Busy, busy, busy.

The past couple of weeks have been incredibly busy for me. Some things have involved walking, some things sitting. However, whether I walk or sit, the challenge for me is either way, my feet get sore. My body can only handle so much and then it is overwhelmed with fatigue. I don’t know if dealing with pain all the time wears me out faster than a “normal” person or if it is just me. I have to balance activities that involve walking with those that don’t. But even then I still get amazingly tired and weary from pain.

Last week I had something all day, every day, just one thing after another. By the time Thursday came, I was unbelievably exhausted. It’s like my bones hurt because my body was so tired. And naturally, my feet hurt like crazy. So that morning, after Dave went to work and the kids went to school, instead of going to my college class, I went back to bed and slept for an hour or so. Then I exercised, riding my stationary bike where I can pedal using the arches of my feet and not touch a callus. I thought the exercise would help get oxygen to my heart and the circulation going in my feet. I felt much better after the sleep and the exercise. After that I was able to once again handle the onslaught of activities. Right then, I read the email from my teacher telling me not to sluff class – which really made me smile because I knew the self-imposed rest was just what I needed to keep going. My next appointment was at noon that day and I was able to pick myself up and continue for the rest of the day.

What bothers me though is that I did need the rest. I see so many people who just go, go, go and accomplish many things in a day. Why can’t I do that without crashing? I get frustrated that I can’t walk faster. But I also just hate that I wear out. Sometimes after a long day, I get home and just need to lie on my bed with my feet up for 30 minutes in order to deal with the pain before I can even make dinner.

I don’t remember if I felt this way when I was younger. I know when I was a young adult I always went to college full-time and had at least a part-time job, plus other extracurricular activities. But I don’t remember needing a time-out to deal with pain. Maybe I just had down-time because I didn’t have responsibilities for other people like I do now. I was responsible only for myself really. That may make a difference. I do know that my sons with PC, who are 12 and 14 years old, come home from school or activities in pain and sometimes they just need to lie on the coach and read a book before they can tackle chores or homework. It’s like they need to deal mentally as well as physically with pain as well.

Sometimes just a little bit of time helps to let the pain subside and then we can deal with other responsibilities again. Sometimes, a lot more time is needed to deal with the pain and the fatigue that comes with it. No matter what though, it can be discouraging to get tired out so easily with pain. I’m wondering if others with PC deal with this or if it’s just me.