New Medicine

My life seems to revolve around my health the past couple of years. What I do or don't do always depends on how I feel. I have become more hopeful, though, that I'll be able to do a lot more since I began taking Lyrica a week ago.

The doctor told me to take it at night until I found out how it would affect me. The first night I took it was the best night's sleep I'd had in a year or more. The next day I remember stopping for a second and thinking something was wrong. Then I realized that I actually didn't hurt anywhere. Not all days have been that good, but they have been so much better than the days before I began taking the medicine, and I'm still taking only one capsule per day. I'll begin taking two capsules at night on Friday. I'm anxious to see how much relief that will bring. So far I haven't had any side effects, but it's probably to soon to get excited about that.
Update: Since I first started this post, I've begun taking two Lyricas a day. I have almost no pain. I've been able to start walking again, and today I walked two miles with no problems. I'm not tired all the time, and I've been able to do things again that I haven't felt like doing in two years. Needless to say, I feel very lucky that I haven't experienced any of the side effects that are common with this drug. I feel as if I've been given my life back.

I'm Back

Another month and it would have been a year since I last posted. I'm not sure why I decided to start posting again, but I thought I'd give it another try. I've decided it's best to just try to write something even if it's just for me. I've never been much of a creative writer; I've always been the one who obsesses about spelling and punctuation, and that attitude can pretty much hamper the creative flow. I also consider myself a very boring person. It's very difficult for me to talk about myself. I always took to heart those articles about conversation with other people and how you should ask questions about the person and his or her life. Get them to talk about themselves, and you're pretty much off the hook.

One reason I'm doing this, I guess, is because I've been thinking about keeping a journal. This seems like a better way of doing it, and I won't have to hide it from the kids. One of my nieces is a prowler, and she loves to go through closets and drawers. I find it to be a very irritating habit. It would thrill her if she found something like a diary.

What have I been doing for the past year? Pretty much the same thing I was doing when I last wrote. I'm still working for the newspaper in Snyder, reading my books, and trying to find some relief for my aches and pains. The newspaper is fun, and I feel much more comfortable with the software we use. My bosses are a husband and wife team, and that can be sort of stressful. I admire all the women who have put up with their husbands for years without killing them. I have a difficult time listening to it without putting in my two cents. It wouldn't help anyway, and it just might make it worse for her. (Southern women in my age group were taught to shut up and not stick our noses where they don't belong. When we finally decide we can't take it any longer, we tend to explode! It's never pretty when that happens.)

I'm still not smoking after almost two years. I have to admit that I still want one at least once a day. Part of the problem is having a boss who smokes and refuses to follow the law about not smoking in a business. I still remember how scary it was after the surgery when my right lung was so congested that I couldn't breathe. I don't want to experience that ever again. I don't even remember the pain of the 8 inch incision the doctor made. All I can remember is the pain in my chest.

I don't work at the library anymore either. I stopped working there last fall when I had a difference of opinion with some of the ladies on the library board. Now I just use paperbackswap.com for all my books, and I haven't been in the library since.

I rented the land to my helper, Shane, at the first of the month. I sold him some of the cattle and the equipment. I paid off my loan, and I'm now debt free. It is a little depressing that I'm not involved in it anymore, but I haven't felt like taking an active role for a long time now. It will be for the best, and he certainly deserves his shot at it.

Guess that's all for now. Oh! I have been doing a little crocheting, but it's nothing too complicated. More on that later.