Today I came to the realization that I have to limit doing too many things in one day. Something as simple as taking a shower is now more complicated. Before I can shower I have to use dry brushes and brush my skin to move the lymphatic liquid under the skin. Then I can shower. After the shower I apply the Goldenseal Myrrh ointment to the skin on areas of my legs that had rashes from the Lymphedema. Then I can apply my normal body lotion. Takes longer than twenty minutes now. Okay, I can live with that as long as it is helping me........which it is. Some mornings I will have to shower later than the first thing due to other things going on. I need to be flexible.
On the day I wash my laundry that is all I can do because I sit downstairs in the laundry room while my laundry is in the machines. Our apartment building is not one that is safe to leave your laundry alone and come back later. Sometimes you come back to nothing left in the machines. I cannot afford to do that. Usually I bring my adult coloring book and gel pens with me so I can color while waiting. Doing laundry tires me out. What tires me out the most is when I bring the laundry back to my apartment and have to put it away. That is because I have been letting it back up. Now my rule is to do small loads maybe twice a week instead of once every two weeks. Make it easier if possible.
Grocery deliveries is another chore that I like to do on a day when I don't have other things to do. I usually order early in the morning and then wait. Wait some more. Waiting for hours for them to delivery my order unless I pay for fast delivery. That makes it hard to do chores that take up more time and effort. Now I order the groceries and then while waiting I work on my computer or some other chore that I can do in my apartment. I also order groceries for my son but on a different day than when I order my groceries.
Then there is the big chore day. When I do vacuuming, mopping, cleaning the bathroom, dusting and cleaning the counters and appliances in the kitchen. Maybe I should break those chores up into different days but once I get going I want to do them all. So it is over and done with. Turn the music on and get to work!
Presently I am going to therapy for the Lymphedema three times a week. So on those days I am not doing much at home. I can do some little chores after I come home but these days just leaving home is a big job. Pretty soon I will not be going that often. Once a month when my Social Security check is deposited I have to do errands. I am the "Payee Representative" for my son's money so have to do errands for him also. That is another day that I am wiped out when I get back home. Not doing much on that day either.
I don't expect to always be doing these same things for years. Who knows? Maybe not or maybe I will. Life is like that. I accept what I need or have to do. Not going to get myself down over struggles in day to day living. Try my best and carry on. I do my best to stay positive no matter what is going on. I lived with negativity for many years and I refuse to let it in my life now. When people start talking negatively I am out the door! Dwell on the good not the bad.
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