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10/03/2004 Entry: "Weekend wrap-up: Chance meeting at Appleby's, a wedding, and exhaustion"

Friday, Lou gave me a ride home with her kids. She was doing Christine's hair (which came out great!), and then had to go and have dinner with a friend. Sean stopped by to pick up the kids, but he ended up taking all of us out to Appleby's, and I got to talk with Chance some more.

Crap, it's like someone stuffed my 14 year old brain into a 10 year old girl. She even has the same vocal inflections I used to have. Scary. She seems to really need someone to talk to, so I have taken it upon myself to give her some individualized attention. It can't be easy to be the eldest of 3. The other two kids are kids, but she's already 10 going on 30.

CR didn't come with us. he went to his first football game at his school. He's not into football, and a few years ago, I would have asked the same questions he asked, "Why?" Christine said, "You don't go because of the game, you go because it's a social event!" Oh. OH! That makes sense! This is not one of those things "I wish I knew back then" because none of my friends went. But some of CR's friends have gone. CR is also started doing theater set design with one of his friends, and they would be there, too. So he went.

His school lost like 9 to 38, but he had a good time anyway.

We were at a wedding most of Saturday. Christine's friend Anne got married to her longtime boyfriend John. I have never met John, but he's a chef and a member of a rock band, and apparently a really nice guy.

The wedding was a mix of formal and informal. Anne is kind of a free spirit, and even though she wore a very nice dress, she chose to have no veil, didn't cover up her shoulder tattoo (it was a strapless), and kind of bounced around and rocked her hips in a very happy mood. It reminded me a little of another wedding a I went to a few years ago, where the bride wore cute white sneakers. Anne was definitely having a great time with it, which I always like to see. John is a bit shy, so he didn't act as hyper, but did seem to also be having a good time. It was held in a VERY nice church, St. Johns Church of the United Christ near Baltimore.

The reception was in some historic mansion across the street. Very convenient. The food was good, and the company was pretty cool, too. Christine and I took the table furthest away from the dance floor, so we could hear each other speak. We sat with her boss (president of the company), and the owner of the company, Earnest, and his wife, Penny. Penny was a trip! The other people at the table were some of John's cousins from Chicago. Everyone was really friendly, smart, and cool.

We went home a little early, though, because I have been really tired for the last week.

Earlier this week, I suffered some joint swelling and loss of movement, mostly in my legs. I have arthritis, so I just assumed it was another occurrence, what with the remnants of tropical depression Jeanne washing over us. But then the pain did not go away overnight, and I had trouble walking. By Friday, my pain had spread to my arms and back, but now they were less so in my legs. Then my whole body started to swell, and even my "fat pants" and a loose shirt were tight on me. I was massively put out by this, because recently, I started to eat better again, and hadn't needed to wear my "fat pants" for weeks. I had ballooned out like nothing else. But, by Saturday, the swelling had gone down, and the joint pain lessened to just general muscle aches. I still feel exhausted, but today it was less than it had been in days.

I wonder what happened? I never had a fever or any other symptoms. Weird. I wonder if this is the start of my seasonal depression? God, I hope not.

Because of this, I didn't get any of my usual housework done, like the laundry, cleaning, and so on. I feel really guilty about this, because it's like, "I'd do work, but I am tirrrred..."


The Peanut Gallery responds with: 1 Comment


Punkie, a lot of the symptoms I've heard you describe bring to mind a few things. There's rheumatoid arthritis, which I'm sure you already know about. Then there's fibromyalgia, which causes inexplicable tenderness and swelling in muscle tissue. These are autoimmune disorders that have a tendency to "cluster". Migraines and Irritable Bowel Syndrome also cluster with these (and I know you get migraines!). They are also triggered by stress and anxiety.

That swelling shouldn't be ignored. Ask your doctor about a drug called Enbrel...I've seen it help people crippled by migraines and arthritis to a near complete remission. I've also heard patient stories about it lowering blood pressure (probably by relieving the stress of chronic pain).

Just looking out for you, sweetie.

Posted by April, the girl WAAAAYY too full of medical knowledge @ 10/04/2004 01:38 AM EST

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