As the title of this post says, I have a love/hate relationship with the weather. Mainly the cold weather. I don't care much for hot weather. I'd rather it be a nice 60-70 degrees out. For the last month though, it's been in the 40-50 degree range...during the day. That's not the night time temperature. That's the daytime temperature. At night it's been in the 20-30 degree range.
Don't get me wrong, I love the cold weather. I love it because here where I live it is showing the season. We don't get snow at our elevation, but we get it not that far from us. But lately, it has felt like it might as well be snowing here. I love the cold weather, but what makes me hate it is my body. My poor, Multiple Myeloma brittle body. Ok, not really brittle, but my poor body does not like the cold anymore. The reason? The reason is because since my transplant, my joints hurt. My joints hurt so bad it's like I have arthritis. I am sure I really do now, but I haven't been checked out. Might as well be something I bring up to my doctor at my next visit. He may know if that's a side effect of my transplant, or if it's a side effect of my chemo. Good God I hope it's not the chemo. I, unlike most people, like the chemo I am on. I don't get sick, it's not another pill and it's a quick in and out of the infusion center with a shot. No sitting in the chair for a few hours at a time and no nausea. It's a nice break from before transplant and even the first 2 weeks following transplant.
The joint pain is so bad that even sleeping messes with it. Well, the relaxation part of sleeping. When you are resting/sleeping so well that your whole body relaxes. It makes my joints lock up and ache when I wake up and try to walk. We keep the bathroom door shut for two reasons in our bedroom. One, to keep the cold from the window out of the rest of the room and two, we have a toddler who likes to play with all that nasty dirty toilet utensils. You know, the plunger and the toilet bowl scrubber. He also likes to play with the toilet paper. So, when I wake up, whether it's the middle of the night or the morning, my hands are so stiff and tight I can barely grab the door knob to the toilet part of the bathroom to get in there. It's like trying to open a door while wearing mittens.
The only thing that seems to help my poor joints is warm or hot water. During the week when I get up for work I take a shower. I get the water so hot it would probably scald most people. But not me. It feels good. Honestly, it makes me not want to get out of the shower. But, I muck up the discipline to get my shower done and get out. As long as my joints are feeling better, I am good for a few hours. Then I get to work at the warhorse we work in and I am freezing again. I will sometimes wear fingerless gloves so I can at least keep most of my hands warm. I might have to start bringing my hand warmers I got from the oncology department. They work so well. Basically, they are homemade packs that are cloth filled with rice you put in the microwave to warm up. You put them in your pockets and they keep your hands warm. We have bigger bags like that for our feet in bed. One is filled with corn and the other with cherry pits. I'll tell ya, those things are toasty and really help. On days off I will take a bath in the morning to really soak help my whole body relax and my joints to warm up and stop aching. Problem is, it's been so cold that I am not getting warm water in the tub. The temperature is more of the temperature for Brandon when he takes his baths. The temperature barely loosens up my joints. Then, I get out and they start to tighten up again. It happened this morning. My night time baths are fine. The water can get really hot. But, I don't always get a bath at night. Brandon doesn't always allow it. And by doesn't allow it, I mean he fights sleep and I usually end up falling asleep at the same time as him. Which means I miss my bath time.
The other thing is that we are in a two story condo. I can turn the heater on and it mainly heats up the up stairs. Barely gets the downstairs warm. Thats where turning on the oven to cook dinner or even lunch comes in handy. At least the oven will warm up the downstairs. I wish we had a fireplace. I know, odd to say with a toddler running around, but I really do. At least then that would heat up the downstairs. Maybe even one of those electric ones. The ones you buy in the store and have to plug in. I know some of those heat up a room pretty well. And that's another thing. All this cold weather that's making us have our heater up higher than usual is making our gas and electric bill go higher this year. I even bundle up and I am still cold. Sweats, sweatshirt, socks, Uggs or furry slippers, and a fleece blanket when I downstairs. In bed it's flannel sheets and an electric fleece blanket on top of that. Although, the blanket itself is warm enough. I don't have it plugged in and turned on. Then I have the warmth of Eric and Brandon in bed with me.
So, yes, I have a love/hate relationship with this cold weather we have been having. I love it because you bundle up, drink hot chocolate and it shows that it really is winter. I hate it because my body now hates it. My body is basically old and brittle. Multiple Myeloma has taken away something I love. The cold. It's made it so my body doesn't want to cooperate. Even typing my posts hurt my hands. That's something else all together. My left hand now has carpal tunnel. I had CTS surgery a few years ago on my right hand so it's ok, but the transplant has caused me to have it develop in my left hand. The joys of Multiple Myeloma and a transplant. All things not making git easy to mom. But I do it anyways. He needs me, and I will not let him down.
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