HDG: It's the Little Things

Last year, when my friend Susie picked up Tyler from preschool [he’s a big kindergartner this year who gets to wear a uniform and everything…] he made this announcement to her:

Tyler: I had a headache today.
Susie: Oh, Buddy. You did?
Tyler: What is a headache, even?
Susie: It’s when you have a pain inside your head.
Tyler: Oh, uhmm… I didn’t have a headache. I just called it that because I was exhausted. Mom, what is exhausted even, too?
Susie: Honey, that means you’re tired.
Tyler: Yep. Yep, that’s what I was then. I was exhausted.

I’m with Tyler… I’m exhausted. And I promise I know what that means. :)

Here’s the thing. I didn’t realize I had certain expectations about being off steroids. I mean, I knew that I was gradually having more of the old spondylitis pain and that it would probably continue to intensify being completely off the prednisone. I was prepared and ready for that. I also assumed that my knees would get some range of motion back since that was directly related to the reductions. I was right about that, too [yea!].

And I wasn’t so deluded that I thought I would wake up the next day, magically having lost all of this Cushing’s weight, and no longer resemble a woman named Big Bertha. I thought I was being pretty realistic. But somewhere, deep down, I guess I expected to feel stronger, less sick, have more stamina. Yeah, that’s totally not how this works.

Apparently, the steroids were helping me stay awake, because I now have what I call a coma-sleep. You know, that stage of sleep where your eyes are closed but you are still aware of what’s going on around you, yet you don’t have the energy to open your eyes or lift your arm or make any movement whatsoever. I seem to be able to stay in that state for hours on end. My headache that I’ve had for weeks has yet to go away and I am randomly dizzy and nauseous.

aka: I’m exhausted.

All of those are some of the symptoms of Cushing’s that apparently the steroids were keeping at bay. Who knew? But at least the reduction process is over and now all I have to do is be patient and wait for my body to figure out how to function properly again. In the meantime, I’m making a list of all the things I want to do when I feel stronger.

1. I want to become a voracious reader again.
2. I want to become a regular blogger again.
3. I want to be awake long enough to have something to blog about.
4. I want to color my hair. [Vain, I know, but true.]
5. I want to get all of the emails in my Inbox replied to, and send out thank you notes that are looonnnggg overdue.
6. I want to take pictures again and play in Photoshop.
7. I want to get caught up on the scrapbooking I am ridiculously behind on. Five godchildren equals five scrapbooks, which equals a lot of scrapbooking in my future.
8. I want to have the energy to chat with my friends on the phone, the energy to walk into the next room without needing to sit and rest, the energy to … well … do almost anything.
9. I really, really, really want to start painting canvases again. I have many orders yet to fill and miss the creativity.
10. I want to have a Hump Day Giveaway.

As it so happens, I’m about to cross number 10 off that list. I have a couple of canvases sitting around that I had previously made with the intention of selling them at my Mom’s store. But today I thought to myself… Sell, or Give Away?

Guess which thought won?

So today, we are having a spontaneous Hump Day Giveaway! Woo Hoo! Here is the canvas that can be yours:

All you have to do is leave me a random question in the comment section so when I do have the energy to start blogging more regularly, I’ll have something to blog about!

I’m going to leave this contest open until midnight on Thursday and will announce the winner on Friday, which gives you two full days to enter [only one comment per person, please].

Spread the word… :)