SurvivingSara

Tag: coping

  • Boot Scootin’ Boogie

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    Sara Z
    in

    After hobbling around for two weeks, I finally got a boot! I’ve been trying to get one since the x-rays showed a broken fibula four days ago. Orthopedics took new pictures today, which showed a spiral fracture of the fibula and a probable fracture of the tibia. The physician assistant who saw me today said…

  • Broken

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    Sara Z
    in

    X-rays revealed I have a broken fibula on the left. They couldn’t squeeze me into the orthopedic practice today. I’ve been muddling along so far but I really thought, if a broken bone was identified, my doctor wouldn’t just send me home with no added support. Primary doctor says ortho doc will decide if I…

  • No Words

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    Sara Z
    in

    When time came to confirm my counseling appointment, scheduled for yesterday, instead of choosing “confirm” or “cancel” I left a rambling message for my provider. One bit about having two sprained ankles, explaining I literally didn’t know what to do. You’re supposed to talk to your support when you’re down, yes? I waited a few…

  • Where It’s At

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    Sara Z
    in

    I got two sprained ankles and a microphone. Can’t get that Beck song out of my head. It pops up every time I think or talk about my situation. Relevant pictures will follow the text, but they’re pretty gross, so this is your warning. I have two sprained ankles and two injured knees. The pain…

  • Free Fall

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    Sara Z
    in

    If it didn’t hurt so bad, one might find humor in the continued plight of this person. Me. Guess I could call this an update but that would be too onerous. Tuesday, still having terrible fatigue with headaches from COVID, I crossed the room to open the slider for our blue heeler, who ended up…

  • Parent is Also a Verb 1/21/22

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    Sara Z
    in

    When my husband and I brought our second son home, our first son was 19 months old. He seemed to barely notice the addition. As a stay-home mom, the first couple of years were full of parallel activities: feeding them both included breastmilk for one and fingerfood for the other, different size diapers needing changed,…

  • The Nitty Gritty

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    Sara Z
    in

    Tiny news items: Twenty years I’ve called this house my home. Today, I was puzzled by the mechanism of the front window vertical blinds. It took several minutes to achieve the desired effect. A longer pause than usual spent catching the word that’s just there, on the tip of my tongue, can be explained away,…

  • I’ll Take a While

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    Sara Z
    in

    Just shy of two hours, I felt only content and grateful, which brought a smile to the edges of my mouth. Mindfulness helped me recognize it and then enjoy. Most often, negative talk in my head creeps through the well-established ruts, dangling “You know this won’t last. Where is that other shoe? Around any corner?…

  • Unexpected

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    Sara Z
    in

    If I blog about not blogging, am I an oxymoron? Doing this post just so I could use that line, not gonna lie. Chronic pain and illness are partially, if not wholly, responsible for the completely blank and arid condition of my brain. I recognize that this time of year is kind of a lull…

  • Juice

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    Sara Z
    in

    I miss blogging but I’ve been completely uninterested. After my post, “Write Out” on December 18, 2021, I closed what has been my primary source of creativity and competence, and didn’t open it again until today, January 4, 2022. I opened my blog not out of an abundance of words ready to spill nor spurred…

  • Fibro Sick

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    Sara Z
    in

    Beyond the pain, fibromyalgia can usher in so many other issues. Today, I am what I call “fibro sick.” Fatigue crashed over me like a big wave yesterday at 10:30 a.m. Nausea and loss of balance are nearly constant. I’m bothered by odd smells; living in a cold winter clime, somewhat closed in for the…

  • Surviving Sara’s Ramblings

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    Sara Z
    in

    About those updates I’ve promised previously: Bright Line Eating: Ugh. Don’t ask. I ate mostly french fries and milkshakes following my tooth extraction and I never really got back to my concerted effort to minimize flour and avoid most processed sugars, coffee creamer excepted. The holidays are here, which doesn’t really change a thing in…

  • On Brokenness

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    Sara Z
    in

    Weak, breathing slow and shallow. Certain no one will see me, surprised each time someone reads me here. No longer a good daughter, sister, friend. Letting it all go. It doesn’t matter who I was or what I did. Shedding every bit of that. What’s left? Acceptance. Gotta work on that. When the prettiness turns…

  • Vertigo Vexation

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    Sara Z
    in

    My old friend, Vertigo, has stopped in for a visit. If you are blessedly unfamiliar, the best way to describe the sensation I experience is to take you back to when you were a child. Playing outside on front yards and sidewalks, a friend would spin you round and round while you scrunched your eyes…

  • Speaking My Peace

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    Sara Z
    in

    Can you guess which front porch sign I chose and which one my husband installed later? The first time a solicitor presented afterwards, he was surprised and a bit offended. Following a second salesman wanting to give an estimate for some service or other, my husband was really irritated. He’d planned to ask for a…

  • Color Me Free

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    Sara Z
    in

    With 70’s hits playing the soundtrack of my life ages five to 15 and candles lit, I closed my eyes to relax, breathe, and meditate without calling it meditation. It took some time to settle and convince my dog this wasn’t a new game. I allowed memories to trip along and float by as music…

  • The End of the World As We Know It

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    Sara Z
    in

    Don’t shake my hand or give me a hug. A cough or sneeze causes high alert. And just when you might feel as though you’ve got this down and we’re learning to live with the new pathogen, similar to how hospitals and people deal with the flu annually, along comes delta and, later, omicron. They’re…

  • It’s a Chemical Breakdown

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    Sara Z
    in

    Our bodies are mostly made of hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. How amazing that these elements combine in numerous and seemingly miraculous combinations. In the brain, researchers believe there are more than 100 neurotransmitters, chemical messengers of information. Eight of them are most common and include adrenaline, dopamine, serotonin, histamine and endorphins. Major…

  • I See Dirt

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    Sara Z
    in

    A reliable indicator of mental health improvement for me has always been the ability to see dirt. In the depths of major depression, I couldn’t give a rat’s behind if housekeeping chores get done. Well, imagine what effect that has over the course of two years. My husband does the best he can but he’s…

  • I Love Ya, Tomorrow

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    Sara Z
    in

    Dear Reader; Apply sarcasm or we could go with facetious. Could even be satirical considering some past posts I’ve done. You choose.😉 Personally, I’m going with unintentional satire. Tomorrow, regardless of intensity of pain, how rotten the nausea or heavy the fatigue, I am going to: Do 30 minutes of stretching like I did five…