Stu Garlicson

Not a real person or even thing - just words stuck in my head. :) 

It's 12:40 am and I can't sleep tonight. Don't know if it is because it's been a long day of a long week, stress, or the full-ish moon. Sleep is just beyond my reach despite plenty of snooze-inducing pills in my system and earplugs. So I write...

I tend to be my most prolific just before bed. Anyone else have that phenom? It's often nothing I can capture in writing, but the poetry is still there. 

So many things going on and several I can't yet say have been solidified. Living in a state of minor chaos and uncertainty but all stems from a place of love and striving for peace. I will let you know when I know. 

My sweet brother made a comment about my list of blogs I follow - along the lines of it being a reflection of where I am in the world these days. Wondering at the level of pain I express, etc. True, I do follow EDS and health-related blogs, but I have two primary reasons for doing so. 1) There are so many people who don't know about EDS and how much support and good information is out there. I see my list as a resource for those new to the idea of EDS, who are searching for anything that will help them understand what is going on in their lives. I list what I was looking for when I first got diagnosed. 2) I feel like I am an advocate for this bizarre syndrome that affects so many people in so many different ways. If you have it, you have to know about it to get the care you need. Maybe my collection will help someone somehow. A side benefit is that so many of these people are really interesting. :) 

I just noticed that I've been wearing a larger than usual caretaking hat lately. My husband is #1 for a variety of reasons I can't explain right now. My boss, as issues relate back to my husband that might have an impact on my work. A menagerie of cats... 

I have my lovey cat, Aubrie, two young sisters, Luna and Ruby, and a Siamese that doesn't live in the house but camps out at my back door. As for the cats, my husband can't stand the sight of Ruby because she doesn't have a tail. She is the one I'd choose between Luna and Ruby because she has a more submissive personality that suits Aubrie, she is interested in reaching out to Aubrie for play, and I adore her. Luna is beautiful, cuddly, trouble (she can open doors with latches), and doesn't understand that kitties don't go on kitchen counters. She is dominant and is more difficult around Aubrie, which stresses my baby out. I hope I can find a good home for Ruby in this sad state of animal abandonment and full foster homes. I'm trying to train the sisters so they will grow into good kitties. Both girls seem to have two layers of fur and Ruby has traits of manx in her. Makes me curious where some of their heritage came from.

The Siamese is back. She has a habit of coming by around 9am and after dark in the evening. In the mornings, she comes for food. Although someone put a flea collar on her and seems to have tried to take her in, looks like her bad temperament got her kicked out of that new home. She has a mean, defensive side, though she is pretty desperate for affection. She's clearly been neglected for a while - poor fur, long nails that look like they are becoming a problem, and so skinny you can see her ribs/spine. She is hand shy and the claws and teeth come out when she thinks you are too close or you try to give her food when she is super hungry. Don't know why I seem to be attracting all these cats lately. Hubby is NOT happy.

I'm avoiding talking about my husband and boss for now, but let's just say that I had to cancel the movers last week. 

Facebook is evil but I recently signed up for an account. I linked my blog to my space there so perhaps EDS and my followed blogs will get more attention. I've managed to find two lost cousins and some old friends. Lots of memories there. It's weird how FB works in that there are so many connections I didn't realize I could find. 

I would love to work a few hours less per week. There are many things I'd like to do with my time. Facebook kind of ties into my interest in geneology. I'd like to do more research into EDS and be able to share my thoughts on some scientific articles with you. Nevermind being able to have early dinners with hubs and catch up on emails/ phone calls, and other friend/family related stuff. Plus I just need some more time to sleep/rest. (funny considering my current state of sleeplessness)

Things are generally under control health wise. My slipped rib is getting better and only bugs me every few minutes rather than all the time. It's on its way to bye bye land.

I had a great evening with my younger kiddo. She came home from college for a day so we could go car shopping (her car is dying). Pops wasn't feeling well and went to bed early. Since K was staying over, she and I spent time eating ice cream, talking about life, and crocheting. Well, let's say that she was crocheting and I was making a mess. The cool thing is that she taught me how to do a basic crochet stitch, which I was doing completely wrong. It's fun when your kidlet wants to teach you stuff. 

I'm reading an interesting book that's been out a while, "Eats, Shoot and Leaves", and it usually calms me for bed. Not tonight. It's a really cool book on punctuation, funny to boot. I'm fascinated by editing right now. I've discovered it is something I am good at and enjoy doing. There are things I need to brush up on like proper use of colons. I primarily edit scientific stuff for work, which has its own style, making it a bit challenging to know what is proper for general writing. I, of course, don't pay much attention to punctuation when I am blogging or emailing. This phenomenon is changing puncuation and grammar usage, interestingly enough. I like the book also because the author talks about some of the history of various marks. Neato. 

Does anyone know where the phrase 'cool beans' came from? My dad says it and I find it coming out of my mouth on occasion when I get tired of the other words/phrases in common usage right now. Ha ha! I had to look it up. No wonder my dad uses this phrase often:

 http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cool%20beans

Looks like my battery is going to conk out before I do. Sigh. 

Thinking of: P, Barb, K, Angel, Kayla (bubble girl), grampa, my sis, JB in India, my boss (though I'd rather forget we have a grant due in the morning - oh, that's a few hours from now!), Dr. Yo, God, Aubrie, lilac lady, G, Dad, homes for kitties, sleeeeeeeep...

ttfn

Muscle taping for instability

My first experience with taping a joint to keep it in place has been interesting thus far. My left shoulder, the one I dislocated two years ago, has been bothering me for a couple of months and got progressively worse over the holidays. For the last several days, I've been taking my Aleve/Tramadol mix around the clock to manage the pain. It feels like my arm wants to fall out of the shoulder socket if I let it hang.

So, I went in to PT today and had to tell him I couldn't do my usual workout. We've gotten into a good routine over the last year and I am to the point where I am in less pain and feel stronger/more stable now than before working with Mat. He is the first PT who a) hasn't hurt me during sessions and b) hasn't given up when I have flares that take me out of commission on occasion. I am very grateful to have been directed to this particularly good PT who understands that hypermobility needs stability and slow strengthening, no stretching and no major weights right away.

Anyway, so Mat is good when I have something out of whack because we spend the whole session dealing with getting inflammation/pain under control. Today is the first time at PT that my shoulder has been so painful I was close to tears. He did an assessment, which was not fun but gave him an idea of what muscle/area needed the most attention. He said something about the 5th rotator cuff muscle? The gleno-somethingorother attachment point. I laid down on the massage/treatment table for ultrasound. He noted that I have a sulcus, which is when the arm (humerus) separates a bit from under the glenoid (bone above the shoulder) creating a bit of a groove between. This sulcus can be an indication of instability.

After the exam and ultrasound, Mat got down to taping my shoulder. He didn't use "kinesiotape" but some heavy duty flesh-colored tape. Of course he had to put a less sticky layer underneath to protect my skin but we'll see what happens when I try to take the tape off. (I didn't have good fortune when I had my heart monitor for 24 hours and had to take the circle things (look like nipples!) off. Ouch and nasty skin afterwards. I had a round patch of raw skin just center of where a v-neck shirt shows the chest!) I had to hold my arm in such a way that I could push my shoulder into place while he put the tape on - the point being that the tape would hold my joint together when I let gravity pull on my arm. It worked! I felt relief right away and this suprised me most when I laid down on the table again for an ice and "stim" session. I know my shoulder can separate when I am sleeping but this taping method showed me how much my shoulder moves around not just when I am upright.

The PT assistant put more nipples and leads on points around my shoulder and new tape. These connected to a machine that sends a current to the leads. They slowly turn the power up until you are uncomfortable (which can feel like bees stinging) and then back off until you are comfortable with the tingling sensation. I guess the stim is supposed to help calm the muscles? Then he packed my shoulder in ice while I was laying there. I could have fallen asleep.

I've had pain off and on since the session earlier today but the taping has helped overall. Mat says I can leave the tape on up to 24 hours. I am accompanying hubby on a business luncheon tomorrow in Arizona so I had to think about what I am wearing so I can keep my tape on! I wish I had known about this technique sooner, but I guess that issue of "sooner" is going to have it's own post sometime since my whole life with EDS has been about "if only sooner..."

Can you be a tape junkie? I think I could tape up so many body parts right now! Everything feels like it wants to go in different directions these days. At least hubby feels like crap right now too, so I don't feel too bad for being a bit grumpy in pain. But truly, I am amazed that something as simple as tape can make a difference! I'm hooked.