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Eating Elephants

The joint pain I’ve been describing as mild and annoying graduated to just plain yucky last night. The worst pain was right at the base of my back, and it was definitely more than annoying. It just plain hurt. I came home from work and just laid on my bed in a fetal position hurting. I decided enough was enough and I broke down and took an Oxycodone. Tylenol wasn’t hacking it.

I HATE taking that stuff. I’m terrified of getting addicted to it, and it makes me so groggy. But, I must confess, after it kicked in I was kicking myself for not having taken one sooner. Even though I was groggy, it was so nice not to hurt anywhere, even just a little.

I’m not sure where this came from last night. I had the TV on for a while, and the radio and I was sort of drifting in and out a bit. But somehow the phrase came to me, “You’ve got to do it like you’d eat an elephant, one bite at a time.”

Wow – guess it stuck because the image is a pretty good one for my life right now. I’ve got all this stuff to do, this big giant elephant sitting there, and all I can do is pick away at the carcass with a fork. One bite at a time – which I guess is better than nothing.

So that’s been my mantra of the day – get off my case – I’m eating my elephant, one bite at a time.
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Kathryn said…
Heather,
I'm sorry you are having such a hard time. The unmeasurable amount of fatigue and real joint pain is something I have dealt with many times. I do believe it's a HPS thing and not "all in your head" or as a result of your lifestyle. Sometimes the joint pain comes from adrenal insufficiency, meaning not enough electrolytes. Sometimes I also get it i I need more Prednisone. those would be my suggestions. I am praying for you, though!

Love, Kathryn
8:22 AM
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