Back Again after a Year...

Several dear friends have encouraged me to write again on my blog. I guess facebook has partly superseded it... it's easier to write quick posts and post a lot of pictures at once onto facebook. But here offers the oppurtunity to write more in-depth, for those who are interested. :)

The past year has been full of big ups and downs in health. I have fibromyalgia as well as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. The fibromyalgia causes pain in many forms, sometimes in a few places, sometimes all over, sometimes dull, sometimes sharp and stabbing. Also I tire out much more easily and on bad days it can feel like bricks are weighing down my arms and legs so it is a great effort to move them. On my worst days I hurt too much to even sit up and must homeschool from bed.

The kids are wonderful and loving and great helps to me. They fetch and carry when my hands hurt too bad, the boys unload the dishwasher, they all tidy their toys and papers and take turns doing basic dusting in the "big room" (the living/dining room). What would I do without them?

Thankfully homeschooling is something I can do, even from bed. I usually nap in mid-late morning, after getting up around 6:30, and the boys have a to-do list for chores and homeschool subjects that they can do without me. Then when I get up, they are usually ready to do the subjects that they need to do with me. It works quite well.

I have been gradually cutting down on one of the three medications (Seroquel) I have been on for major depressive episodes after the birth of my third child 7 years ago. Each cut-down took about a month or two to adjust to, but once adjusted, I would have more energy! By May 2011 I had cut down from 6 tablets to just 2! I felt so much better and it was so encouraging.

But then for some reason I began to bleed all summer, almost non-stop, which really wore me out. That combined with a bad flu and ear infection made me have to increase another of the medications, a sleeping sedative, to three times the therapeutic dose, which led to more bad symptoms.

At the end of August I finally found a sublingual form of natural progesterone which very quickly stopped the bleeding. Since then it has helped me have a more normal cycle, and I have been able to gradually cut down the sleeping tablets to the therapeutic dose! That is a real blessing, but I'm nowhere near the energy I had in May. There is still a long way to go.

I know that this is all in God's hands and that He knows what is best. I pray and leave it to Him. He sustains, strengthens and encourages me. He always hears when I pray for encouragement or relief. Often I catch myself forgetting to pray right away when I'm discouraged or painful - how could I forget? He has so faithfully heard and answered so many of my prayers, for myself and others, sometimes in amazing ways that take my breath away. He is SO GOOD!!! To learn more of Him and His love and power has been a wonderful experience. Like mining deep riches, which go on and on and get better and better!

We had a 2-week holiday in England in June. Sadly I wasn't well for much of it but we still managed to go places with big rests in between for me. I hope to post some pictures soon, on here and on facebook!

Now the washing machine is going, I've had my breakfast and the grocery order should be delivered any minute. Two of the kids are up. The sky is clear this morning so it looks like a sunny day - which we haven't had often of late. The pain is increasing and so I should go lie down until the doorbell rings. :)