Ten on Tuesday!!!! 7-26-2011

I AM HOT!!!  If you have not gotten that with the last post, I guess you have now, and I will say it again, I AM HOT!!!!.  The major issue is, most of the medicine I am on, has a small print disclaimer, avoid sun exposure or extended heat.  So my best friend is my air conditioner.  However, there are times when even that is not enough. What else is there to help you cool down, well of course, today is Ten on Tuesday and here are my top ten ways to help cool down on an extra hot day.

1.  Cool Shower--- remember, cool, not cold.   Shocking your body is going to do nothing for you other than make it work to get it back up to it's "normal" temperature, so it will end up making you hotter.
2.  Ice/cold compresses--- On the back of your neck or your forehead, especially if you tend to get headaches, it will help tremendously.
3.  Dip in the pool---  I used to be a fish to water.  I love to swim.  I would be in the water constantly if I could, however it incredibly wears me out, but man just sitting in the pool, in the shade or under and umbrella is awesome.
4.  A hammock under a tree---  Take a nap, read a book, or simply relax.  It is awesome.
5.  A snow cone--- brings back memories of going to a local open air market with my grandfather as a kid.  I always got blue raspberry, always made a mess, but it always helped me cool off.  I love it
6.  Ice cream---  who does not love ice cream, have it for dinner on a hot day.  The kids will think you lost your mind, but once in a while, it is ok, and you know what it is going to help cool everyone off and have fun!!!
7.  Run through a hose---  ok, you can walk, or crawl or what ever you need to get through it.  But remember as a kid how great it was to run through a hose shower, or get sprayed while mom or dad were washing the car. take a few minutes and throw yourself back in time, recruit your kids or friends and have a blast. Maybe even get your car washed in the process.
8.  Drink Cold Water--- I drink all the time, side effect of the diabetes.  However, when you are hot, drinking cold water will help cool you down.  Make sure you are drinking more than you normally do.  When it is hot, keeping yourself hydration is very important, might not keep you cool, but will keep you out of the hospital.
9.  Have a cold dinner---  When it is hot, I hate to eat hot food.  Here is a couple of ideas I use for dinner.  One, a salad, summer is awesome for this.  All the fresh veggies at less expensive prices a salad is quick, filling and good for you.  Another option, a salad plate.  Pick up a couple different salads at your local deli such as macaroni salad, potato salad, ham salad, egg salad, tuna salad, or you can make them yourself.  Place 3 lettuce leafs on a plate, use a ice cream scoop and place a scoop of 3 different salads on each lettuce leaf and slice some tomatoes and serve on the plate with crackers.
10.  Soak your feet in peppermint water.  Mint is cooling and soothing.  Your feet can really help regulate your body temperature.  Place cool water in a old dish pan or container big enough for your feet, add a few drops of peppermint oil and relax.

There are many people that would say there are other ways to cool down.  I can also think of many others, but since I am limited in my ability to do a lot of things that are taxing on the body, I have to do the easy stuff. Now if I was not dealing with the fibro and hemicrania continua I would definitely do some of the following:
1.  Waterpark
2.  Water Skiing
3   Swim in the Ocean
4.  Tubing
5.  Kayaking
I am sure I am missing some stuff, but you get the idea.
What do you do to stay cool?
What summer food brings back childhood memories?
Well, I hope you can find something to help cool you off.  Take it easy and take care of yourself.  Until the next time, Gentle hugs.

HOT!

So it is only the beginning of June and we here in Delaware are in the beginning of our second supposed heat wave.  I am totally not cool with this, no pun intended.  I am sure you are all aware major weather changes wreck havoc on your pain levels and high heat kills me.  It wears me out so quickly, and no matter what I do, it makes recovery back to my more normal (if you can ever use that word to describe yourself,) self a long and drawn out process.  I sometimes wonder what is worse, the hot or the cold weather.  Well honestly, I have an answer.  I have to say the hot weather for me is absolutely the worst.  At least in cold weather you can continue to add on layers until you are warm, but when it is hot, being naked is as bare as you can get, and being in water to cool off helps, but only to an extent and then at some point that no longer helps.  Plus, I do think the town would very much frown at me slowly limping and waddling through completely naked dowsing myself with water stay cool.  It would definitely scare away our large summer vacationers that help keep our town running, plus it may get me in a bit of trouble and of course would definitely mean I would need a whole lot more pain meds to be unstable enough to go outside my house naked, LOL.  So what the heck do you do?  Well, first off, pray the air conditioning equipment in your home, whatever it may be, does not decide to take a crap on you.  God knows with all the money we spend on medicine and doctors we have no money for repairing that stuff.  Eat only cold and frozen stuff, I guess that  would help, but can't see my family being fine with me plopping the chicken still frozen on their plate for dinner and say ok let's eat, nor will the doctor be fine with me having Ice cream sundaes or sno cones for 3 meals a day all summer long. (now that, the kids may like.)   How about living in the bathtub or shower, well, not only will it make you very wrinkly, you won't get much done, and it could sky rocket your water bill.  So so far I am still stuck with just praying, which works, I do that alot.  I guess you can pray for rain to lower the temperature, but with that comes its own risk of pain issues.  You can use a rag to keep the back of your neck cool, that will  help some, but again, will need to be repeated and you won't be able to do it all the time.  Well it seems like we are stuck back at the fact that summer is here and we are going to have to deal with the heat.  Let me just remind you of a few very important things to remember,

1.  Drink, drink and drink some more.  Remember that your body will only show it is thirsty when it is in dire need, just because you are not thirsty, does not mean you don't need to drink.  Water is the best, but green tea with a little sugar can help too.  Green tea is known to help reduce the pain so if you are not a huge water person, go ahead and make some homemade green tea.

2.  Stay inside between the hours of 10 am and 2 pm.  This is the hottest time of the day.  If you need to be out, be in the shade as much as possible and follow the instructions in #1

3. Don't over do it people, we know what that leads to.  Take care of yourself and listen to your body, when you are tired, sit, relax, or go home and do more tomorrow.  What good are you gonna be if you are stuck in bed not being able to do anything or worse, in the hospital?

4. Heat can make you feel nauseated, eat little bits at a time.  Not eating will make you weak or cause problems for the host of other illnesses that you have.

I am not a doctor, but I have been through crazy hot summers before.  I have had to deal with this stupid illness during heat waves as well as blizzards.  I simply like to help when I can and I worry about my fellow spoonies, because we have to stick together.  I wish I could say if you do this then you will not hurt at all and you summer will be a piece of cake, but I can not.  I can tell you that you have to give yourself a break and realize that if you don't take care of yourself, then no one else will.  Enjoy the summer to the best of your ability, eat the good stuff, fresh fruits and veggies in season, make smore's and tell stories. I would also love to hear what you do to cool off or stay cool.

Me, I keep wondering, how bad can Alaska really be???????