News From Our House - August 5, 2020

Happy Wednesday! I am back with another weekly update from our house (like my new graphic?), just to stay in touch and let you know what's going on. I have a few things in particular on my mind this week:

The Joys of Electricity

Let me count the ways ... Tropical Storm Isaias came right through here yesterday, and even though it had been downgraded from a hurricane by then, it still did plenty of damage. Huge trees toppled all over our state. Tornados touched down and ripped down trees, overturned cars, and in one memorable photo (below), removed the entire back wall of a house! The parking lot of our local supermarket, just a few miles away, flooded so deeply that an entire car got swept into the storm drain and stuck. When three people tried to help the elderly driver of the car get out, all four were swept by the strong current through the culvert and came out on the other side of the shopping center! Miraculously, they were all OK. My husband drove past there yesterday and wondered why on earth there were giant Zodiac rescue rafts at our local supermarket (now we know).

Photo from Delaware News Journal

Given all that, we were quite lucky in that we only lost power, along with 100,000 other households in our tiny state. It was inconvenient (and hot and muggy), but we were fortunate that the temperatures this week have been in the mid-80's (F) instead of the high 90's, as they were for most of July. We made dinner on our grill (pro tip: whenever you buy a gas grill, get one with a stove burner on the side), hung out together without TV, internet, or video games, and were just barely able to sleep in the humid 69-degree night. When we called the electric company again this morning (Wednesday), they said our power would be restored ... by Friday at noon! That induced some panic, as our son was struggling to sleep on the hot second-floor, I was wondering how I'd manage to nap in the heat of the afternoon, and everything in our two refrigerator-freezers was steadily warming/melting (we ate all the ice cream last night before it turned to liquid!). As we were making plans and filling an ice chest with ice, surprise! The power came back on. We are very happy to be living in the 21st century again, and I am happy to be online again and connected.

Our grill burner saved us again!

The Power of Pain

Speaking of power, I have been thinking a lot this past week about the power of pain. I explained in last week's post how I got a bad burn on my stomach when a pitcher of iced tea exploded, throwing boiling water at me. I had no idea then that things would get much worse. The burn seemed to be healing well, thanks to loads of aloe vera, until the large blister broke, leaving tender, raw tissue exposed. This has been extremely painful all week. It also meant I needed to bandage the area (after smothering it in antibiotic ointment to avoid infection). The burn itself is painful, but the tape from the bandages has also irritated my skin, leaving a pink, painful/itchy rectangle around the burn! Each day is a test of endurance, trying to find a new way to bandage the exposed area without putting more tape on the already-irritated skin, and by the end of the day, I am just about in tears. It hurts for even loose fabric to rub against my skin, so I often tuck my shirt up into the bottom of my bra to expose my belly ... and believe me, that's a sight no one wants to see! My bikini days are long past.

So, my question for all of you is: how do you handle constant pain?

Chronic Pain is Exhausting.

Pain has never been a part of ME/CFS for me, except for flu-like aches during a crash or the joint pain from Lyme disease (which quickly retreats when I treat the infection). I know that many with ME/CFS and similar conditions experience chronic pain on a daily basis, including my own son who always has joint pain from Lyme and bartonella. I am discovering that the pain just completely wears me down. By the end of the day, I am in a bad mood, exhausted, ready to just rip the skin off my stomach. My greatest empathy goes out to those who live with pain every day. I am in awe of your strength.

The Blues

And that brings me to the blues. This past week, several times, I have just felt inexplicably depressed, especially in the afternoon and evening. I suspect much of it is physiological, the result of the constant pain and irritation, plus I am still struggling to get the dosing right on my antivirals, so my energy has been very poor for months. Last Saturday, after my nap, I was feeling particularly down and couldn't figure out why when I spotted something I had said to someone else on Twitter that very morning:

"Feel free to wallow today, if that's what you need. Be kind to yourself."

That really resonated with me, and I realized I needed to take my own advice. I gave up on trying to get things done (I have some serious issues over always trying to be productive), went out to our screened porch with a glass of decaf iced tea and a piece of extra-dark chocolate, and just took some time for myself. I browsed through a magazine and played an online game (I am getting really good at Word Wipe!), and though I wasn't exactly ebullient afterward, I did feel a bit better. Self-care is so important, and I am so bad at remembering that! With my whole family home (and here all the time), I have very little quiet time to myself lately, and I think that is part of the problem, too. I should remember to listen to my own advice more often!

Spending time on our screened porch is relaxing.

What Are You Reading & Watching?

I just finished reading Normal People by Sally Rooney, a highly acclaimed novel that was recently made into a Hulu TV show. Don't laugh, but I chose it because I needed a lightweight paperback that I could hold up and didn't have to rest on my painful stomach! It was very good, and I want to watch the show now. Today, I started David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, a birthday gift and a classic I have long wanted to read! This one qualifies for my Big Book Summer Challenge (there's still time to join the fun!), so it is difficult to hold it up without touching my stomach, but I am determined to make it work. Here's what my whole family has been reading this week.

On audio, I've been listening to The Dutch House, a novel by Ann Patchett. It's read by Tom Hanks, and I am finding it hugely soothing and comforting to hear that familiar voice reading me a story in my earbuds. As you would expect, he's doing an amazing job with it and completely inhabiting the main character/narrator. Oh, and it's a good story, too, about a brother and sister and the house they grew up in.

On TV, we are watching so many great shows right now! Let's see ... we are rotating through episodes of Better Call Saul, Yellowstone, Lie to Me, the much-anticipated second season of In the Dark (sooo good!), the unexpected second season of The Alienist, and we just finished the excellent second season of Hanna. On my own, when I could find 22 minutes to myself, I just finished watching all three seasons of Atypical, and I am missing it so much! It is a truly outstanding family drama about a young man with autism and his family, and it has both heart and humor. I know it's good because I finished it more than a week ago and can't stop thinking about it (luckily, season four is coming in 2021). On Saturday night, we watched a movie, Transiberian, that was very good--an action-packed thriller with a great cast, set in the Siberian winter. (My reviews at the links.)

What have you been watching and reading lately? I am always looking for suggestions!

Tell me about your week in the comments below or on my Facebook page or on Twitter.

(Note that I am still trying to resolve my problem with comments from mobile devices not showing up. It is especially frustrating because my other blog is set up exactly the same and still works just fine, and Blogger has no support at all ... but I am continuing to try to get to the bottom of it!)

Movie Monday: Transsiberian

As usual these days, we were scouring Amazon and Netflix Saturday evening, looking for a movie to watch. My husband most enjoys thrillers (and I like them, too), and we lucked out last month with I See You, which was excellent and super-twisty. This week, he found a 2008 movie on Amazon Prime:  Transsiberian, about an action-packed train ride through Siberia, and we enjoyed the suspenseful story very much.

As the movie opens, Roy (played by Woody Harrelson), and his wife, Jessie (played by Emily Mortimer), have just finished up some volunteer work with their church in China and are boarding the Transsiberian Railroad for a trip to Russia, where they will tour Moscow before returning home to the U.S. Roy is a pure-bred, white-bread, All-American Midwesterner who loves trains, has childlike enthusiasm, and makes friends with everyone he meets. Jessie is quieter and has a more complicated past but loves Roy and enjoyed the volunteer work, her first time doing anything like that. They are paired up in their tiny train cabin with another couple. Carlos, played by Eduardo Ximenez, and Abby, played by Kate Mara, are clearly very different from Roy and Jessie, with Carlos' sly looks and teasing them about their clean passports and Abby's heavy make-up and quiet confidence. The two couples bond while traveling, but after Roy gets separated from the group, things begin to fall apart. Back on the train after a stop in a tiny Russian village, Roy and Jessie meet Detective Grinko, played by Ben Kingsley, who explains that he and his team are looking for dug smugglers, and the railroad is a common smuggling run. Things go a little off the rails at the point, if you'll pardon the pun, and the suspense builds, as the action and surprises ramp up.

The setting, including both the train itself and the vast, snowy Russian countryside, is a big part of this thriller and adds to its ominous tension. The cast are all excellent in their roles, driving us to IMDB, as usual, to see where we knew the two women from, and Harrelson is the perfect innocent Midwesterner. True to its thriller framework, the story is filled with unexpected twists and turns, and the tension builds as the quiet train ride turns deadly. We both enjoyed this movie very much.

Transsiberian is currently available on Amazon (included in Prime).

Here's the trailer; however, be forewarned that it contains some mild spoilers. This is the official trailer, so maybe they thought you'd figure these things out the first time you saw the characters. I did see the trailer first and still enjoyed the movie and had plenty of surprises in store.

If you prefer to go into a movie cold, skip the trailer and just know it's a suspenseful thriller, and give it a try!

Weekly Update July 29, 2020

I am still having trouble finding the time to write all the blog posts I want to write here! I have a long list of posts planned: an update on my son one year after his relapse and new diagnoses and treatments, research updates, and another COVID-19 and ME/CFS update. But those kinds of posts take a lot of time and energy and research. Things here at my house are still super-hectic.

So, I thought I might try some shorter, quicker weekly updates, about what's going on medically with my son and I and what's going on personally with me, too. I realized that I used to write multiple posts a week here when I first started the blog, using it as more of an online journal (for a little nostalgia, you can check out my posts from July 2006!). These days, much of that day-to-day chatting occurs more on my Facebook page and on Twitter. So, I'm going to try going old-school and posting updates here on the blog more often. Please let me know what you think about that and which kinds of posts you like the best! (Note: I am having a problem with Blogger not showing comments made from mobile devices, so if that's you, you might try commenting on Facebook or Twitter, at the links above, for now, while I try to resolve the issue.)

Viruses and Other Infections

Still no sign of COVID-19 in our family, thank goodness, but as I explained in my post earlier this month, Crashes, Infections, and Treatment ... Oh, My!, my Lyme disease relapsed this winter, which was probably the cause of the HHV-6 virus reactivating in me this spring, causing a long--and these days, unusual--crash. As I explained in that post, I am treating it with Famvir (an antiviral) but started out on much too high a dose and Herxed (worsened) considerably. I'm happy to report that I figured out the dosing. I stopped taking it entirely for a few days, and once I felt better, restarted at just a half pill every 3 days (normal dose is 1 pill per day). It took about 6 weeks, but I am now up to the full dose, taking one pill a day, and feeling pretty good. I am theoretically able to take walks again, though it's been far too hot and humid here!

On the Lyme front, this relapse came just about 15 months after the last one (it's usually more like 3-4 years), so I have added some things to my treatment protocol (based on advice from my son's Lyme specialist). Stephania extract is supposed to help draw the infection out of the tissues where it hides (that's how the Lyme bacteria manages to hang on for so long in many people). I was careful with that one because the label said to be cautious if you take beta blockers (which I do, for Orthostatic Intolerance, OI), but I kept the dose low-ish and haven't noticed any side effects. I am also taking Samento aka Cat's Claw, a common herb used to treat Lyme and other tick infections, which is also supposed to help pull it out into the bloodstream where it can be treated. Those two are in addition to the A-L Complex (part of the Byron White protocol). I recently reached the full dose of Samento (the latest one I added), so I'll give it a month or so at this level and then try stopping treatment again. I haven't had any obvious Lyme symptoms in months. It's all so complicated!

Other Medical Issues

As if ME/CFS, Lyme, and assorted infections wasn't enough to deal with, I've had a couple of unrelated crises come up this past week. Last Friday, I was making a pitcher of iced tea, and when I poured boiling water into the glass pitcher (as I always do), it exploded! The pitcher only broke into a few big pieces, but the boiling water was hurled all over (including straight at me) at great velocity. It hit me in the stomach (again, so grateful there was no glass as well), leaving a pretty bad burn in a ring around my belly button. It was mind-blowingly painful that day, but I used cool water compresses and LOTS of aloe, and it is gradually healing, There's one blister, but otherwise, it's getting better every day. The combination of pain and adrenaline left me completely wiped out the next day, as you can imagine.

Earlier that same day, I began to notice a dark spot on the edge of my vision, so I went to see my eye doctor yesterday. It's not a floater--it's just one dark spot that stays in the same place; I can see it in the right eye when I look to the right. She did a thorough exam--twice!--and couldn't find any sign of retinal problems or anything else, so that's a relief. Just a "wait and see" thing for now; hopefully, it will go away by itself.

Family Crisis

Our biggest issue here the past few months has been my 95-year-old father-in-law. He lives in his own apartment in Independent Living but has, of course, been isolated since March. They closed the dining room and have been delivering meals to the apartments, and even though it's not a nursing home or assisted living, the company that runs it has forbidden residents from leaving the building. Bottom line is that we saw a gradual decline in him, mentally and physically, with the isolation. He was OK on Father's Day, when they finally allowed us to visit with him outdoors, but then he declined sharply in the month after that. We treated a mild UTI (which can have a serious effect on senior's cognitive function) and hired in-home care to stay with him three hours a day, five days a week. That just started two weeks ago, but between that and treating the infection, he has improved somewhat. The downside is that it is very expensive, and he won't be able to afford it for long. So, my husband was running over there twice a day (down to once a day now), and I spent many hours on the phone calling in-home care services and assisted living facilities (which are all still on complete lockdown here, so we would no longer be able to see him). It's been a very difficult and stressful situation, and we're not out of the woods yet, but we had a nice socially-distanced visit with him outdoors on Sunday.

Visit with my father-in-law

Good News

Just to end on a positive note, among all the stress and crises have been some good times, too. As I've been feeling better, I've been able to start walking again and occasionally meet a friend or two for a shady walk at our local nature center. We've had temps in the 90's with high humidity and heat indices in the 100's the last couple of weeks, but sometimes we can get out in the morning before it gets too bad.

Covered bridge at our local nature center

I even enjoyed an evening out with my two closest friends this week! We got Thai take-out (and ate it at a long table, well-separated!) and caught up - we've missed each other. Then, we relaxed in recliners and watched Hamilton on her big screen TV. Broadway needs to add recliner seats to its theaters! It was my first time seeing it, so I was very excited--and yes, it was as good as everyone has said. The songs are still rattling around in my head.

In the midst of a very stressful day and week, we celebrated my 55th birthday last week. It had been a rough day for me, but I had a very enjoyable evening with my husband and adult sons. The four of us actually ate OUT at one of my favorite restaurants (they have a huge outdoor patio, with lots of space between the tables). It was wonderful to just be out again, the shade and breeze made it a decent evening, and the food was delicious. I even had an 8 oz. beer! Then, we came back home for a mocha cake from a local bakery, and a pile of presents. It was a very relaxing, nice evening with my family.

Wow, my quick update turned out to be pretty long, but you're all caught up now! I'll try to keep up with shorter weekly updates. Let me know what you think.

So, how are YOU? How's your summer going so far?

P.S. If you like to read, join my annual Big Book Summer Challenge over at my book blog! You just need to read at least one book of 400 or more pages by early September. I've had a record number of people sign up this year--I think everyone is happy to have something fun (and safe) to do! So, join the fun (and yes, audios count, too).

TV Tuesday: Lie To Me

As I mentioned in my Summer 2020 TV preview, our son recommended a show to us that my husband and I are loving so far. Lie To Me is a unique crime show about a consulting group that can tell if someone is lying, based on the science of micro-expressions, by studying subtle changes in their facial expressions.

British actor Tim Roth stars as Dr. Cal Lightman, who has devoted his life to studying the science of using facial expressions to tell when someone is lying and when they are telling the truth. He runs an independent consulting firm with his business partner, Dr. Gillian Foster, played by Kelli Williams, and their firm is often hired by various law enforcement officials, including the FBI, to assist with cases. Eli Loker, played by Brendan Hines, also works for the firm and has a rule to never lie, which makes working with him interesting! Rounding out the team is a new hire, Ria Torres (played by Monica Raymund), who is what they call "a natural" and has an innate ability to tell when someone is lying, though she is gradually also learning the science from the others. Always knowing when someone is lying makes relationships interesting, as when Cal's teen daughter, Emily (played by Hayley McFarland) tells him she is sleeping over at a friend's house, and he can clearly see that she is lying. Cal has learned there is a time and a place to call someone on a lie, though the younger members of the team are just learning that. In each episode, the team is hired for a case (sometimes two cases, and the four of them split up), where telling truth from fiction can provide crucial information to law enforcement or private clients. Early cases range from a drug kingpin in prison up for parole who says he is reformed to a high school student accused of killing a teacher who swears he's innocent to a congressman accused of having an affair. Sometimes, they discover the accused or the witness is lying but perhaps not about what the police think.

We are really enjoying this entertaining and unexpected show so far. Each case and each episode is unique, with twists we don't see coming, plus as with most crime shows, the personal lives of the characters come into play as well. There is a bit of a Mentalist feel to the show (an all-time favorite at our house), except the focus here is on science rather than tricks and mental maneuvering. One fun aspect to the show is that when one of the experts is explaining how a certain facial tic denotes lying, they often show photos of historical figures illustrating the rule! The characters are all interesting, and the acting is excellent. The combination of suspenseful mysteries, great characters, and a sense of humor has made this show one of our current favorites, in our regular rotation.

Lie to Me originally ran for three seasons, from 2009 to 2011 on Fox. It is available on Amazon or free through IMDB (use the Amazon link to see the free option).

TV Tuesday: Atypical

As I mentioned this week in my Weekly Inspiration post (Lift Up Your Spirits), my idea of comfort TV is shows about teens and young people. I don't know why, but I love watching a show set in high school or college (or shortly after), especially in stressful times. Maybe it's because their problems are so very different from my own, and I already successfully survived that stage of my life. In any case, I have a new favorite show in this genre that also touches on the world of chronic conditions/disabilities: Atypical. I am completely obsessed with this show about an 18-year old boy with autism and his family.

Sam Gardner, played wonderfully by Keir Gilchrist, is an 18-year old with autism who is in his senior year of high school. His mother, Elsa, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, has built her whole life around helping Sam overcome challenges, fighting battles to get him the rights and accommodations he needs, and making sure that Sam and his teen sister, Casey (played by Brigette Lundy-Paine), have perfect childhoods. She has a color-coded calendar on the wall, stacks of Post-Its at the ready, and she is generally super-mom in every respect. Her husband, Doug, played by Michael Rapaport, works as an EMT and loves both of his kids, though he's been far less involved in Sam's life than Elsa has. Sam's therapist, Julia (played by Amy Okuda), encourages him to take steps toward independence, and when Sam says he wants a girlfriend, Julia is supportive. Sam's newfound independence, though, completely disrupts Elsa's life, leaving her to wonder what her role is now. Sam gets questionable (hilarious) dating advice from his best--and only--friend, Zahid (played by Nik Dodani), who works with him at the local electronics store. Meanwhile, Casey struggles with the decision of whether to leave her public high school when she is recruited by a fancy private school for their track team. Through the three seasons (so far), Sam takes increasing steps away from dependency into his adult life, while the rest of the family tries to adjust and deals with their own issues.

I love everything about this show! Though I was unfamiliar with any of the actors other than Jennifer Jason Leigh, the entire cast is outstanding, and I like all of the characters. Gilchrist is particularly convincing in his portrayal of a young man with autism (I was actually surprised to find on his IMDB page that he's not autistic himself). The relationships between the characters and especially the family members are warm and lovingly portrayed, including the inherent paradox for Sam and Casey of her sometimes have to take care of her older brother. The show is by turns moving, thoughtful, and funny. From my role as the parent of (at one point) two kids with chronic illnesses, who required accommodations at school, much of the show--and especially Elsa's role--are very true-to-life and an accurate representation of how one person's condition can affect the whole family (don't worry--I understand that autism is not an illness, but many of the challenges in life are similar; there is a lot here I could relate to). On the other hand, I am also learning a lot about autism specifically, which has been very enlightening. It is dealt with honestly, openly, and, from what I understand from others, accurately. I love this family, and I love this show! I am now into season three and dreading when I finish it (though I see that a fourth season is planned).

Atypical is a Netflix original, so it is available on Netflix.

Check out the trailer to see a glimpse of the family dynamics and the fabulous humor in this show:

Weekly Inspiration: Lift Up Your Spirits

I haven't had much time for this blog lately; life at my house has been busy, chaotic, stressful, and exhausting! Both adult sons are living at home, one just started his new job this week, we are still struggling to care for my 95-year-old father-in-law who has sharply declined in recent months, and my older son and I had an out-of-state doctor's appointment for him this week (about 5 hours in all for us). Whew. Oh, and this week, I was also trying to take an online course I'd signed up for a while back about running Amazon Ads for my book: I've been working on it all week (in between all the rest), and so far, every single one of the 12 or so ads I've submitted has been rejected. Why? Because using the words "chronic illness" is "unfairly targeting customers based on their personal characteristics"! Yeah, really! Anyway, all the activity and stress finally caught up to me, and I crashed badly on Thursday. Luckily, my crashes now don't last long.

All of that is a long way of saying that I often need a mood boost! Anything that makes me laugh or smile or lifts my spirits can help. This is especially true in these challenging times we are all living in; the constant barrage of news, politics, and conflict can really affect my mental and physical health. Sometimes, I need a break from it all.

So, here, I thought I'd just collect a few of the sources I turn to to lift my spirits. Please share your mood-lifters in the comments or on social media. I'm on Twitter and have a Facebook page for this blog, and I often post uplifting things in both places, so there's your first tip!

Chronic Illness Boosters

There are large, supportive communities for chronic illness on social media. I have a separate Twitter account and Facebook page for this blog, and that has worked out well. Those chronic illness communities are like my "safe spaces"--the places where I can go on social media to (mostly) avoid politics and conflict and instead find kindness and support. So, you can start by "liking" my Facebook page and connecting with me on Twitter, and from there, you will find others who are like-minded. A few particularly positive and uplifting people/accounts to connect with:

ME/CFS Self-Help Guru
(aka Julie)
Julie and I worked together for years for the ProHealth website (she edited their Inspiration Corner page, which I frequently wrote for), and she has very active social media accounts, all focused on optimism, support, positivity, and lifting the spirits. You can follow her on Twitter or like her Facebook page or visit her blog and in all of those places, you can always find joy, comfort, and kindness. She offers free courses and videos, as well as daily posts, all focused on self-care and inspiration. This post of hers was particularly helpful to me this week, and I shared it to my own Facebook page:

Not Just Tired
This is another of my favorite chronic illness people to follow online. She is well-known for her #MyDailyThankYou and #JoyinSummer (or whatever season we happen to be in) posts, and lots of people join in! This creates a whole supportive environment of positivity and kindness that I always find soothing and fun. You can follow her on Twitter, like her Facebook page, or visit her blog (her latest post is actually about those two hashtags above and the positive impact they have had on her life). Then, join in the fun! Post your own gratitudes and joy with the hashtags, and you will find an entire community filled with uplifting posts.

One of my own recent #JoyinSummer posts

To Make You Laugh or Smile

Sometimes you don't need chronic-illness support, you just need something to lift your spirits and take your mind of all the bad stuff going on (or your own symptoms). A few things have caught my eye recently:


The Far Side is Back!
Gary Larson fans rejoice! The renowned cartoonist, famous for his many years of irreverent and hilarious The Far Side comics, is back from retirement! I guess he figured with all that's going on in the world, we needed a good laugh more than ever. He says he is now experimenting with digital cartooning. He kicked off his renewed career with a cartoon called The Taxidermist, which you can see at the link. From the home page of his website, you can laugh your way through plenty of classic Far Side cartoons or check out the section called New Stuff. A great place to visit for your daily laugh or to immerse yourself in silliness for a bit.


Seniors Pose as Classic Album Covers
I just saw this one this morning on the Today show, and it is so cool! A group of seniors in a retirement home in the UK posed as classic rock (and a few contemporary) album covers. They are all just awesome and guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Here's a sample below, from a David Bowie album, but you can check out all of these amazing seniors here. This is an especially good lift if you've been feeling old lately!

Hoda's Morning Boost on the Today Show
Each morning, at about 8:05 am (Eastern time), the Today show does a happiness boost after their 5-min overview of the day's news (which is just about all the news I can take these days). I look forward to these daily lifts, which can vary from a reunion that brings happy tears to your eyes to something sweet that makes you smile to something that will leave you laughing out loud and sharing with everyone you know. You don't even have to watch the 5-minute news recap first--you can find a whole page of Boosts on the Today website. As an example, this was one of the boosts that made me laugh like crazy and run downstairs to show my husband (turn up the volume):






Comfort TV and Movies

Sometimes, you just need to totally withdraw from the world, wrap yourself in a blanket, and comfort yourself with some good escapist TV and movies. This means different things to different people. For some, it's trashy reality TV (both of my sons are currently obsessed with Trailer Park Boys). For others, it's rom-coms or favorite old movies. And for others, it might be silly sitcoms. Me? I get my comfort TV from shows about high school students. I don't know why, but I love watching shows about young people, preferably those with a sense of humor mixed in with the drama. Maybe it's because teens' problems are so very different from my own.

I was a huge Glee fan and still turn to it when I need extra-comfort--it's not only got teens, drama, and humor but also awesome singing and dancing to lift your spirits. If you've never watched it before, I highly recommend it (currently available on Netflix). A more recent TV show with similar "feels" is Zoe's Extraordinary Playlist (on NBC website, Peacock, Hulu, and Amazon). It's a silly premise--a young woman can hear other people sing their feelings--but I loved watching it this spring because it's fun, colorful, funny, and filled with music and dancing (my review at the link above).

I was late to the game with Freaks and Geeks, but once I discovered it, I loved it. Unfortunately, it is no longer on Netflix (where I watched it) and is currently unavailable anywhere, due to some music copyright issues, but hopefully they will sort that out soon. For now, it is only available on DVD.

My recent comfort TV choices (and I have needed a lot of comfort TV lately) have been Never Have I Ever (on Netflix), about an Indian-American girl struggling to fit in (loved it!) and my current go-to, Atypical (also Netflix), a really awesome dramedy about an 18-year-old boy with autism and his family. I love this show! I am totally hooked on it. Besides being entertaining, it is an excellent portrayal of life with autism and also how a child with a disability affects the entire family (something we can certainly relate to). It's just really well-done. I am also watching an old favorite of mine, The Bold Type, about 3 best friends in their 20's who work for a fashion magazine in NYC.

What's your go-to for comfort viewing?

And what are your favorite mood lifters?

Weekly Inspiration: You Are Not Alone

This morning, I watched this inspiring TED talk by Jonny Sun, and I could immediately relate to what he's talking about here:

While I am never lonely these days, with a full house and often wishing for some solitude, I do sometimes feel alone in the sense of feeling like no one else could possible understand what I am going through or what my life is like. I am fortunate to have some amazing, loving friends and family, but with this crazy illness, I can still sometimes feel alone in my unique situation.

Then, as Jonny explains in his talk, I reach out via the internet into "the void," and I find my people. I get the understanding, compassion, and camaraderie that I need.

Of course, in my case, I am not just reaching out to the worldwide web indiscriminately but am reaching out to the online chronic illness communities that bring me so much comfort, support, and joy. In the past 17 years since my diagnosis, I have slowly, gradually found--and in some cases, built-- these communities, and they are now someplace where I can go, at any time, to find others like me who get me ... and not feel so alone anymore.

You can be a part of these loving, supportive communities, too (it takes a bit of trial and error and caution, as not all chronic illness groups online are supportive and tolerant). Here are some that I've found along the way.

On Twitter, you can connect with my Twitter account (which I use exclusively for chronic illness; I have another for other stuff), then look at my connections and connect with them yourself--it's a whole subset of Twitter devoted to people like us, living with chronic illness.

On Facebook, you can "like" this blog's page, and you will find a caring community there, where you can--as Jonny explains above--interact not only with me but with each other. I try to do daily #GratefulToday posts (on Twitter, too), where you can build your gratitude muscle by sharing what you are thankful for, plus sharing stuff from my own life, interesting or inspiring things I find elsewhere, and opportunities to just share how you are today and what's going on in your life.

And there are LOADS of Facebook groups, many specific to your illness and whatever other interests you may have. There are literally hundreds of groups just for ME/CFS alone. I have listed a few of my favorites, with tips on where to find more in this post on Facebook groups.

Keep in mind it may not just be communities for chronic illness that will help, but any kind of interest you have: knitting, reading, TV and movies, photography, and more! In addition to my online socializing in the chronic illness world, I am also a member of a bunch of groups and communities focused on books and reading, since that is a passion of mine.

Where have you found your people?

Movie Monday: I See You

My husband and I were scrolling through Amazon a few weeks ago on a Saturday, looking for a movie (specifically a thriller) to watch, and we found Lie to Me. It sounded interesting, and we like Helen Hunt, who stars in it, so we watched it. What a pleasant surprise! It turned out to be a very clever, twisty thriller with plenty of surprises in store.

Helen Hunt, most famous for her role in Mad About You in the 90's, plays Jackie Harper, who is married to Greg, played by Jon Tenney. They have a teen son named Connor, played by Judah Lewis. Greg is a police detective in their picturesque small town. It's clear from the beginning that Jackie recently cheated on Greg, and though the couple is trying to stay together, Connor has not forgiven his mom and is very angry with her. In this midst of this domestic trouble, a young boy has gone missing from their quiet town, last seen while riding his bike in the woods on his way home. Greg and the rest of the police force are looking for him, and members of the community join in with search parties through the woods. There is some reference to past incidents of boys going missing, though the details aren't clear at first. Meanwhile, Jackie starts to notice strange things going on in their home, as tension builds both within and outside their family.

This is the way I like my thrillers: smart and unpredictable. This seems to start out as a simple mystery--boy gone missing--with some family drama mixed in. Then, the weird things start happening around the house, and you begin to wonder if there could be something supernatural going on. Eventually, some of those questions are answered, but there are still plenty more surprises to come. The cast is excellent, the writing is great, but the star of this movie is that surprise-filled plot. We absolutely loved this super-twisty, tension-filled thriller that kept us guessing right up until the end (even my husband, who always guesses the ending of movies, was stumped). It just gets better and better.

I See You is currently available on Amazon Prime.

Weekly Inspiration: Roll with the Punches

Stress and anxiety are sky-high at our house lately. My 95-year-old father-in-law has been struggling during the pandemic, and we've seen a decline in him both physically and mentally because of the isolation (he's still in independent living, so my husband visits, but he can't leave his building and spends every day just sitting in his apartment). We were finally able to get the whole family together with him on Father's Day for an outdoor socially-distanced visit, and he loved it! We brought his favorite McDonald's meal (his favorite meal, period - ha ha), gifts, and got him telling old stories. In the days following our visit, he seemed more engaged and mentally "with it." So, we tried another outdoor visit that following week, just four days later, but he was confused the whole time and couldn't even remember old stories he's told thousands of times.

Since then, he's fallen off a cliff, cognitively. He hasn't had a single lucid moment in weeks now and just gets worse and worse. My husband is running over there (about 20 min from our house) at least twice a day because he's completely forgotten how to care for himself. Meanwhile, I spent my week first calling services that offer in-home care (much too expensive on top of his rent) and now, assisted living facilities. We were determined not to move him into assisted living during the pandemic because we won't be able to see him, but we no longer have a choice. We are working with his doctor to test for UTI and other possible causes of this sudden decline, but he was already going downhill, and this may just be his new normal.

The stress for my husband and I has been huge. I spent all day Thursday crying, after a very upsetting phone conversation with my FIL where he barely knew who I was. I just couldn't stop sobbing! It was all the accumulated stress boiling over. Then, I got back to my phone calls. We've both just been feeling completely wrung-out, and of course, that emotional stress resulted in a physical downturn for me, too--I was useless on Friday, and my husband had to get our weekly groceries in addition to his visits to his dad. Luckily, he had the day off work, at least. I am feeling so fragile that I have been avoiding the news and even mainstream social media (my connections in the chronic illness world feel like my only "safe places" right now!) because they just add to the stress and anxiety.

All of this is a long way of telling you that I've been thinking about how we handle stress and was going to write about it today ... then realized I already wrote about this topic in my book! Here is a reprint of the chapter titled Roll with the Punches, which is all about what to do when a crisis hits. You might also be interested in a couple of my recent posts, each of which has lots of tips and ideas: Dealing with STRESS and Coping in a Crisis. I sincerely hope your life is crisis-free right now, but I think we could all use some help with stress!

(Note that this chapter was first published as an article on the ProHealth website on August 26, 2018; it was edited for my book, and this is the edited version.)

Roll with the Punches

We recently had a tough year with a lot of unexpected crises that created emotional stress, financial problems, and the need for fast action. Most significantly, one son was assaulted in Europe and had to return early from a study-abroad program due to a serious concussion. During that trying time, a family member commented on how well we coped with these kinds of emergencies, how we stayed calm and did what had to be done. It made me realize that so many years of living with chronic illness has taught us how to go with the flow when things go wrong.

I have learned to expect the unexpected while living with ME/CFS myself and having two sons with the same disease, one of whom also battles tick infections. The only thing you can count on with these illnesses is their unpredictability. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had to cancel time with friends at the last minute, couldn’t go to my book club, or had to call off a family trip. It’s never fun, but you do get used to the rollercoaster life.

Our sons have grown up this way, learning to roll with the punches and change plans at a moment’s notice. They’ve learned to bear the disappointment of missing out on something but also to make the best of a bad situation. For example, when my oldest son relapsed from the flu and we had to cancel our usual Thanksgiving trip to see family, we focused instead on the rare treat of being in our own home for a holiday.

When we got that unexpected phone call from our younger son in Europe, of course my husband and I were very upset. However, with so much experience with crises under our belts, we quickly moved on to what needed to be done. I contacted our son’s concussion specialist (he’d had one before), a caring doctor who replied immediately with advice for our son and assessed him long-distance with online concussion testing software. We spoke with our son every day to comfort him and to assess his progress (or lack thereof). When it became clear that he couldn’t participate in any activities, we made arrangements to bring him home early.

Back home the next day, our son kept thanking us for acting quickly and bringing him home. He’s never been so grateful! We got him into the concussion specialist immediately and followed the instructions for “brain rest.” Even at that point, our son was remarkably positive about his experience. Yes, a horrible thing had happened to him, and he missed two-thirds of the program he’d been looking forward to. He told us, though, that his first week there had been amazing; he’d seen and done so many wonderful things and learned a lot.

Within a month, he was almost fully recovered from the concussion. He could think clearly, had returned to normal activities, and his headaches were almost gone. His professor worked with him on an individual project to get credit for the course. Our travel insurance (we never travel without it) came through with reimbursement to us for the outrageously expensive last-minute plane fare soon after.

In the midst of all of this, I realized that living with chronic illness has made us emotionally stronger and taught us to adapt when things go wrong. All of those unpredictable days, weeks, and months taught us how to cope with uncertainty and crisis.

Here are some tips for when the unexpected happens to you.

Take Time to Grieve

It’s important to acknowledge and feel the raw emotions that come up when something bad happens. You can’t move forward until you allow yourself to grieve. It’s OK to cry and let go and feel awful for a while. In fact, it’s healthy and necessary.

Start Moving Forward

Once you experience that anger and hurt and sadness, it’s time to start thinking about what you can do to help. Even in our case, thousands of miles from our son, we could contact the doctor, talk to our son frequently (he was very upset), and begin thinking about what came next. Taking steps to ameliorate the situation will also help you to move forward emotionally, as long as you have first dealt with the grief.

Face One Day at a Time

Try to think about what you can do right now, today, to help with the crisis. It’s best not to worry too much about what comes next week or next year because that can lead to ever-worsening anxiety. Instead, focus on today—or even just this minute. Taking things one step at a time will help you to stay calm and able to help.

Seek Support

A few days into the crisis around our son’s concussion while abroad, I realized I really needed someone to talk to (besides my very supportive husband). I turned to my online support group of parents whose kids are sick. True, this incident had nothing to do with ME/CFS or the other chronic conditions covered in our group, and it was the recovered son who was injured. I knew they would get it, though. And they did. I vented all of my concerns and anxiety to our private group; as always, they responded with compassion and understanding. It was just what I needed. Try to find the right source of support for your situation, whether that’s a friend, support group, or therapist.

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Unexpected crises are not just a part of life with chronic illness; horrible things happen in every life at one time or another. When these things occur, though, our lives of chronic illness have an unexpected silver lining. We’ve been training for this ever since we got sick! You can use the skills and coping mechanisms you’ve learned from your chronic illness world to help you through whatever else comes up. As an added bonus, we can also help our loved ones to find their way through whatever life throws at them. Hang on—it’s going to be a bumpy ride!

My Update: Crashes, Infections, and Treatments ... Oh, My!

I am way overdue for a personal update on my health here, but I just haven’t had the energy for the past four months … which I guess says it all! Here’s an overview of what’s been happening, what I’ve learned, and what I’m trying to resolve it. I’ll try to keep it brief!

The Downturn

First, back late 2019, I couldn’t figure out why my left hip was hurting. I couldn’t remember injuring it, my massage therapist wasn’t able to help, and it took me months for the lightbulb to finally go off: my Lyme disease was back, flaring up again! That’s a whole story in itself, but the quick version is that I got Lyme way back in about 2009, and ever since then, I treat it and it goes into remission for awhile and then—probably due to the immune dysfunction of ME/CFS—pops back up again every few years. Usually, I know immediately that it’s back because of sudden-onset knee pain (I don’t normally have any pain issues, other than the flu-like aches of an ME/CFS crash) and nausea. This time, it surprised me with the left-hip pain, so it took me longer than usual to realize what was happening. Lyme works that way—with joint pain that can sometimes hop around from one joint to another.

So, around January, I restarted my Lyme treatment; I use a tincture called A-L Complex from the herbal Byron White protocol. I began to feel better pretty quickly, and the hip pain went away, confirming that it was indeed Lyme disease rearing up again. I felt good—at my normal baseline--in February and into early March, continuing the treatment (it came back this time after only 18 months, so I was determined to treat it more completely). Then the pandemic hit in mid-March, and we hunkered down at home, not that much different from our normal life. Soon, though, I began to go downhill.

From mid-March until recently, I was in a crash but couldn’t figure out why (that sort of unexplained crash is extremely rare for me now, thanks to treating immune system dysfunction). I was worn out all the time, had no energy, and was very achy at times. I kept waiting it out, but the crash wasn’t going away. I suspected that perhaps I’d been exposed to COVID-19 way back at the beginning without realizing it. After all, that’s probably how any of us with ME/CFS would react, right? By crashing badly, even if we didn’t “catch” it and get the common symptoms of it.

By May, I was no better, so e-mailed my ME/CFS specialist in NYC. She agreed with my theory that there was probably some infection behind the scenes, so she sent a lab slip for COVID-19 antibodies and also for some other common viral culprits for people with ME/CFS.

What I Learned

I had a phone consult with her after my lab results came back, and we were both a bit surprised by the results. My COVID-19 antibodies were negative, so that probably wasn’t the trigger (I have since heard the antibody testing isn’t all that accurate). However, I did test positive for adenovirus, which is … the family of viruses that cause the common cold! That was a surprise to both of us (and later, to my primary care doctor) because I rarely catch colds, and I had been at home for most of the past three months, other than an occasional trip to the store with a mask on! But, there it was. Maybe I’d been exposed before the pandemic, and it was still hanging around, due to the immune dysfunction of ME/CFS. 

The other test that came back positive was for HHV-6. This is a herpes-family virus in the same family as EBV (Epstein-Barr), CMV, VZV, and others. These viruses are common culprits that cause trouble for those of us with ME/CFS. They are all very common in the blood of most healthy adults, but most of us are exposed as children (and get chicken pox or mono or other viral illnesses) and then the viruses go dormant. With the immune dysfunctionof ME/CFS, though, they are prone to getting reactivated. This means that the immune system begins to react to them again, causing the typical crash symptoms we are all familiar with. Since both ME/CFS and Lyme disease can cause these dormant viruses to reactivate, it is likely that’s what happened with me this spring, perhaps due to the combined effects on my immune system of my Lyme recurring and being exposed to some random cold virus. When I first started to see this specialist years ago, my HHV-6 numbers were also high in my initial testing.

Treatments

Back in 2007, when the doctor first noticed my reactivated HHV-6, we treated it with antivirals. I tried a brief round of Valcyte (valganciclovir), but it was too toxic for me. I ended up alternating between Famvir (famciclovir) and Valtrex (valacyclovir)—both mild antivirals that are effective against herpes-family viruses--for about five years. At the time, my viral numbers were positive but not super-high, so my corresponding improvements were modest but definitely noticeable. I stayed on the antivirals for so long because I got Lyme disease about a year into the antiviral treatment, and both the ME/CFS specialist and my Lyme doctor agreed it was best to stay on them until the Lyme was under control, since it is known to reactivate viruses, too.

So, we decided to try the same approach this spring, with just a short course (6 weeks) of Famvir to get the HHV-6 back under control. I started that at the beginning of June, and … I could hardly keep my eyes open for the next two weeks! I would sleep for a solid 10 hours and wake up still exhausted, barely able to drag myself out of bed, and was so wiped out all day that I was useless.

 

After far too long, I finally realized this was a Herx reaction! This is what happens when you treat infections—especially those that have been around for a while—and you get worse before you get better. The antivirals were killing off the HHV-6, and a bunch of dead viral material was flooding into my bloodstream, causing my immune system to think it was under attack (again) and over-respond. We deal with Herx reactions all the time around here, when treating my own Lyme and my son’s tick infections, but it took me a couple of weeks to figure it out!

My mistake was in jumping right into a full dose—one pill a day—of Famvir, so I took a break for a few days until I started to feel better and then restarted it at a much lower dose. This is whatI advise other people to do all the time, so I felt pretty stupid for not taking my own advice! I am now taking just a half pill every 3-4 days. That’s about right for now, and I will gradually increase the dose as tolerated. I am able to function again and have even been able to resume my morning weight workouts (some days) and short walks. I lost a lot of stamina the past few months, but I am working to get it back, little by little, As with everything else with this crazy illness … baby steps!

I wanted to share all this with you because underlying infections are a huge problem for patients with ME/CFS and are often behind our unexplained crashes. Anyone can see an ME/CFS specialist like I’ve got; there aren’t a lot of them, so most of us (including me) have to travel and go outside our insurance networks or national healthcare programs. It’s really the same everywhere right now, unfortunately. Luckily, all of the top experts are used to working with patients long-distance, so most are happy to work with you via e-mail and phone (like I just did) after an initial visit. It is well worth the effort and cost to see one of these specialists, if you can manage it because treating underlying infections (which is just one of many treatments they can offer) often dramatically improves symptoms. Check out my Find a Doctor page for more information, including a list of top ME/CFS experts in the world.

I also encourage you to check out my post on Treating Immune Dysfunction in ME/CFS because the three treatments outlined there are all inexpensive, readily accessible (some you can even try on your own, without an expert), and have resulted in enormous improvements in all symptoms for my son and I. Because of those three treatments, these kinds of random-seeming crashes are rare for both of us now, plus we both feel better every day and can be more active without crashing.

So, that’s where I’ve been the past four months and why I haven’t been posting as much as usual! I can sometimes manage a movie or TV review or a short inspiration post, but I am way behind on research updates and other more complex posts that require brain power! But I am feeling better and coming back to life again, and I hope to be posting more again soon (after a short vacation with our sons next week).

I am happy to be able to take walks again!

TV Tuesday: Quiz

Among the few new offerings on cable TV this summer is Quiz, a limited series (just three episodes) based on the true story of a couple who cheated on Britain's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? show ... or did they? We enjoyed it recently.

Mark Bonnar plays Paul Smith, a network executive who gets excited about the new game show that's been pitched. Its creators say it will be like no other game show in TV history, with a top prize of a million pounds awarded to the contestant who can answer a series of multiple choice questions. He and his team finalize the details of the now-familiar (to us) Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, and the show begins to air. Meanwhile, we see a married couple: Charles Ingram, played by Matthew Macfadyen, is a major in the British army, and his wife, Diana, played by Sian Clifford, is a huge fan of pub trivia games. She plays often with her brother, Adrian, played by Trystan Gravelle, and their dad is an even bigger trivia fan. So, Diana and Adrian are understandably excited about the new quiz show taking Britain by storm. They study it and connect with other trivia fans online. Soon there is a community of people obsessed by the show, with all kinds of tricks and tips on how to work the system to get accepted onto the show and then to get from the fastest finger chairs to the "hot seat." Adrian and Diana both manage to get on the show and earn some money, but Adrian is seriously in debt, and they convince Charles to go on the show, too. Using their knowledge from the group, they help him get on the show. Diana is in the audience, and another member of the uber-fan group, Tecwen, played by Michael Jibson, is in the fastest-finger seats up front--and later, a co-defendant in court. Charles wins the million pounds, but the show takes him, Diana, and Tecwen to court, saying that they worked together and cheated.

The action in the show, right from the start, moves back and forth between the trial and the earlier months leading up to the game show appearance, so the audience gradually gets a fuller picture of what happened while knowing that they end up in court. We also see both the contestants preparing, and a behind-the-scenes view of the TV crew creating the show. It's only a three-episode series, but it manages to tell an engaging and gripping story. I won't give away how the trial ends (though that is in the real-world news, if you look), but the show keeps you guessing and even ends on an ambiguous note. There is plenty of suspense surrounding the question: did they cheat or didn't they? We enjoyed this short but engrossing show based on an intriguing real-life story.

Quiz is available in the U.S. on AMC. We watched it On Demand through our cable company. It is also available for free on the AMC website. It is also available on Amazon for $1.99 an episode or $4.99 for the full season.

Movie Monday: The Lovebirds

I am so behind in reviewing the movies we've watched! It's almost impossible to find time to write a second blog post on Mondays, after writing my What Are You Reading post (but Movie Monday has such nice alliteration!). Anyway, here is a review for a recent release that we enjoyed last month, The Lovebirds, a mystery-action-romance (yeah, hard to categorize).

Kumail Nanjani stars as Jibran, and Issa Rae stars as his girlfriend, Leilani. The movie opens with their first date, showing how they connected immediately. Before long, though, several months have passed, and we see the perfect couple arguing before a night out together. They head out, dressed up for a dinner party at a friend's house, but both the evening and their fight are interrupted when a cyclist comes out of nowhere and bounces off their car windshield. The two are both stunned, but the cyclist quickly jumps up and rides off, and a guy, played by Paul Sparks, jumps into their car and commandeers it, saying he is a police officer. The chase scene that follows is exciting at first, until Jibran and Leilani realize he's not chasing the cyclist to make sure he's OK or arrest him, but to make sure he is dead (you can see some of this, hilariously, in the trailer below). The supposed cop takes off, leaving bystanders to conclude that Jibran and Leilani killed the cyclist. From then on, the two lovebirds are caught up in a crime caper, trying to find the guy, who they nickname Moustache, who is the real killer in order to clear their names. The run all over the city (New Orleans), changing into ridiculous disguises purchased at a convenience store, breaking into places, and trying to outrun the police, who are looking for them, and solve the crime themselves. Of course, this was not just a simple hit-and-run, and the two unwittingly find themselves stuck in a web of lies and secrets involving some of the most powerful people in the city.

This movie is a whole lot of fun, filled with action-packed scenes, hilarious lines, outrageous situations, and a sweet love story, too. I'm a big fan of Kumail Nanjani, who co-wrote and starred in The Big Sick, a rom-com that is the real-life story of how he and his wife, Emily, met (also recommended). I've been listening to--and loving--Kumail and Emily's podcast, Staying In, during the pandemic. His wonderful sense of humor comes through in this role, and Issa Rae, who I was less familiar with, is very funny here, too. The mystery itself is twisty and unexpected and takes the pair all over the city. The setting was a delight for us as well; we used to live in New Orleans and love to see it on the screen, and it's a fun location for this crazy comedy caper. Kumail and Issa have great chemistry in their roles, and it's refreshing to see an interracial couple on-screen who are both people of color. It's a fun romp, and we enjoyed watching it!

The Lovebirds was originally planned for a theatrical release but was switched to a Netflix release because of the pandemic, so it is available on Netflix.

Have you seen The Lovebirds yet? What did you think?

You'll get a glimpse of the movie's humor and action in this trailer: