THANKSGIVING

      

 Today is Thanksgiving, my sister and 3 brothers are having a meal together today at my oldest brothers home , my mom is in a nursing home and I believe they are hoping she will be able to come to my brothers to eat with them today. I am not going as usual. My health is not all that good, the pain is always with me and because I am somewhat of a hermit these days, a social setting now makes me anxious as well. This week the doctor put me on a Burst of Prednisone with 60mg. for 3 days ,40mg for 3 days and 20mg for 3 days and so on, that put me in a tail spend of stiffness and pain flair that has made me miserable this week. The first 3 days were great but damn it has been rough the rest of the week. I realized that you DON'T take 60mg of prednisone for 3 days only to drop 20mg in one day! I am usually on 10mg daily any way but when you taper off of prednisone you do not do that with 20mg at a time , you go a half a mg. or even 1 mg. at a time and even that will cause you some problems, but me I had to go and do 20mg . at a time . I have been miserable this week with increase pain and stiffness and a headache all week that I could not shake. I usually don't have headaches but this week I have been miserable with pain at the base of my skull and in my temples and across the forehead. Then to top it off the doctor took me off of my pain med but did not replace it with another, I can't go without something , it may not do much for PMR but for my arthritis it does help make life more tolerable. She was not happy that I am taking diclofenac along with prednisone , because it may cause increased bleeding. She gave me a muscle relaxer to take 3x's a day which helps some but not with the joint pain, so I have been taking extra strength Tylenol but it is just like taking candy instead so I have been taking a few diclofenac when I can't tolerate the pain this week anyway. 

My youngest daughter is driving down and will be here around noon and she will help me fix a turkey dinner tomorrow for just the 3 of us so we are still having a dinner ,just not today. My oldest daughter had her Thanksgiving last Sunday with her husband's side of family and of course we were invited and of course I declined, she brought me and hubby a dinner plate that afternoon which was great. 

Today I am not so ouchy as I have been all this week but still not up to par. This gets old and it makes me feel so old , I am 59 but feel older than my mom who is 85. I am not looking forwards to the Christmas season, I have mixed feelings about this month long dragged out season. Having barely enough money for our needs it will be another Christmas where we are unable to buy a gift for the ones I love . For me that is what I use to enjoy about Christmas being able to buy everyone I want a gift, that is not happening this year. I treat Christmas as a secular holiday I have never made it a religious one because for me it isn't, Christ was not born on this day, it is like celebrating my birthday which is in May in September, what? who would do that? So I have never combined the two. For me it is Yule and the Winter Solstice and the welcoming in of winter and the return of the sun to begin the lengthening of our days.

Well enough bitching for today. May all of you have a thankful Thanksgiving. Blessings and merry part

PATC