After such a long, painful day yesterday, I was not expecting such a wonderful change in how I feel. I attribute most of my happy demeanor today to physical therapy yesterday. My therapist, Renee, was ready to get me in the pool and then I told her how much pain I was in. She said that we could do feel good stuff and boy did she do that. Between the heat, the tens unit, the massage over my sore muscles, it really helped so much. She even got rid of a nagging headache I had using an accupressure technique between my thumb and first finger.
The final step was myofascial release. I had never had this done before but it has been said that it is great for people with Fibromyalgia. I had always wanted to have it done and I got my chance finally. The theory behind myofascial release is that all the muscle and tissues is covered in fascia and it is all woven together. Renee explained it to me that it is kind of like a knit sweater. When you snag a knitted sweater and a thread is pulled, it doesn't just affect that tiny part of the sweater, it affects the entire sweater. The fascia of the body is very similar. Instead of having a squishy matrix, it turns hard, but when stretched out, it returns to its squishy, flexible state. So, I was laid on my back and she did very light stretching along the top of my back, my shoulders, my arms, and finally the base of my skull. It was so gentle of a pull I didn't think anything was really working. Then when she was done I sat up and was blown away. The pain that I had had that was so intense was virtually non-existent. My rock hard muscles were squishy again. I moved my neck from side to side and my neck vertebrae popped 3 or 4 times. I felt like a new woman.
For the rest of the day I took it easy. I got some pampering stuff at the hospital gift shop and some new yoga pants at a consignment shop. I came home and took a hot bath, snuggled into my comfy clothes, and took it easy for the rest of the night. I also put on some of those thermacare heat wraps on my neck and shoulders and my back. I decided to relax and do some coloring (something I have done for years to relax). The kids watched tv and colored as well. Around 8:30, I put the kids down for bed, and then I went and laid down as well. I pretty much was out by 9pm and didn't get up until 7am. It was good sleep too. With all of that, I feel like a new woman today.
Some days you just need a lazy day to recover AND THAT IS OK. I was so down yesterday and felt like a loser because I literally could not do anything. The pain in my joints was almost too much to take. I got to the point to where I just expected it to always be like that. My perspective was off. So if you are having a down day, remember, it is just that...a bad day. I know that when you are going through a bad day that you worry that tomorrow will be the same or that it will never get here, but hang in there. Tomorrow is a new day. You never know what to expect when you have Fibromyalgia but that is part of the adventure of the war that we are in. Each day brings something new. We are strong people though and we can handle it. Hang in there friends!
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