I have the warmest room in the house, my Mum put on the electric blanket to warm my bed for me when I was out the other night and I have had the best 2 nights sleep I have had in a long time.
Nothing is too much trouble, too much work, she cooks really nice dinner for me, takes me out to the shops to get food and snacks I can manage to eat, just being home for 2 and a half days and I'm feeling more relaxed.

Exams are over for now and time will tell how I have done. I don't want to think about them really because I dont feel like I have much hope of doing ok. This will be the closest I have ever felt to actual failure and I'm not even sure I want to know my exam results. Its weird, the longer I continued to feel so ill and the less time I had to study, the less I cared about even sitting any exams, I didnt have the energy. I'm just more frustrated than anything that I wasn't able to put the work I wanted and needed to put into exam prep as I should have and because of that its going to be hard not to be disappointed.

I went to see a dr and he was really lovely, didnt make me feel like it was all about feelings (and if you sort out your emotions everything will disappear...). He ran some more bloods and I will get the results sometime this coming week and he wrote a certificate for my exam impairment application. I'm not expecting that the blood tests will reveal anything but its worth ruling things out just the same.
I contacted the physio who works with my pain specialist and she said that he will be able to help me and that she will be able to help me work on the nausea too, saying it is the result of a 'lowered central threshold'. So I'm thinking thats a bit like the hypersensitivity that comes with crps and that now my body is reacting to other types of normal stimuli the wrong way (I'm expecting to be told its a result of stress). I'm just glad to hear that hopefully once I see them I will be able to get over all this and be back to feeling better becuase I really dont like the thought of carrying on like this for much longer. Mornings are the worst by far and one of my practical exams finished a little pear shaped as I did not make it out the door before I fainted causing yet more havoc. I told the associate dean that I'm not comming back for semester 2 if I'm not feeling better, there is no way I can get through class full time and clinical placement feeling the way I have been. Mum suggested trying ginger to see if it helped the nausea and although it doesnt get rid of it completely, drinking ginger beer and sucking these ginger sweets I found is certainly helping me get through the day much easier and I'm finally able to eat a bit more without fear of puking it up again.

I have almost finished packing yet again, tomorrow afternoon I'm off overseas to Australia for an 8 day holiday visiting a friend who is studying med. I'm so excited that we are both on semester break at the same time so that we are able to be together and have some well earned fun. She has been 'plotting' ever since I booked my flights and I just hope that I dont ruin anything because of how I've been feeling. She is not fazed and says we will just see how things go and plan accordingly. Frequent small meals are on the menu and I know she is someone who will understand if I say I need to sit or slow down at any point. She is going to make a really good dr in a few years time.
So, I wont be online very much if at all in the next week as I'm leaving my laptop behind and looking forward to taking things easy with a good friend, forgetting about uni and hopefully feeling a bit better as well. Just a little bit scared as I will be flying on my own and spending the first night on my own in central Sydney before I catch the 8 hour train to where my friend is living but I'm sure I will be fine :)

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good luck on your trip and God Bless,
Don't forget to get lots of photos, I live vicariously through you!!!
Love you Butterfly

SailLttleboat07 said...

I am glad you are at home getting rested up and beginning to feel a bit better... Have a good trip!

Hayley Cafarella said...

I hope you have a fabulous trip! Wish you were coming to Melbourne as I'd love to meet up with you for a coffee & and RSD bitch fest :P I'm sorry things got so tough with your exams, kudos to you for getting through it, I know I couldn't handle the stress like this! Kudos on your bravery for getting on a plane too, travel in the car is daunting enough!! xoxo

Anonymous said...

Hey Butterfly
Things I have learned since you've been away,
I am a domestic goddess.
I love to power walk, but power walking doesn't love me( legs are objecting BIG itme)
I need a boob reduction....SERIOUSLY!!!!
I cannot walk in heels anymore, its gonna take all month to get brain and legs communicating enough to not look like a total tard... Lord, please don't let it be icy or snowy that weekend.
I am not ready to inherit 2 toddlers and manage a dog at the same time.... Littlest toddler and Dog are in the same stage of brain development and its exhausting, but the house is warm boarding hot and so my legs are objecting less... thankfully.

Hope things on the other side of the ditch are treating you well,
Can't wait to hear all your adventures.

Love you
Jo

jeisea said...

Hi Al
I have a few suggestions if you don't mind. First the skin thing is a crps issue I believe. You skin become hypersensitive and you also can fel a general anxiety without actually knowing why you are agitated. I wonder about the nausea. IN Australia we have a pharmacy help phone number. We tell the pharmacist all the meds and vitamins etc we are taking and they look up contraindications of side effect. Sometimes you can get side effects from combinations. You can get nausea from vertigo. You can get vertigo from a hit on the head. (don't know if this has happened to you). This can cause benign positional vertigo. It can be treated by a physiotherapist of doctor by a certain exercise - no drugs needed. You can also get vertigo from a virus.

You can feel sick from pain but it is usually extreme pain as in nauseating migraine.

Just some thoughts.

Hope you feel better soon.

Lisa Moon said...

Hey, hon,

Just catching up on your blog... sorry!

Jeisea makes some great points about the BPV! I wonder if that could apply to you?!

There are so many things at play with CRPS/RSD, it can be hard to pin things down, I know...

SO so glad you got to go on that trip. :) How wonderful your friend is so understanding and accomodating. And really, it's all we need: understanding and some accomodation, right?! Otherwise, we're just fine, thanks!

Fingers crossed for your special considerations at uni. You deserve to have that chance, my dear. It is more than reasonable and equitable in your situation - don't forget it!

Love, hugs and more love,

Lisa