendons, as well as fatigue and multiple tender points — places on your body where slight pressure causes pain. Fibromyalgia is more common in women than in men. Previously, fibromyalgia was known by other names such as fibrositis, chronic muscle pain syndrome, psychogenic rheumatism and tension myalgias.Signs and symptoms of fibromyalgia can vary, depending on the weather, stress, physical activity or even the time of day.Common signs and symptoms include: Widespread pain. Fibromyalgia is characterized by pain in specific areas of your body when pressure is applied, including the back of your head, upper back and neck, upper chest, elbows, hips and knees. The pain generally persists for months at a time and is often accompanied by stiffness.Fatigue and sleep disturbances. People with fibromyalgia often wake up tired and unrefreshed even though they seem to get plenty of sleep. Some studies suggest that this sleep problem is the result of a sleep disorder called alpha wave interrupted sleep pattern, a condition in which deep sleep is frequently interrupted by bursts of brain activity similar to wakefulness. So people with fibromyalgia miss the deep restorative stage of sleep. Nighttime muscle spasms in your legs and restless legs syndrome also may be associated with fibromyalgia.Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The constipation, diarrhea, abdominal pain and bloating associated with IBS are common in people with fibromyalgia.Headaches and facial pain. Many people who have fibromyalgia also have headaches and facial pain that may be related to tenderness or stiffness in their neck and shoulders. Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction, which affects the jaw joints and surrounding muscles, also is common in people with fibromyalgia.Heightened sensitivity. It's common for people with fibromyalgia to report being sensitive to odors, noises, bright lights and touch.Other common signs and symptoms include: Depression Numbness or tingling sensations in the hands and feet (paresthesia) Difficulty concentrating Mood changes Chest pain Dry eyes, skin and mouth Painful menstrual periods Dizziness Anxiety This is what I've delt with since I was 15 years old. It lies dormant or flares up uncontrollably. I am having a horrible flare up rightnow. I cannot explain or tell you what the pain in my back is like. It's debilitating and completely discouraging.I pray I'll get relief and relief fast! LONG LASTING RELIEF! Epsom Salt bathes, massage, icy hot rubs and pain relievers can only do so much! I need relief from the inside out!!!!!!! Like, a broken foot isnt' enough, right?ANY HELP OUT THERE????

We are finally at peace!

We now know what triggered the hives and Prince is finally getting better. Prince is allergic to all of the 'Cillin' meds and Ofloxacin eye drops. Both medications are antibiotics. Right when we stopped the eye drops and the Amox was out of his body, his hives never came back. Prince had Strep Throat, a double Ear Infection and Conjunctivitis. He was so sick. It was really scary. Especially when our family of origin experienced one my 2ND cousins tragically passing at 11 months, for not getting her fever down fast enough. She was sick and the antibiotics weren't doing their job. Her body gave up on the way to the hospital. It was so tragic in our family. My cousins still are coping and grieving. It was so sad. I never got to meet her. So, that was naturally in the back of my head when I'd see Prince, burning up, wondering why the Antibiotics weren't kicking in yet and clueless with what to do. He was so miserable. I about had it when we had to throw him in a cold bath at 3 in the morning because his fever was so high and we had a hard time waking him up. He was shivering and his lips were turning blue. It was so so scary.

I am SO grateful he is back to the defiant & goofy Prince! I wouldn't have it any other way!

Roger that...

Prince is still broken out in Hives. They seem to go away and come back. He is going to see his Pediatrician this afternoon. I'm nervous to give him his dose of Antibiotics! But it seems he's breaking out in the hives anyway. I have no idea what is going on... he's never had an allergic reaction to anything before. We'll see what the verdict is.

My ailment was just a virus. I know when I have Strep. I get very very sick with it. And yes, I threw out my toothbrush right after I found out I had it. That was the first thing the Doctor told me to do! Or it'll come right back! I still feel pretty crappy but I'm slowly coming out of it. I'm just really really really tired of this all. I can only handle so much. I will be very happy when we are all healthy again. Then maybe we can try to celebrate my Birthday.

Roger that...

HIVES

PRINCE had an allergic reaction to Amoxicillin today and broke out in HIVES all over his body. Of course I freaked out because Hives is the first sign of somebody who can go into Analphylactic shock! I took him to the ER and we switched meds. But guess what....he started breaking out in HIVES again tonight!!!!I'm ready to lose it! He's taken Antibiotics twice before and never reacted to them! What the heck is going on??? Does anyone have any similar experiences? This is his first time ever having Hives and they break out after he's given his antibiotics. I'm gonna pull all of my hair out!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He's now on Azithromycan(spell? I'm too lazy to check) and the hives are back. We have him on Benedryl and parental observation. We may have to take another trip to the ER!

Seriously....

Here's the smackdown...

Prince now has Strep Throat and Pink Eye. I just noticed he's breaking out in hives on his FACE! I don't know what that's all about. He may be taking another trip to the doctor today. I hope it's not a reaction to antibiotics because he never has had reactions before.

My throat hurts like heck and it's scratchy too. It's flaming red and I can barely swallow. I just got over having Strep Throat ad I'm going through this AGAIN? It hasn't even been two weeks since my Strep infection. I feel really lousy and can't seem to kick this..whatever I have...off! It can't possibly be Strep Throat...there's noway. I had a heavy duty dose of Penicillin injected in me two weeks ago. They say it takes about 10 days for infections to 'incubate'. There's no way! I have to have a bad virus. This virus is killing my throat. It's horrible.

My birthday this year was a big stink bomb. It was awful. I lied in bed and sulked like a baby. Boricua gave me nothing. Not even a card. Not even a card from the kids. OF course, he's responsible for that. It didn't even feel like a Birthday. It felt like a S***** day. Boricua spent no time with me. He was running around, taking kids to the doctor and getting prescriptions. The only thing I got from him was a very unenthusiastic, 'Happy Birthday', over the phone. He put forth zero effort for me. I did so much for him on his Birthday because I felt it was important for him to feel special that day. It's one day out of the year. It's not asking for much. Thank goodness for my friends, who put forth a little more effort than he did. But when we went to my "BIRTHDAY dinner", I still ended up paying for my check. oh, and Mater. He and his mom dropped by last night and gave me some flowers w/ a mini cake. It made things a little better. That was very thoughtful of them. I appreciated it.
It all ended with Boricua going to bed at 9:30, without telling me goodnight or even speaking to me and I fell asleep on the couch, sick.
Am I being Narcissistic?? Am I asking too much to having a nice Birthday? I don't know.

I'm very down right now. With all of the physical ailments thrown at me at once and never getting a break from it. My foot, my throat, my immunity, my headaches, my fatigue, my sick children and my stress! I don't like life right now. I don' like it at all.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

YES, THIS IS ME!Yes, that's me again.


This is how my birthday is going thus far...
We all have the FLU....even me! Yes, two weeks from just having Strep Throat. Now I have the FLU. So does Boricua and Prince. Wise is on Antibiotics for an Ear Infection and Conjunctivitis, aka, PINK EYE. Prince has PINK EYE now. He's been running a 102 degree fever since yesterday and the lil buger wont let me give him Motrin or Tylenol. His cough sounds a little better today. Yesterday, it sounded like Croup. He was a barking seal.We've been disinfecting our home because it's VERY needed... Lo and behold, Wise decides to have diarrhea this morning all over in his crib(Antibiotics give him the Runs). So, I had to rip off all of the sheets, bumper pad and his pillow to wash...with the other 15+ loads we need to wash.Luckily, Wise is feeling better but is exploding out of his other end,I haven't showered for 2 days. I know, gross! I've been dragging along with this stupid Virus that's making me feel so yucky. I've got the achy body, sore throat, cough, headache and low grade fever thing going on. It's definitely not Strep Throat! I just had that and I was DEATH, with that garbage. Boricua is working and I'm here, sick, with two sick kids, a messy house that I'm trying to keep picked up the very best...but I still have that annoying broken foot that has been aching terribly lately. I can barely bare any weight on it now. I've digressed a little bit with my foot.Nobody in my family has called me today yet. I have to go to work and I don't want to for two reasons; I'm sick and it's my birthday. I'd rather spend it another way.All in all, it's been super duper ooper crappy.What a way to ring in my Quarter of a Century mark!BLEEEEHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Sometimes life hands you sour lemons.... and it is NOW!!!!

SHEESH...

I can't believe I'm going to be 25 tomorrow....where has the time gone???

yada yada yada..I know! I'm still young!

BUT~ getting closer to 30!!!! Oh no!!

BIRTHDAY!!!

I have a REGISTRY!!! I thought it was a good idea! I think Sephora has been circulating emails...sorry.... GO CHECK IT OUT!!! I'd be such a happy girl!! My wish list is AWESOME! You may want some for yourself!!!!



SEPHORA.COM Registry~ SARAH VELEZ

YE OL' FOOT

It's been SIX WEEKS since I broke my foot now. I've been bearing weight on it for about a week and a half now. My forefoot has been securely taped for two weeks for extra support.
I went in today for my x rays to see where this stubborn bone is going...well... it's gone NOWHERE. Nothings calcified, bonded, moved, healed...NOTHING!! The GAP between to pieces is still open and I still have the bone chip above it. Nothing has changed.
So, why after SIX WEEKS? WEll, there' several factors. Some are; the 5Th Metatarsal bone gets very poor blood circulation, thus slowing down the healing process. This bone is a weight bearing bone; it takes alot of strain. And the break is a pretty tricky break. It's clean but broken really funky. It's like if you tried to snap a stick in half but it snapped diagonally from the bottom and hanging by a few strands.
We'll see how it goes in a few weeks. Either I'll be taped and booted for a while, or I'll have to get surgery...I don't think it'll happen though.
Please kids, be careful when you SKIP! haha!

MOM'S DAY

YAY! Cake for me! A DAY OFF FROM DIETING!PRINCE TOOK THIS PIC! WOW!
A TEE BIT TOO MANY MARTWONIS...DIET COKE MARTWONIS! HAHA!
SPEAKS FOR ITSELF!

I slept
I worshipped
renewed my Temple recommend
I yelled at Boricua...
well, he thought I did
I gave my mommy friends strawberry shortcakes
I ate Chinese food
I ate ice cream cake...
and had cake for breakfast...
it was terribly sweet.
I played camera with my kids
And played horsey
I read my book
I took Vicodin
Cuz I was in pain
I had a nice day!!
Hope you did too!

Muscular Atrophy

My right leg has suffered some muscular shrinkage and I'm not very happy about it! Boricua was teasing me. He says I have an Ethiopian right leg. Of course my right, will be your left! It looks like a match stick! UGH!

Well I tried to walk on it today with a shoe...and FAILED miserably.

My Gift Registry

I have one at SEPHORA.COM.

For my Birthday people...not just because...and YES, I'm selfish...



Still recovering...fighting off that grossness. It's made me extremely lethargic and slowwwwwww.....So, I don't feel up to par yet.



YET!



I can't wait til Mother's Day...so I can sleep all day!!

Any moms have anything special planned???

I'm thinking of you!! YES! YOU!!!

I got THE STREP INFECTION

Around 3 am Monday, I felt my throat hurting on the left side. I was a little worried, since Mater had Strep Throat a week before and I've been watching him for a few weeks. I then woke up Monday morning and felt a big truck of yuckys dumped into my body. My left side of my throat hurt, my lymphs were swollen, I was running a fever and had a horrible headache. Egh, I felt awful! It didn't feel like allergies or a little virus. I felt different because a week before that, I had massive Allergies and it felt nothing like that. I decided I'd wait it off. I don't go to the Doctor unless I absolutely HAVE TO. Well, come Monday evening, I was a mess. Both sides of my throat suddenly hurt like heck, my body was aching, I was shivering, having chills, a headache, nausea and very lethargic. I knew I was coming down with a Strep infection. I had it twice when I was little and I felt just like I did when I was little...except I didn't have my mom and dad to take care of me. I didn't get one ounce a quality rest last night. On top of Motrin, Tylenol and ALka seltzer, I was running a high fever all night, that led me to having insane dreams. Any small movement put my body in immense pain. I was up all night vomiting and dry heaving~ since I had nothing else to puke up. I had a hard time keeping any pain relievers down. I even started feeling a tinge of blood in my throat. I was shivering terribly and my body hurt so bad. Now my throat was so swollen and hurt so bad, I could barely talk or swallow. When I was awake, I was hearing and seeing things due to my fever. I keep on hearing people knocking on walls ans yelling. Then I'd see green and orange shadows running around. It was bazaar. High fevers will make you temporarily insane! I am not kidding you, I felt so horrible, I wanted to die! I'm serious! I'd mumble out every few hours, " I need to go to Doctors... I need to go.." But nothing was happening. I rolled out of bed @ 1:30. I took my Tylenol and Motrin concoction. It took the edge of my pain and broke my fever. I lied around, miserable, not able to eat and irritable. I could barely talk. Finally, by 3:30, I told David I couldn't deal anymore and made him take me to the ER.
Well, it's a good thing I went! I had such a severe case of Strep Throat! My tonsils were covered in white puss and My throat was almost swollen shut. They pulled out the big guns on me too. I had to get a THICK and MASSIVE shot of Penicillin in my butt. It was PAINFULLL!! OUCH! I asked if I could just take it in pill form and they said I couldn't. I needed something more aggressive and immediate. Then I had an oral steroid I needed to take for my throat to reduce the swelling. I was told it was pretty darn severe and it was a good thing I came in or my throat would've closed up! Seriously, I felt like death. I knew it wasn't the Flu or Allergies.

I just couldn't believe how FAST this bacteria worked on me. In one day, I was covered in white puss and swollen.
Hopefully this will be my last case of STREP THROAT because it has been absolutely WRETCHED!

This is getting old...

I've been doing partial weight baring on my foot and guess what folks...Soosie paid for it all last night.
So, I texted my doctor and gave him the 411. He called for more narcotics and said no more weight.

I'm back on using both crutches again!! WHEN IS THIS GOING TO BE OVER???
GRR!!
Atleast I"l be able to sleep better tonight, now I've gone pain killers that'll acutally WORK!

This, my friends, is getting old!

I did manage to hobble to chuch today!

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~S

foot update

WEll, I went to the doctor yesterday and here's the update:

My bone is still broken. It hasn't changed. No progression but no digression; which is good. Mind you, it's been over 4 weeks now and it is still not healed to the slightest. My doctor is just glad that it hasn't shifted or gotten any worse.

The swelling has gone down alot but it is stil swollen and a little bruised. My leg will get numb and hurt if I'm on it too much, naturally.

I am now on PARTIAL weight bearance. I can now set my foot down and put some weight on the back of my heel. The motion will start getting the fluids out and getting it to feel a little better. BUT~ if it hurts too bad, I HAVE to use both of my crutches. I am using one crutch now and I'm doing okay. I just took my last vicodin last night. I needed it after teaching 3 dance classes.

My forefoot is taped for extra support. It makes a world a difference! I am still in my boot cast. My foot will probably be taped for the remainder of my healing. It looks like I'll be in my boot until the end of May. My foot is healing very slowly. Unless a miracle happens! Ha!

There you have it!
~S

Meal for 5-01-08

Okay, here we go, however wants to join or follow along!Just so you know, I am ON A MEAL PLAN with a professional TRAINER.PEREFECTIMAGE4LIFE.COMIt's on the go, so I can pick and choose..It's becoming fun! Burn baby burn!
Breakfast~ one cooked egg and a tortilla w/ a Tbs sprinkle of lowfat cheese(310 cals)

Snack~ oops, nothing..Sorry mark. I had a 12 oz can of Diet Coke.( 0 cals)

Lunch~ a sushi roll w/cucumber and spicy shrimp & a Tbs of LIGHT sodium soy sauce. (350)Snack~ A whole wheat pita w/ Hummus. (160 cals)(10 pieces of hot tamale candies, yes 10, I counted them and put them in a baggy..it's not in my meal plan but I keeping track of portion and calories! 10 pieces were 75 calories)

Dinner~ Half of a whole wheat pita w/ baby spinach and lean turkey. A squirt of mustard and two sprays of the NEWMAN'S OWN SALAD(160 cals) SPRITZERS~BTW, those are AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! Hardly ANY CALS OR FAT and very flavorful! One white chedder rice cake(45 cals).

Dessert~ 1/2 cup of lowfat vanilla frozen yogurt w/ granola.(100 cals)Of course my 3-4 bottles of WATER!

TOTAL CALORIES FOR THE DAY: 1200 calories! UNDER! yeehaw!

It's BRUTAL but I'm starting to love it! I feel really good!!Boricua had half of a pita sandwich w/ me tonight and he told, "MAN! Hw can you eat like that! This stuff goes right through you! I'm not full at all!"haha! Well, you get used to it. TRust me, it's been hard at times but I remind myself of the outcome! SKINNY MINNY!!!!!

MEAL FOR 4-30-08

KEPING UPDATED ON MY DIET!!! Whoever wants to support or join, feel free! It's getting easier and easier every day! Here we go!

• Breakfast~ one small bowl of instant oatmeal (Apples and cinnamon) no butter, milk or sugar.
• snack~ 5(yes 5, I counted) of tortilla chips w/ pinapple salsa. No, not alot of it.
• Lunch ~ one bowl of Progresso garden vegetable soup. (it's AWESOME! 90 cals and NO FAT for 1 cup! Plus all of the properties from the veggies!)
• snack~ half of an apple w/ little less of a Tbs of peanut butter
• Dinner~ grilled chicken sandwich, no mayo, no dressing. Only lettuce and tomato. One small baked potato w/ a pinch of salt and a Tbs of lowfat sour cream.
• Dessert/snack~ 1 cup of NONFAT and SUGAR FREE Sweet Cream ice cream with blueberries and a sprinkle of graham cracker. It's YUMMY, BTW.
• Then I had 1/2 cup of my remaining garen veggie soup cuz I was still hungry. But it was only 45 calories and no fat!

There ya have it! BURN BABY BURRRRRRN!! My clothes are already feeling a ltitle looser! I feel my body BURNING AT RESTING RATE!! It's awesome.