Really should have taken a photo! Don't know what's up with me lately, all these odd things happening - perhaps old age? (41 now) This painful hip pain thing that comes without warning, then just as strangely vanishes a day or two later (thank goodness as I can hardly sleep when it decides to visit me) and now, the other day, the side of my face swelling up like I had a just kicked 2010 world cup soccer ball on the inside of my face!
It's happened before, this sudden swelling on the side of my face, when I eat something, but not as badly as this recent time. It happens so suddenly too; without warning. It's not because of eating something sour or acidic, as sometimes it happens, and sometimes it doesn't.
It hadn't happened for a while, and I was beginning to think it was not going to come back again, but come back it did, like a kick in the face!
The first bite of a fresh little flat sugar snap (fresh young peas in pod) and I felt the first twinge, just under my left ear, where the glands get sore if one has an ear infection or tonsolitis. Didn't worry me too much, as as, although I had though it was never coming back again, I knew that sometimes a little twinge was all I felt, and it would go away, with the very next bite of whatever I was eatin. But, no. Next bite made it larger and more painful. I was hungry and kept hoping each bite (of other food too, (avocado pear on toast with black pepper and salt (yum)), not just sugar snaps, would get better, but instead the pain and swelling got worse, and I had to stop eating. It was sore ans swollen right behind my ear too, and down my neck on that side. Looked in the mnirror and it looked like I had triple mumps on the left side of my face! That's what it looked like. What it felt like was that I had a soccer ball in my face, trying to burst out!
I started to panic and thought that maybe my veins would burst, and even half of my throat felt closed up. We keep cortisone tablets in the house due to one of my sons once having had two unexpected and unexplained allergic reactions a few years ago, that we give for bee stings or anything that seems like any allergic reactions might follow, so I took one of those, and went to lie down. It was night already, and about three hours before I would usually go to sleep, and as the swelling did not go down after about an hour, I just stayed in bed, and went to sleep.
In the morning, the swelling was gone, but my glands on that side of my neck were still painful for about a day and half after that. I did not eat until the evening of the next day, as was too scared to! When I did eat, though, all was well, and I really hope it doesn't happen again!
© copyright Teresa Schultz 2010
Showing posts with label sleep. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sleep. Show all posts
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Ouch, I don't know what I've done to my lower back and hip area!
I've had this lower back and right hip area pain before, and luckily it just went away on it's own. This time, though, not even hanging on a door to relieve the pain is working! Last night was awful - I feel like I've hardly slept. No position was comfortable, and every time I turned to try a new position I was in agony! Ouch!
I think the hanging on the door thing might not be helping as much as it usually does because the pain is not in the middle of my back - I can't see myself hanging by one arm and one foot to let the proper area of my side lower back and one hip benefit from the hanging!
I'm sitting at the pc now, with a pillow behind my lower back to help relieve the pain somewhat, and I've taken two Inza (anti inflammatory tablets), and when Tony gets back from walking to the shops about a km and a half away (to check at an atm if one of our clients has paid as we're broke again! (or still)) , I'll have him rub some comfrey cream on the sore area for me, but not sure it's going to help much, or if it does, not quickly enough! I just wish it would quickly come right on it's own like before. Must be a pinched nerve or something. I even had a dream about it last night - when I did sleep.
I don't have medical aid, or money to spend on going to doctors and chiropractors! Hm, my most comfortable position is standing up. I wonder if I can sleep standing up? Was also thinking of taking the boys to a movie if this client has paid (and they'll just have to wait longer before I pay them back the other money I owe them), but then what? I don't fancy standing at the back of the movie to watch it! Maybe another Inza before the movie might help somewhat...
© copyright Teresa Schultz 2010
I think the hanging on the door thing might not be helping as much as it usually does because the pain is not in the middle of my back - I can't see myself hanging by one arm and one foot to let the proper area of my side lower back and one hip benefit from the hanging!
I'm sitting at the pc now, with a pillow behind my lower back to help relieve the pain somewhat, and I've taken two Inza (anti inflammatory tablets), and when Tony gets back from walking to the shops about a km and a half away (to check at an atm if one of our clients has paid as we're broke again! (or still)) , I'll have him rub some comfrey cream on the sore area for me, but not sure it's going to help much, or if it does, not quickly enough! I just wish it would quickly come right on it's own like before. Must be a pinched nerve or something. I even had a dream about it last night - when I did sleep.
I don't have medical aid, or money to spend on going to doctors and chiropractors! Hm, my most comfortable position is standing up. I wonder if I can sleep standing up? Was also thinking of taking the boys to a movie if this client has paid (and they'll just have to wait longer before I pay them back the other money I owe them), but then what? I don't fancy standing at the back of the movie to watch it! Maybe another Inza before the movie might help somewhat...
© copyright Teresa Schultz 2010
Saturday, May 1, 2010
I just said to Tony I wish I could just sleep for 5 days
Freelance work can be tough at times, and especially when one's freelance business is still less than 3 years old. When one doesn't work, one doesn't earn. We don't yet charge enough for what we do. We've recently put our prices up, but it's still not enough to afford a holiday once in a while - not even a holiday right at home. We're still growing. But, oh, to just do nothing and sleep sleep sleep as much as we like. I think that five days of doing absolutely nothing and sleeping as much as we like would feel like a 3 week vacation to us.
But we cannot afford to just stop work and do nothing for a few days. And if there is no work for a while, we spend the time marketing or blogging to give ourselves or our sites more exposure to get the next bit of work. Or we apply for jobs on oDesk.
Ok, we have breaks, and since Tony and I are pretty inseperable, we take breaks together:
Taking the boys to school is a break. 44 minutes there and back just for the driving, so with a brief stop at the shops for some essentials, it's about an hour and fifteen minutes break from work.
Fetching the boys from school? Perhaps another hour and fifteen minutes.
We sometimes (perhaps 3 or 4 times a month) pop in at Hemingways to lose some money, have a drink or two, and relax. So, what's that? Perhaps 9 hours a month break?
We don't watch tv - no time for that, and none in our bedroom or office anyway. Ok, so we do Stumble a bit, visit YouTube or FaceBook, but it's not for long.
We will also get out a dvd from time to time - perhaps sometimes we overdo it a bit, like 5 in ten days, but then we might go a month or so before watching another one. Our office is tiny, but there's just enough space behind our two chairs at the two computers (next to each other of course) to take a step or two backwards and plop into two lazyboys there, and watch a dvd on the computer. So, that's ten hours of dvd and perhaps 2 hours of YouTube a month = 12 hours a month. How much time each month do you spend watching tv - or playing computer games?
We will also take time out from work to take the boys to movies during the school holidays - you could say we go to the movies with the boys maybe 9 times a year. If the boys have something on at school, or to do with sport, we take time out to support them.
We also take them to karate two evenings a week, and wait there until it's over, walking our jack russell Gilly about 1 and a half kilometres on the fields - or using the time to pop in at the shops.
Then there's school projects and orals that the boys need guidance with, or learning for exams and we spend time asking them questions.
Oh, and then, of course, making meals, eating, showering, sleeping.
It's all a break from work.
And sleeping. That's a break too.
Sounds like a bit fat moan, doesn't it? Well, I guess it is, when one is feeling so tired, and, often, generally always feeling tired. Being alert, awake, fresh and active takes a lot of energy and I guess our batteries are not being recharged enough.
When associates or friends say "have a good weekend!" we know they mean well, but to tell the truth, a lot of our work gets done on the weekends - when the boys have less homework, when there's no sport or school trips, and when we know we don't have to get up at 5.40 am, so we can sleep a tad later in the mornings (if we're not too far behind with our work). But catching up on sleep one or two nights a week, isn't doing the trick. Our batteries need more recharging than that - and we can't just sleep and sleep, or else work (or marketing it) gets behind!
Well, now that my moan is pretty much over, do I feel better? I guess, somewhat, but, gee, I'm still so tired, and so is Tony. Sometimes we can't remember when we last felt really refreshed. Or when we do remember, we remember that it barely lasted.
With life what it is today, we know there are many people who feel the same as we do, each and every day.
Yes, we're a bit jealous of the people who can take time off work for a few days or weeks (and mostly still get paid while they're not working), but do you know what? - we are going to put up with how tired we feel, we're going to continue being available for the boys, we're going to continue working for ourselves, we're going to continue growing our business, building our portfolio and reputation, and, we're going to make it! Our determination is what keeps us awake.
And one day, whenever that may be, we're going to do nothing for ten days, not five, and sleep all we like, and at the end of that break we'll say: "Well, all that hard work was worth it!"
© copyright Teresa Schultz 2010
But we cannot afford to just stop work and do nothing for a few days. And if there is no work for a while, we spend the time marketing or blogging to give ourselves or our sites more exposure to get the next bit of work. Or we apply for jobs on oDesk.
Ok, we have breaks, and since Tony and I are pretty inseperable, we take breaks together:
Taking the boys to school is a break. 44 minutes there and back just for the driving, so with a brief stop at the shops for some essentials, it's about an hour and fifteen minutes break from work.
Fetching the boys from school? Perhaps another hour and fifteen minutes.
We sometimes (perhaps 3 or 4 times a month) pop in at Hemingways to lose some money, have a drink or two, and relax. So, what's that? Perhaps 9 hours a month break?
We don't watch tv - no time for that, and none in our bedroom or office anyway. Ok, so we do Stumble a bit, visit YouTube or FaceBook, but it's not for long.
We will also get out a dvd from time to time - perhaps sometimes we overdo it a bit, like 5 in ten days, but then we might go a month or so before watching another one. Our office is tiny, but there's just enough space behind our two chairs at the two computers (next to each other of course) to take a step or two backwards and plop into two lazyboys there, and watch a dvd on the computer. So, that's ten hours of dvd and perhaps 2 hours of YouTube a month = 12 hours a month. How much time each month do you spend watching tv - or playing computer games?
We will also take time out from work to take the boys to movies during the school holidays - you could say we go to the movies with the boys maybe 9 times a year. If the boys have something on at school, or to do with sport, we take time out to support them.
We also take them to karate two evenings a week, and wait there until it's over, walking our jack russell Gilly about 1 and a half kilometres on the fields - or using the time to pop in at the shops.
Then there's school projects and orals that the boys need guidance with, or learning for exams and we spend time asking them questions.
Oh, and then, of course, making meals, eating, showering, sleeping.
It's all a break from work.
And sleeping. That's a break too.
Sounds like a bit fat moan, doesn't it? Well, I guess it is, when one is feeling so tired, and, often, generally always feeling tired. Being alert, awake, fresh and active takes a lot of energy and I guess our batteries are not being recharged enough.
When associates or friends say "have a good weekend!" we know they mean well, but to tell the truth, a lot of our work gets done on the weekends - when the boys have less homework, when there's no sport or school trips, and when we know we don't have to get up at 5.40 am, so we can sleep a tad later in the mornings (if we're not too far behind with our work). But catching up on sleep one or two nights a week, isn't doing the trick. Our batteries need more recharging than that - and we can't just sleep and sleep, or else work (or marketing it) gets behind!
Well, now that my moan is pretty much over, do I feel better? I guess, somewhat, but, gee, I'm still so tired, and so is Tony. Sometimes we can't remember when we last felt really refreshed. Or when we do remember, we remember that it barely lasted.
With life what it is today, we know there are many people who feel the same as we do, each and every day.
Yes, we're a bit jealous of the people who can take time off work for a few days or weeks (and mostly still get paid while they're not working), but do you know what? - we are going to put up with how tired we feel, we're going to continue being available for the boys, we're going to continue working for ourselves, we're going to continue growing our business, building our portfolio and reputation, and, we're going to make it! Our determination is what keeps us awake.
And one day, whenever that may be, we're going to do nothing for ten days, not five, and sleep all we like, and at the end of that break we'll say: "Well, all that hard work was worth it!"
© copyright Teresa Schultz 2010
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