Three Pieces of Advice

Nov. 19.  Top Three Tuesday.  Give three pieces of advice you would give to a caregiver.

I am also a professional caregiver, and I train others to take care of our patients.  In my personal life, have been on both sides of the care giving relationship.  I took care of my best friend and both of my parents before they passed away.  And I have days where my parents - now my sister and her husband take care of me.  So I think that I have a slightly different perspective than most spoonies. 

The first piece of advice I always give someone new is that someone's condition or illness is -not- their responsibility.  Providing care is a big role to take but if the person becomes sicker it is NOT because the caregiver is doing anything wrong.  Sometimes things will get worse, sometimes things will get better.  I feel that sometimes caregivers are bullied into voicing a rose-colored-glasses view on things so no one will think they are doing a poor job. 

The second piece of advice I usually give is to carve out time for themselves.  Not just 10 minutes for a hot shower or a cup of coffee, but some real time.  An hour - at least.  The caregiver needs to be able to rest, read, drink a cup of coffee - do whatever he/she needs to recharge.

The last piece of advice I tend to offer is to have a notebook on hand.  Writing down questions or odd symptoms can come in handy at doctor appointments - especially if the caregiver is not the one taking the patient to the doctor.  Also, during doctor appointments, notes can be taken as well to help communicate with the entire care team.  
  

Sickie Challenge: Picture of me!

Thank you Monique for developing the 10 Day Sickie Challenge! For more information on how you too can take part in this experience, get more information here.

Day Ten:  One Photo of you

Sickie Challenge: Two Recipes

Thank you Monique for developing the 10 Day Sickie Challenge! For more information on how you too can take part in this experience, get more information here.

Day Nine: Two Recipes!

These are two of my "go to" recipes for when I'm having a fibro day.  Its very little cooking, easy peasy, throw together delicious.  And they can be converted into a healthier option!

Fibro Friendly Chicken Salad 

Yield: 6 cups of chicken salad.

• 3 cups cooked chicken breast
• 1 red apple and 1 granny smith apple (doesn't matter which kind of apples, as long as there are 2)
• touch of lemon juice
• 1 cup sliced, seedless grapes
• ½ cup chopped celery
• ½ cup Craisins
• ½ cup to 1 cup of light mayonnaise (to taste)
• ½ cup walnuts, chopped (or can use toasted slivered almonds)
• salt and pepper to taste

Chop both apples into small cubes, and place into a bowl. Sprinkle over 1 tablespoon of lemon juice over apples, this will help them from turning brown. Add chopped chicken, chopped celery, grapes and craisins. Mix well. Add 1 cup of light mayonnaise, and stir well. Depending on how the salad is coated, you may want to add an additional 1/2 cup of light mayonnaise. Season with salt and pepper. Allow flavors to marry in the refrigerator in a covered container for about an hour before serving.

I love it on bread, toast, crackers, and even just with a spoon some days!

Fibro Friendly Chicken Alfredo

• 1 lb dry pasta, any kind
• 1 ½ cup Alfredo sauce (small jar) 
• 2 cups of broccoli florets
• 2 cups cooked, chopped chicken breasts
• garlic powder to taste
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook pasta according to instructions.
2.  Steam broccoli according to instructions.
3.  Drain pasta. 
4.  Drain broccoli.
5. Combined cooked pasta, Alfredo sauce, chicken breast, and broccoli. 
6.  Heat and serve.  Flavor with garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste.

Sickie Challenge: Three Pretties

Thank you Monique for developing the 10 Day Sickie Challenge! For more information on how you too can take part in this experience, get more information here.

Day Eight: Three Pretties!


my Fibro pretties:

my everyday pretties:

Sickie Challenge: Four Tips

Thank you Monique for developing the 10 Day Sickie Challenge! For more information on how you too can take part in this experience, get more information here.

Day Seven: Four Tips

Learn to listen to your body.  I think the hardest thing about having fibromyalgia is not the pain, discomfort, low immune, or even the hot flashes... it is that so many people, even respected medical professionals, do not believe in it!  I have been told that my solution lies in a husband, a makeover, a new job, and that I would find healing if I moved to another state.  

Accept that sometimes, everyone needs help.  In the beginning of my illness, I was embarrassed to use a handicapped parking place on a bad fibro day.  I knew in my head that it was ok because I needed to be closer, but I was humiliated with the thought of someone seeing me using it... until a good friend pointed out to me that it might be even more embarassing for someone to find me passed out in the middle of the parking lot or clutching to a stray buggy as I grew violently sick by pushing myself... Now I park in those places and consider myself blessed to be allowed that support when I need it. 

Embrace who you truly are, down in your soul.  And do not let anything or anyone change that. Having an invisible illness is extremely difficult, it can be frustrating, exhausting, and has made me question my very sanity at times... but I was blessed in that I have an amazing support system that always brings me back around to being me. Quote of the day - "Let your smile change the world, but don't let the world change your smile!"  

Keep some sort of record/journal, for the good days and the bad.  Some place where you can be 100% brutally honest about how you feel and the thoughts that keep you company...  I have discovered a lot of strength and learned a bit more of myself by being able to go back and read some of my previous entries.  

Bonus Tip:  Like it or not, this is the new you... take the time you need to learn to love yourself and it is ok to grieve for the abilities you may have lost... The important thing is not to dwell on this loss, but to pick up and keep moving forward.  


Just Keep Swimming

Sickie Challenge: Five Quotes

Thank you Monique for developing the 10 Day Sickie Challenge! For more information on how you too can take part in this experience, get more information here.

If you can't say something nice... don't say nothing at all. ~ Bambi

Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable. ~ The Wizard of Oz

Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly. ~Unknown

Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most. That people are basically good; that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything; that power and money, money and power mean nothing; that good always triumphs over evil; and I want you to remember this, that love... true love never dies. You remember that, boy. You remember that. Doesn't matter if it's true or not. You see, a man should believe in those things, because those are the things worth believing in. ~ Secondhand Lions

Bottom line is, even if you see them coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does. So, what are we, helpless? Puppets? Nah. The big moments are gonna come, you can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that count. That's when you find out who you are. ~Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Bonus Quote:

Be the change you want to see in the world. ~Gandhi

Sickie Challenge: Six Supportive Sites

Thank you Monique for developing the 10 Day Sickie Challenge! For more information on how you too can take part in this experience, get more information here.

Day 5: 6 Support Sites

My number one go-to website for information is the Mayo Clinic.

I also like to touch base with the National Fibromyalgia Association.

I also like to read blogs written by others with chronic illnesses. This reassures me that not only am I not alone, but that truly living is possible.

But You Don’t Look Sick

Felicia Fibro

A Messy Happiness

For those who are in search of an online support group, MD Junction offers numerous online groups for various diagnosis. 

Sickie Challenge: Seven Movies I Love

Thank you Monique for developing the 10 Day Sickie Challenge! For more information on how you too can take part in this experience, get more information here.

Day 4:  Seven Movies I love, in no particular order. 

Click on the movie name to get the Internet Movie Database Information on that particular movie. 

Wizard of Oz

Stardust

10th Kingdom

Ever After

The Shawshank Redeemption

Secondhand Lions

The Notebook

Sickie Challenge: Eight Songs Off My Life's Soundtrack

Thank you Monique for developing the 10 Day Sickie Challenge! For more information on how you too can take part in this experience, get more information here.

Day 3: Eight Songs that truly mean something to me or touch me in some way.  At first this entry was a little overwhelming, trying to think of eight songs by different artists that I wanted to showcase...and then it was trying to cut it down to only eight!  So I went through my collection and these are the eight I wanted to present with this blog challenge. 

In no particular order, I present... eight songs that speak to me. 

I absolutely love this song! I can turn this on, sit back, close my eyes and breath... the song takes me away to a calm quiet peaceful place...

Kenny Chesney: Old Blue Chair.

This is definitely one of my favorite summer songs! Whenever I hear it, I start to smile and even laugh a little.

Craig Morgan: Redneck Yacht Club

This song reminds me that life is all a matter of perspective, we all have a purpose for being in this life... It just takes patience and an open mind to discover it. 

Martina McBride: God’s Will

Who can hear this song and NOT dance or at least sing along?  

Sister Sledge: We Are Family

This song really touches my heart... I don’t want to take anything or anyone for granted, because we are not promised another day. It’s important to me, that those I care about know that I care about them... I don’t want anyone who means something to me to ever wonder if I cared… This song means so much more to me since my Dad passed suddenly..

Garth Brooks: If Tomorrow Never Comes

One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite movies, by one of my favorite artists.

Ray Charles: Somewhere Over the Rainbow

This is a very powerful song… I want to live my life as though it were my last day on earth… I want to dedicate this song to my beautiful sister Jennifer... Living with no regrets, no fear.

Tim McGraw: Live Like You Were Dying

No matter where I am where I hear this song, it gives me a smile and makes me want to dance!

Michael Franti & Spearhead: Say Hey (I Love You)

Take a moment and check out my sister
Jennifer's eight songs that inspire her! 

Bonus Song! 

Zac Brown Band: Knee Deep (Featuring Jimmy Buffett)

What songs are you secret weapon against chronic pain?  Read about mine, here. 

Sickie Challenge: Fibro Friendliness in Nine Products

Thank you Monique for developing the 10 Day Sickie Challenge! For more information on how you too can take part in this experience, get more information here.

Nine Products that Make my Life Fibro-Friendly

1. Handheld showerhead – for days that I need a hot water massage on my back or am too sore to bend very much.  I love how independent I feel using the hand held, even on bad pain days.

2. Crest Spin brush – for days my shoulders/hands/back hurts too bad to brush my teeth on my own.

3. Easy Feet foot scrubber/massager – This feels amazing no matter how I’m feeling! Sitting on the side of the tub, this dandy little thing scrubs my feet from tiptoes to the back of my heel.  Absolutely worth more than the $10 that it sells for!!

4. Blackberry / Google Calendar – Not only does this keep up with work deadlines, family birth dates, and my schedule, it also keeps me in contact with my coworkers, family, and friends via text messages, twitter, facebook, email, etc. I feel totally lost without my blackberry.

5. Icy Hot Spray and Banana Boat's Spray on Sunscreen – Thank God for these inventions!  I am single, so I don't have the helpful hands of a spouse at my disposal when it comes to either putting on soothing muscle rub on my aches and pains, or even protecting my skin in those places pain will not let me reach with sunblock.  While some say aresol sprays are bad for the environment, they are a welcomed assistance in my world.  

6. Canvas Tote Bags for groceries – Find out more here

7. Facial Wipes – I try to be as skin-health conscious as possible, which includes not going to sleep with a dirty face. This wipes are a blessing! Even on bad days, I can save some pain by cleaning my face with a wipe.

8. Electric Blanket – I’m a good sized girl, tall and curvy. So an average heating pad will not cut it during muscle spasms that last all night long. I have discovered that an electric blanket is an excellent alternative!

9. Post it Notes – Fibro fog anyone? These little miracles save my life at work! This may not be a product I use at home very often but from grocery lists to reminding me to stop by the bank, they are amazing!

Sickie Challenge: My Bucket List

Thank you Monique for developing the 10 Day Sickie Challenge! For more information on how you too can take part in this experience, get more information here. 

10 Things I want to do before I die: My Bucket List

1. Fall in love

2. Get a tattoo

3. Learn to French braid my hair

4. Learn how to burlesque dance

5. See Kenny Chesney in concert

6. Become more fluent in ASL

7. See Jimmy Buffet in concert

8. Spend more time in the Caribbean

9. Learn about Reflexology

10. Make a quilt