Blogging | A New Kind of Normal

Apr 14, 2012

HAWMC Day 14 – My Perfect Day

April 14, 2012 By Jamee 1 Comment

In starting to write this post I wasn’t sure whether or not to describe my perfect day which would obviously not include any of my chronic illnesses or my perfect day with my illness still a part of my day as the two scenarios would be quite different. After some thought I decided I would plan my perfect day would include a great day with illness which would include minimal pain and no flares! The perfect day would have to take place at the beach right?

Here is how my perfect day would start:

Waking up around 9am and feeling refreshed. Morning stretch would feel lovely instead of the usual morning stiffness.
After waking up and changing, I would get a nice 2 mile run in before breakfast. A 2 mile run would be a good workout whereas trying to go further may cause a flare.
Breakfast would include gluten-free powdered donuts and a glass of chocolate milk (my perfect day doesn’t have to be completely healthy does it? lol)
After a nice hot shower, the rest of the morning would be spent playing out on the beach with Abby and John.
We would eat lunch on the balcony before heading out to do some shopping.
At the mall, I would find amazing deals on clothes that were my size and made me feel fabulous.
Dinner would take place at Outback and my Victoria Filet steak would be cooked perfectly (the first time) and would have to include their gluten-free dessert – Chocolate Thunder from Down Under.
After dinner while its still light out, we would enjoy a game of putt-putt before heading home.
We would spend the rest of the evening hanging out and watching a movie before bed.

How would you describe your perfect day?

Filed Under: blogging, chronic illness, family fun, health

Apr 13, 2012

HAWMC Day 13: Things I Cannot Live Without

April 13, 2012 By Jamee 3 Comments

Today’s prompt is 10 9 things that you cannot live without. I’m going to leave the obvious of my faith and my family so I can share some fun gadgets that make life with chronic illness a little better. These are in no particular order.

1: My TENS unit. It goes pretty much everywhere with me these days inside my handbag.

2: My heated snuggie. Seriously one of my favorite things, even with the weather getting warmer. One night the week it was actually fairly hot outside but I knew my joints needed the heat so I cranked up 2 fans in the bedroom so I could tolerate the heat without melting! Desperate times call for desperate measures.

3: Dry Shampoo. Amazing invention. Maybe even more amazing than my TENS unit. Its a close one. It is a great product for your surgery survival kit but also for days when you need to look presentable but don’t have the spoons to go through the washing, conditioning, blowdrying, etc.

4: Coke. Its a really bad habit I know and I’ve tried 18612984 times to stop drinking it but when my nausea is at its peak it is about the only thing I tolerate (especially when its in a glass bottle).

5: Cereal. My husband has decided that something is majorly wrong with me because if needed I think I could totally live off cereal. Since my gastroparesis started, its one meal I can eat that doesn’t me feel absolutely miserable after eating it (instead is just makes me feel a little miserable).

6: NCIS. I own all 8 seasons and don’t you bet that I’ll be pre-ordering season 9 as soon as the season is over although I feel like the story line is in a bit of a slump the last few episodes so hopefully it will get better (I do not like Dr. Ryan w/ Gibbs – seems hinky). My husband always asked why I watch it so much and honestly most of the time its just background noise when I’m resting. He could survive with ESPN playing in the background all day. For me, its NCIS.

7: Twitter. Some days its the support and encouragement from my twitter friends that keeps me from going over the edge. Now more than ever I feel like I’ve got a community of warriors fighting alongside me.

8: My tablet. When it comes to writing out full posts, I like to use my laptop but when I’m trying to relax and browse pinterest or twitter, its nice to have on hand its a lot less bulky than a laptop sitting on your lap.

9. Drive-thru pharmacies. I know this just proves how small a town I live in but seriously we just got a new CVS with a drive-thru! Its a wonderful, beautiful thing!

So these are 9 things that I have found helpful in fighting the daily fight against chronic illness. What items/gadgets would you add to the list?

Filed Under: blogging, chronic illness, health Tagged With: HAWMC

Apr 9, 2012

HAWMC Day 9: Keep Calm

April 9, 2012 By Jamee 4 Comments

We have all seen the “Keep Calm & Carry On” posters if you have been on the internet any length of time. Actually you now can find a multitude of products that include the phrase “Keep Calm” and followed by something like “Eat Cupcakes,” “Blog On,” or “Go Shopping.” I just so happened to be fans of all three!

For today’s assignment we instructed to create our own Keep Calm poster. As I write this post, this is the first time being back online as my family and I had a mini-getaway and I decided to go completely unplugged. No phone. No text. No twitter. It was very refreshing and it inspired me to create this poster:

And by “Get Away” I mean get out of the house and go somewhere. It doesn’t have to be anywhere far away or fancy. In fact, as a spoonie, I would recommend not going very far – just far enough to feel away from home but not far enough to spend your spoons traveling.

Right after church yesterday morning, we packed up for a mini-trip just the three of us. We had reserved a hotel about an hour away and we were looking forward to the king sized bed and indoor pool (which was disappointing because the water was freezing!). Last night we just hung out in the room after dinner and played, talked, and snuggled. Then a miracle happened – we all fell asleep at 9:30 and slept until 9am. Seriously that is a miracle in our family! We all needed sleep! After taking our time to get ready, we spent the rest of our morning and early afternoon strolling and doing a little bit of shopping before returning home.

Our trip was nothing fancy. Nothing too expensive or glamorous however it was exactly what we needed. The last couple weeks have been rough health-wise and had really impacted the time we have been able to spend together as I’ve had to spend more time in bed because of pain. So this day away was just what we needed. I highly recommend trying to plan a mini-trip into your calendar and your budget. Again, nothing needs to be expensive or fancy as the focus of the trip will be on relaxing as a family and I can guarantee you will come home thankful for the time together.

Have you ever taken a day trip just to get away?

Filed Under: blogging, chronic illness, health Tagged With: family, HAWMC, health, travel