For most of us here on the west coast Hurricane Fay turned into Tropical Storm Faux. In other parts of Florida, that originally never expected to see the storm are now bracing for heavy winds and rain, some already received up to 12 inches of rain from it. Weather is a strange thing.
We live on the coast here and quite a few people south us were put on voluntary evacuation, unless of course you live in a mobile home then you were told to RUN! RUN AWAY! But better to err on the side of caution with these things these days.
Seriously though, everyone else sort of prepared for a storm but mostly just prepared for a very heavy summer thunderstorm. I guess they are just used to such things and aren't phased by them anymore. Much the same way that we in the north had gotten blase' about Nor'easters; those blazing blizzards of snowstorms that rage in the winter. Stock up on food, water, and then have simply go about your business as normal until something serious happens while watching the newly arrived scramble around buying everything in the stores that isn't named down, including nails.
So, what did we end up with? So far all we got in our area, just north of Tampa, was a ten minute rain shower. The way this weird storm has run who knows where it is going but it appears to have gone away north; possibly coming back onto land around Jacksonville and maybe crossing the state and heading into the Gulf or shooting into GA/AL/MS .
But while we didn't get the heavy rain/winds of a hurricane we did get the ups and downs of the barometric pressure changes; which for me brings big changes in my pain picture. That is not unusual for CRPS and/or Fibromyalgia patients nor people with back problems. For me that is a trifecta!
Since it looks like we will be dealing with this storm system for another few days at least and we have been dealing with it for the last two, I knew that my pain levels would be all over the place as well, mostly very high. Between the fibromyalgia, the failed back syndrome, the sciatica, and what is left of the CRPS, as well as a few other things, I knew that my pain would more than likely be extremely high due to these barometric changes and strong weather patterns, with or without an actual hurricane.
Why am I sharing this with you? Especially since most of you are probably saying out loud as you read this, "Big deal Keith, me too!"
Well first of all, stop talking to the computer. Second, the reason I am sharing this is because after discussing this with Doctor Spiegel and realizing that because my pain would be up and down, mostly up, so we would not be able to accurately track my Hyperbaric Therapy this week, we decided instead of taking a couple of weeks off next after this week we would take this week and next week off and then go right back in.
Did you follow all of that?
No HBOT this week. None next week. I will be back in HBO Therapy the first week of September.
To date I have had just under 7 weeks of HBOT, 34 sessions altogether.
It will be very interesting to see how these weeks off go. Many patients report a decrease in pain when they take a break. That is what I am planning on! Plan your work, work your plan!
There was a quote, on a show I particularly like, that really stuck with me. It reminded me of how some of us deal with chronic pain and/or how we are told to deal with it.
"Sometimes you can't control the outcome. Sometimes you have to look at the reality in front of you and accept it"
I would add "accept it and move forward".
So I am putting the treatment on hold for two weeks. But I don't expect the healing to be put on hold :)
Peace, Keith
