What are we whining about?

Today is St Patrick's Day. Although I have some Irish heritage somewhere, we will have corned beef for dinner tonight appropriately. But more importantly there are three more days until Spring. We have had a bit of snow here. This graph shows the snow in Boston. But since we are a few miles west/inland, we probably got a bit more than there.

Around here we are all whining about the snow because we are so sick of it. The most amazing part is how much has already melted and how much has not yet melted. I think we have lost a few shrubs here. I only care about the ones I planted, not the ones which came with the house. Maybe now I can get rid of these.

But now all I can do is watch and wait. I am physically unable do any plant rescues because all that does is make my body hurt. I tried to dig out some of the box wood by the front door. It is all bent over to the ground and clearly some branches are broken. Maybe it will be toast and I can grow roses instead (that would make my day).

Yesterday we had enough melting so I can see the ground near the driveway but nothing green growing yet. We should have crocuses and daffodils by now.

I need a change

Things are starting to get to me this winter. Why? We have been living in the arctic tundra for weeks. I am starting to go crazy. I think. Maybe its just a case of cabin fever.

I am not asking for much. These are the things I want:

• I want to be able to wear shoes. Not boots. I have been wearing boots for weeks. I miss my shoes. Its been too cold and snowy for shoes. This morning was 4 below without windchill.
• I want to be able to walk outside. Without climbing over snow drifts or wearing boots (see above). A nice stroll without frostbite concerns would be nice.
• I want to be able to go outside and play in the garden, look at new things growing, and see what survived the winter. But the snow needs to start melting. 24 days until spring, but who's counting?
• I want one month without a single doctor appointment. Its been a while since I had a break. I have one today and then another next week I think.
• I want to feel better - no aches and pains. As if.

Maybe a vacation would be nice. But that's not happening for a bit. However in the meantime, I can plan some trips away. I'm up to five so far this year but not for a while.

I think this winter is an example of how people with chronic illnesses can't just run out the door and go have fun. I have concerns about falling on ice - that has happened before and injuries have resulted. I have concerns about getting cold - my fingers turn white with cold easily these days. And I'm sick of staying inside.

At least the snow drift outside the living room got small enough yesterday that the sun actually shined in the front window and the cat took a little nap in it.

My day in the arctic chill

This morning it is a tropical -4F. A lovely morning indeed. I do not need to go to work. I get to stay mostly at home. But I am going to get a crown at the dentist this morning. Which is better? Going to the dentist when its below zero or staying home under a warm pile of blankets. Of course, I have to go out. Damn. I do not do well in cold weather.

I did fall earlier this week on the ice. Today I will wear my really fancy clothes. I have a giant puffy down parka that is rated to 50 below. Then I will strap on my winter hiking boots which are rated to 35 below. When I am done getting my teeth drilled, I get to go pick up a free sewing machine for some new crafts. I hope it isn't heavy because it is being left out for me and there won't be anyone to help me with it.

Finally, I will go purchase an old collapsible sewing table for my new-to-me sewing machine. This table is apparently about 30 lbs. I will leave it in the car until my husband gets home. Then it will be heavy and really cold. 

I posted on Facebook about feeling dizzy (and asked my mother not to read it but she did and commented on it) and the consensus is I should call my doctor about dizziness. I don't really want to but I will. This may mean another trip out into the arctic air again.

I really just want to stay home and play with my sewing machine. I have an idea for new crafts  using a combination of fleece pieces and yarn to crochet the fleece together with the yarn to make infinity scarves. And I can make mittens from fleece and can embroider those with flowers and things to make people think of summer.

That's what I'll do today - think of summer.

Winter weather interfers with medical needs

If you ask any medical professional, they will probably tell you that they are essential personnel and  when the governor or someone else important decides non essential people get to stay home because of the weather, they do not - the same as for police and fire. They will be at their appointed place all day long through rain, sleet, snow, etc. The hospital is always open.

Patients have a slightly different perspective. If there is a snowflake or a rain drop they may change their schedules. Usually it does not make a difference. No big deal, an appointment is rescheduled for a slightly later date. The only time this is a problem is when the next available appointment is 90 days or more out. Or when you are in the middle of a series of treatments at scheduled intervals. Like me.

I have had two out of three in a series of Synvisc injections on my left knee. The last one is scheduled for 3pm tomorrow. No big deal? We are expecting another storm tomorrow. This is what they are telling us will happen between 7am and 3pm.

It will start as snow, switch to rain and then back to snow. I live right behind the 5 in the 5.1" prediction for Boston.

So Friday morning I will get up and deal with freezing temperatures and solid glaciers in the front yard to go drive to another (damn) appointment. 

It really isn't that much snow. It is the problem of six plus inches of snow with an inch of rain on top, and then snow again. And we live on a hill. A short but very steep hill.

I don't mind driving in the snow and ice. I am concerned about other people and their driving. I really do not want to cancel/postpone either of those. But I may be whiney about it.

Winter weather in summer

Part of having RA and fibromyalgia is adapting to cold weather. Why am I blogging about this in July? Because here in Boston in July its a tropical 66 degrees. Yesterday's high was 69 with heavy rain. Today it might hit that same temperature again with more rain, mist, and clouds today.

How does this feel? Achy, sore, creaky, tired. Its July, its summertime. I'm supposed to be feeling better because its a nicer time of year. But between being off methotrexate and the 'tropical' weather, I am borderline cranky.

Another Giant Storm

I am very intrigued by how winter storms are now named. I did read some semi logical government rationale (is that an oxymoron - semi logical government rationale?) Nemo brought us a (whopping big) pile of snow. Q was somewhat mysterious - just like in a Bond film. Rocky is just rocking along with snow and rain. If we are already up to R and its only February, we might even run out of letters - what does the oh-so-smart government do then? Switch to the Greek alphabet?

All these giant storms could be doing lots of things:

• relieving drought in the south, central and western states. Maybe this will be a year where the rare desert flowers bloom again.
• a precursor of climate change where we get lots of giant (named) storms (until there are no more letters) which cause a lot of storm surges, erosion, power outages, structural damage and more trauma.
• signifying it might be a good time to sell your beach front property quick before the next storm wipes it out.

We live about 5 miles straight inland (as the crow flies) at about 150' above sea level. We joke that we might own beachfront property in a few years.

Today we are getting the remnants of Rocky as he rocks his way through New England. I believe that we are not due for another storm until next week. It will be nice to have a weekend where we aren't house bound due to the weather.

These big storms are hard for me. Due to lymphedema arm and arthritis body, I can't shovel snow. Or vacuum - but that doesn't really help in a snow storm. Its hard enough for me to clean off my car.

I will get through this giant rain storm and wait for some needed sun shine to appear.

There is a hurricane coming

It is so exciting! It will be a big rainy, stormy day and then we can all compare beach erosion. Unless you live on the beach in which case, you need to move out for a few days. Or your boat is in the water and is in an unprotected area and yo need to move it out of the way. (If you aren't sure, ask people who have had to helicopter their boats out of the marshes back to the harbors after the storm surge.)

We are watching continually updated storm projections including the famous 'spaghetti' plot (I'm not kidding - that's the technical term) where all the computer models of the storm track are put on top of each other - and it looks like a really bad road map or a storm track.

I am no expert but have seen a few hurricanes in my life. There was one when I was a child and my father took us up to watch the wind and the waves roll in through the Harbor. My sister and I spent the time holding our arms out while dressed in our big yellow rain coats to see how far down wind we would be blown each time we jumped up in the air. (I don't think we moved that much but it was better than looking at the harbor.)

I was in Eleuthera in the Outer Bahamas at a Club Med when Gloria breezed on by. In true Club Med fashion, they told us if the hurricane hit to please pay attention to what they say, we would find a mask and snorkel under our beds, and if you wanted to be moved to a room on higher ground, please let them know. I had a room with a lovely ocean view. I took a nap that afternoon and when I woke up the ocean was much nearer than it was in the past. I was told I had to move my room. We then spent our proposed hurricane evening in the bar. Gloria missed us but managed to shut down the entire Eastern Seaboard. Our only request was to be able to stay for another week while they cleaned up the mainland. That Club Med is no longer - as it has been wiped out by other storms and is no longer any resort. It was a beautiful place.

Around 1990, Hurricane Bob blew on through Boston. I worked for a small business and she made us come to work that day because she assumed we could work through a little storm. When all the other buildings in downtown Boston started taping their windows she told us to tape the windows and leave. We spent the afternoon and evening hanging out with my roommate's friends at our apartment in the big complex I lived in. We picked the wrong apartment - we were in the half of the complex that lost power overnight. All his friend's went back to their units and they had power - even though they lived a mere 100' away.

There have been a few others here and there. To be honest, they all start to run together. We get hurricanes which make the national maps and news. We also get northeasters (not nor'easters - my parents who grew up here call them northeasters, all these transplants from other parts of the country think they are cool and call them nor'easters). Those can be just as bad as hurricanes, they form offshore and grind up the coast for a few days. The winds are often hurricane force. They occur year round. They result in a several days of bad weather regardless of the time of year. Hurricanes usually come and go in a day. We also get plain run of the mill blizzards - my husband and I have a running joke of what's the difference, when driving in it, between a blizzard and blizzard like conditions. They can also last for a few days.

All this weather is just a distraction from my health. I survived one oncologist on Monday and the dermatologist yesterday. Next week I have my other oncologist and the dentist (spending this week flossing like mad). I am waiting for the back pain doctor to call back about next steps. But in the meantime, I can tune into hurricane models being updated every two hours

A whiney day!

I have decided that I will be whiney today (I will alert my husband to this and he will avoid me). I think I am entitled as I haven't had a whiney day for at least a few days. Why am I going to be whiney:

1. The weather forecast says that we will get some snow flurries today for an inch or so of accumulation and that tonight another storm moves in and we will get somewhere between 8-12 or more inches of new snow by tomorrow afternoon. And I can't go skiing.

2. I am frustrated in my job search. I had an interview with one company last week for another part time job and talked to another guy about more contract work but am stuck in the limbo of 'we'll get back to you' land. This means being patient. I am not always very good at that.

3. The cat did something to his eye so it is all blood shot. We don't know what it is but it has been this way for about two weeks - I apply the two week rule to the cat as well. It is not oozing, seeping, or bothering him but is blood shot. I am worried about him. I talked to the vet and she said we have three choices - wait some more, have her come see him, or take him to an ophthalmologist (evidently there are cat eye doctors - I wonder if they ask them to read an eye chart?) I opted for waiting some more but now I think its getting worse. And its Sunday so I will have to call tomorrow during the snow storm...

4. My back hurts. In case I forgot to mention this my back has been VERY bad. Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow. I am writing down when it hurts (all last evening and last night) and keeps me up at night (last night I was walking around at 4 am to see if it would help). Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow.

5. Hot flashes are a pain in the butt. They are a special side effect from my Tamoxifen. Grrr, grr, grr, grr.

6. It just started snowing. See #1 above.

Maybe I should take my whininess to the gym or something.