Insert ethereal music here. Throw in some singing angels...
Side note: Do you know that the Bible NEVER mentions angels singing? They "say" and they "proclaim", but they do not "sing" - at least not in the Biblical reports.
Just thought you needed to know that.
Groovy is smiling now because some of you are digging out your Bibles in indignation as you imagine the chaos when next Christmas is heralded by "Hark, the Herald Angels Say".
Ok, so back to the light and the music. We bought a therapy light yesterday. I was trying to decide between buying from our local friendly medical supply store and buying online. We opted for local. But I'm wishing we hadn't. The online light had a lifetime guarantee and a promise of 10,000 lux at 24". This one is 10,000 lux at 12", meaning I have to be very close to the light for a therapy treatment.
The med supply store was clear that we can't bring it back if it doesn't help my SAD, but we can bring it back if it doesn't function properly. Well, one of the lights flickers and that's a no-no, so this one will be back to the store soon - I'm gonna get the online one.
All those boring details aside, I had my first treatment this morning. It was rather weird.
Several years ago I had a friend who was selling those Nikken therapy magnets. We dutifully tried them. Mulletman taped them on to relieve muscle tension. Scout tried them to help him recover from football injuries. I could never use them at all. Put a magnet on me for very long and my fillings start to get warm and I get a strong metallic taste in my mouth. This is true even if the magnet is on my ankle! You can imagine how I leapt out of the chair 5 minutes after they covered me with a magnetic blanket! Oy!
The even stranger thing is that I only have a couple of fillings. Hmmm...
And so, this morning I tried the light. It was slightly off centered to my right and folks, my whole right jaw feels warm and tingly. When I realized this was happening, I repositioned the light more to the center. Unfortunately, it was almost to the end of my treatment time, so I'm not sure it helped. Now I have a headache behind my right eye and across the right side of my scalp.
Perhaps 1/2 hour ws too long for a first session!
Tomorrow I'll try just 20 minutes and make sure the light is dead center. I know you are all hanging on the edge of your seats to see how this saga concludes, so I will keep you posted.
I just realized that it will be extremely difficult to use the light on Sunday morning. We have to be at the church at 7am to practice music. I usually get up at 5am and I'm running the whole time...Ain't no way I'm getting up at 4:30! Maybe I can eke out 20 minutes if I bathe the night before instead of showering Sunday morning.
Wow. If this post was any more exciting, you folks would need tranquilizers.
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I would be remiss if I did not insert a very happy cheer into this post:
GO MIKE HUCKABEE!!!! WHOO-HOO!!!!
In case I haven't told you before - I Like Mike!
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No hamsters yet. Mulletman is getting anxious now, so he's going to check the pet stores in Bangor. Surely SOMEONE has some cute little Chinese dwarfs.
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I feel tremendously petty for complaining about our paltry pelting of precipitation when the Sierra Nevada mountains are s'posed to get TEN FEET of snow over the next few days...Ten feet. I can't even fathom that much snow!
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GrammaJ is coming over today to do her laundry and hang out. Her birthday is tomorrow and we decided to celebrate with an overnighter. Tonight is homemade tacos and some sort of wonderful but yet to be decided on dessert. Tomorrow she and I will go out alone for lunch to have either seafood or Chinese. (Just for your info: We will not be eating Chinese hamsters.)
GrammaJ will be 69.
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I've decided that the only way to avoid have school every blueberry-picking day of our Maine summer (we ain't got no cotton, ya'll) we shall have school six days a week for the next few months. Fortunately, the girlies are so sheltered and naive that they don't know they're supposed to have Saturdays off.
Ignorance IS bliss!
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I need to unload three seasons of Little House on the Prairie dvds. The girlies got them for Christmas, but aren't interested. They'd rather have the books! (Can I hear an AMEN to that?!!)
The dvds were purchased for us from Amazon and it's a big butt pain to try to return them. They are all brand new. If you're interested, you can buy them from me for $35 per season (Seasons 1,2, and 3), shipping included. You could pay me on PayPal.
Any takers?
Showing posts with label light therapy box. Show all posts
Showing posts with label light therapy box. Show all posts
20 December 2007
Some Sad News, Some Happy News, and Some S.A.D. News
OK folks, I covet your prayers for Mr. Snowblower (even though coveting is a sin).
He's in the snowblower hospital being evaluated for major surgery or perhaps even an assisted suicide.
He and Mulletman were cheerfully clearing away the remnants of the last storm when suddenly he (Mr. Snowblower, not Mulletman) grabbed his left shoulder and collapsed (figuratively speaking). I had to help Mulletman heft him up into the mini van and I can assure you that he (Mr. Snowblower, not Mulletman) was unable to help us at all - pure dead weight.
It's that bad.
Yes, I know he's a blow hard, but he's an intregal part of our Groovy family here and we wouldn't know what to do without him, especialy in the winter! In MAINE!
And it snowed all night last night.
AND it's supposed to snow more today.
AND Mulletman's brother, Uncle Pickle-Nose is supposed to be flying in from California today for a Christmas visit.
Where'd I put the phone number of Plow Guy?
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And Looky what just came in the mail!
Those cute little ornaments are from Terri at Lakewood Manor as part of Kathleen's Christmas ornament swap. Thank you, Terri!
And now I have to apologize that Terri does not yet have her ornaments from me. I was feeling quite guilty about this until yesterday. I have been having a truly horrible time trying accomplish anything this month.
This is not because I have been lazy, nor because I have been overbooked. It is not because I have been purposely procrastinating nor because I am a poor time manager. It is because I suffer from S.A.D..
I've experienced the symptoms of S.A.D. for several years now and about 3 years ago I started a regimen of taking St. John's Wort from early October through mid-March. That helped me tremendously. Until this year. This year it's really bad.
I have trouble getting up in the morning. I am EASILY overwhelmed. I feel exhausted all the time. I fight constantly with negative thoughts and feelings that people said or did things "on purpose". I, who am usually obnoxiously optimistic, struggle with hopelessness. I don't want to go anywhere or do anything. I'm having a tough time keeping the girls rolling with school. I'm completely undone emotionally by two simple sewing projects - one of them being the ornaments I'm making for Terri and my 2 pay-it-forward gals. I want to eat all the time and if Mulletman wasn't holding me accountable I sure as heck would not be working out several times a week! (Good thing I am or I would have gained several pounds by now!) I don't want to clean my house and the thought of fixing food for Christmas makes me want to hide in a closet until everyone goes away.
I was beating myself up over all this until I realized that it's the S.A.D. and that it is, indeed, worse this year. I wonder if this has anything to do with my sun "allergy" and my need to stay out of the sun in the summer. Usually, Mainers are out and about soaking up all the rays they can in the warmer months, and I haven't been able to do that this past two years.
Maybe I could get a research grant to check the connection between Polymorphic Light Eruption and S.A.D.!
And maybe not.
So ladies, I WILL get those ornaments out to you, but please be patient with me...
In the meantime, Mulletman and I are looking into purchasing a Light Therapy Box that is used for treating S.A.D. They're quite expensive though, so I'm seeing if our insurance will pay the price tag for us. Of course that means I'll need a doctor's visit and an order to use one. And they'll probably want me to have a complete physical and won't be able to schedule me in until March and by then I'll be back to my happy self and won't need the light box and it will all be moot.
Sigh. Refocus.
In other, happier news: After this Saturday, the daylight hours start getting longer again!
He's in the snowblower hospital being evaluated for major surgery or perhaps even an assisted suicide.
He and Mulletman were cheerfully clearing away the remnants of the last storm when suddenly he (Mr. Snowblower, not Mulletman) grabbed his left shoulder and collapsed (figuratively speaking). I had to help Mulletman heft him up into the mini van and I can assure you that he (Mr. Snowblower, not Mulletman) was unable to help us at all - pure dead weight.
It's that bad.
Yes, I know he's a blow hard, but he's an intregal part of our Groovy family here and we wouldn't know what to do without him, especialy in the winter! In MAINE!
And it snowed all night last night.
AND it's supposed to snow more today.
AND Mulletman's brother, Uncle Pickle-Nose is supposed to be flying in from California today for a Christmas visit.
Where'd I put the phone number of Plow Guy?
**********************************************
And Looky what just came in the mail!
Those cute little ornaments are from Terri at Lakewood Manor as part of Kathleen's Christmas ornament swap. Thank you, Terri!
And now I have to apologize that Terri does not yet have her ornaments from me. I was feeling quite guilty about this until yesterday. I have been having a truly horrible time trying accomplish anything this month.
This is not because I have been lazy, nor because I have been overbooked. It is not because I have been purposely procrastinating nor because I am a poor time manager. It is because I suffer from S.A.D..
I've experienced the symptoms of S.A.D. for several years now and about 3 years ago I started a regimen of taking St. John's Wort from early October through mid-March. That helped me tremendously. Until this year. This year it's really bad.
I have trouble getting up in the morning. I am EASILY overwhelmed. I feel exhausted all the time. I fight constantly with negative thoughts and feelings that people said or did things "on purpose". I, who am usually obnoxiously optimistic, struggle with hopelessness. I don't want to go anywhere or do anything. I'm having a tough time keeping the girls rolling with school. I'm completely undone emotionally by two simple sewing projects - one of them being the ornaments I'm making for Terri and my 2 pay-it-forward gals. I want to eat all the time and if Mulletman wasn't holding me accountable I sure as heck would not be working out several times a week! (Good thing I am or I would have gained several pounds by now!) I don't want to clean my house and the thought of fixing food for Christmas makes me want to hide in a closet until everyone goes away.
I was beating myself up over all this until I realized that it's the S.A.D. and that it is, indeed, worse this year. I wonder if this has anything to do with my sun "allergy" and my need to stay out of the sun in the summer. Usually, Mainers are out and about soaking up all the rays they can in the warmer months, and I haven't been able to do that this past two years.
Maybe I could get a research grant to check the connection between Polymorphic Light Eruption and S.A.D.!
And maybe not.
So ladies, I WILL get those ornaments out to you, but please be patient with me...
In the meantime, Mulletman and I are looking into purchasing a Light Therapy Box that is used for treating S.A.D. They're quite expensive though, so I'm seeing if our insurance will pay the price tag for us. Of course that means I'll need a doctor's visit and an order to use one. And they'll probably want me to have a complete physical and won't be able to schedule me in until March and by then I'll be back to my happy self and won't need the light box and it will all be moot.
Sigh. Refocus.
In other, happier news: After this Saturday, the daylight hours start getting longer again!
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