Sorry I dropped out there for a bit

General
1

In addition to my own issues, I'm the only child, therefore the only caregiver to my mom. She's disabled and on constant oxygen for COPD among other things. So last week, she had trouble breathing, went in the hospital. There for a few days, then home for a week. It's hard to rest when you're up and down every few minutes getting or doing something for someone. Friday, I splurged on myself and attended a concert with a friend after work. It was special and fun and wonderful. I get home and went to bed at midnight. Mom needed help at 1. Back to bed, then at 2:15, she gets me up and needs to go to the hospital, she's short of breath and very weak. we're in the ER until 4am when she's admitted.

Needless to say, Saturday was extremely painful with a migraine flare and total exhaustion. I'm still completely tired and hurting all over, but work plugs on. She's better and going to be in rehab to get her strength back for a while. I hate that I have an automatic guilt reaction which I know if unfounded, but part of me is like "Oh whew, a break."

So, everyone's been so nice and supportive here, I just wanted you to know I wasn't hit by a bus or anything. Even if kit kinda feels like it. I'm still here. :)

Meg

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SeattleMeg, you really are caught between a rock and a hard place, aren't you? Your rock is your mom, and your hard place is your fibro, and you're caught between taking care of both of them. And it sounds like your mom is winning right now. Which unfortunately means that your fibro is roaring and acting like a perfect beast. It's awful. You're trying to do the right thing and take care of all of your mom's issues, and then the stupid fibro rolls in like a tornado, flattening you. I think you're gonna need to find some time to rest and recuperate. Hopefully it'll be while your mother is in rehab, which is good for her and a Godsend for you. I hope you get that time ASAP, because, yeah, just like you said, you really need a break. You just can't keep on going at that pace. Fibro would win. It always does. So don't let it have the chance to. Rest yourself.

Hugs and sympathy,

Petunia Girl, who also feels flattened

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Dang, those are some really good analogies there. Especially the tornado one. Thank you! :)

Hugs, Meg