Polly, The Smart Phone & Blogging - Or Not As The Case May Be!

I've had such a long break from posting I'm really struggling with how to get back into it. So, without any further angst I have simply jumped back in by typing the last two sentences! Wow, that wasn't so hard, was it? (Breathes a sigh of relief...)

I must apologize to anyone out there who has clicked back to this blog every now and again to see if I've finally posted. I do that with a number of blogs that I love and have been soooooooooh very disappointed to witness the sorry state of recurring absences. I must be a glutton for punishment, given the number of times I've done exactly that. Eventually like any sane person, I will give up as no doubt some of my regular readers have done in my case.

 

Personally speaking, I blame the advent of the Galaxy SII. I've always yearned for such a luxury, even in the days when luxuries of this type were only available in futuristic sci-fi movies. So, you can imagine how chuffed I was when my cell-phone (mobile) provider contacted me and offered me my hearts desire. Best of all, it didn't cost me a red-cent! Oh yes, I jumped at the offer.

That said, I grilled the poor girl on the other end of the line. I'd only upgrade if I could get an I-phone or something similar. In the end my choice was significantly reduced to the Samsung Galaxy II, due to the fact that it would support office! Guess what I did on Christmas day? Blah, blah, blah...

Anyway, the long and short of this post is that I wish to apologize for being a crappy blogger. I kind of got distracted. It's too easy to go surfing when you've got Wi-Fi and a hand held computer to facilitate. Waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy toooooooooo easy! Oh yeah.

Sadly, one of the few things that isn't easy to do is blog from it. I know that countless others can do exactly that, however I can't. I find that the touch screen, even with SWYPE is just too hard on my hands to do much more than site hopping on the internet and writing the odd e-mail.

http://www.flylady.net/

Even the simple act of viewing my favourite blogs on a daily basis can become too much for my delicate little pingies. It's repetitive strain, you see?! Seriously though, that is exactly what it is; probably on account of the ridiculous number of favourite websites and blogs I like to trawl through at a time. For those of you in the know, I believe this may constitute something of a problem.

Addiction? Or not! Who's to know? One thing I can tell you is that my physician agrees that persons with Fibromyalgia tend to be more at risk of hurting themselves accidentally during the carrying out of their everyday lives. What does this have to do with posting though? Pretty much everything.

CHAOS! Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome is deadly. It can affect everyone, particularly those who are
not Born Organisers. In my case I've always been slightly disorganised, but since being unwell things have got slightly carried away when I was hiding beneath the bedcovers feeling sorry for myself.  This is due to an overwhelming lack of storage and the over bearing excess of belongings.

My computer desk has become a place to keep my neatly folded clothing. BTW I also store my shoes beneath it and two bolts of upholstery fabric beyond that! The nice thing is that I can admire them on the rare occasion I clear my desk and give myself access to my computer screen and keyboard.

The upholstery fabric is now residing on my sofa in the sitting room, fulfilling yet more dreams! One is a lush crimson coloured velveteen and the other is similar only it's a beautiful shade of creamy yellow with cream and red stripes through it. They compliment one another nicely and are the stuff that dreams are made of. They also frustrate me no end, considering that it must be all of nine years since my trip to Material World in Athlone. Still, one day...

So, Polly's Not Sick?

Yesterday I left my diary in somebody's office by accident. I returned to retrieve it some two minutes later (enough time to walk up and down the stairs, poke my head into the office & discover that I should also have brought back an original copy of the document I'd just delivered!)

Having found a stranger in the office, which I suppose should be expected after four years absence, I had introduced myself to the lady concerned & asked if I should know her. That may sound a wee bit of an odd question, but she was obviously a part of the furniture and I felt as though I ought to have known her! In any event it turned out that she worked in the A&E Dept normally and was just holding the fort, so I had no need to have known her in the past. Phew, this means that I'm not barking mad after all!

She seems like a nice woman and when asked about my story, I divulged all my darkest secrets. You know, the ones regarding intractible pain, fatigue, memory loss, blah, blah, blah, oooh, and the fact that before I went off sick I was as cross as the proverbial bear...

So, that all went nicely. I photocopied the document and promptly forgot to take my diary with me when I returned to theatre. Nice one! My diary is my lifeline. It's got all sorts of stuff in it, including reports, reminders, my name, and all the stuff that I'm likely to forget - so a lost diary is something of a disaster!

Anyway, as I already told you, I returned to 'the office' , knocked quietly on the door and walked in. I could hear voices coming from the inner office and thought no more of it. All this meant was that I could retrieve the diary easily. Or so I thought...

"...she's the girl that's been off sick, claims to be sick when in fact there's nothing wrong with her..."

I don't know for certain, and I can't be sure, but it's one heck of a coincidence that I've recently returned to work after four years and four months sick leave. It's also a coincidence that I've had to take my employers to task to enable me to do this legally and safely. And it's also a coincidence that I met a woman I didn't know, introduced myself to her and told her about my recent experiences and then forgot my diary and walked in on this conversation. Isn't it?

Thankfully my stint as an axe-wielding psychopath with murderous tendencies is over. My menstrual cycle appears to have released me from yet another potentially catastrophic phase in my existence which is lucky for the woman whom I overheard. I ignored what I'd heard, asked for my diary, swapped an original document for the copy and thanked her sweetly - with a smile.

Later on yesterday evening I took my magic tablets early, in the hope of avoiding the need to take additional mediciations to make me sleep (no such luck). I also took pain relief because my feet and hips were particularly sore. Thankfully the pain in my chest had settled down, although it was on the left side directly above my heart I knew it would pass because I've had it before.

In fact I've had it nearly every day since 2004! It may not always be in the same place, but it's forever present. Medications, rest and adjusting my daily life have helped. But, it's still there, underneath the surface just waiting for a crack in the pharmaceutical armour.

Just for the record, my last working day before my sick leave was 1st February 2006. The symptoms became troublesome in 2004 on a particular date, in a particular place. I was given my diagnosis in February 2005. 
And I returned to work on 31st May 2010.

I'm on a rest day today. Working just 15 hours a week has resulted in my insomnia returning, pain returning, an increase in my medication, resting on my rest days - as in staying in bed for most of the day and an increase in the balance in my bank account!

Is it worth it? I don't know. It's nice to feel useful, but is it nice to be in pain and put off taking medications because it's a low grade pain and it might go away? The problem is that it doesn't. I take medication. I feel fatigued and my head is spinning. Who said I wasn't sick, eh?