Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Apologies

I spent a good long time on Saturday sewing up grandson Stargazer’s new sweater and…forgot to photograph it before I gave it to him on Sunday. Rats! Now it won’t be easy to get a picture for my notes. However I will try, starting with a request that one of his parents take one for me on the boy. We’ll see how far that goes! Anyhow I did finish it. Some small accomplishment makes me feel better about my languishing crafts.

Speaking of which, the rag quilt project got kind of stalled at the ironing phase. My hands could only take doing a few pieces at a time. I hope to carry on some more this afternoon and get the last few pieces done. I want to start cutting out the flannelette inner layer and see how many squares short it leaves me. It will be an adventure trying to find a comparable substitute to complete the total 256 approximately 7.5”-8” squares I need. Their actual size will depend on how close the measurements work out on the sheets. The seam allowance can be anything from 1/2” to 1” depending on how much fraying you want and I haven’t totally decided yet the exact size I’m going for.

In other news, the P-Word is improving a little. Two steps forward and one step back though. At least that’s what it seems like. My feet are mostly clear enough that I can walk again but if I go too far, I’ll regret it the next day with small splits. My hands are able to escape gloves for short durations during the day but I need to moisturise them constantly. My fingertips are thick and dry and clumsy and the palms are sensitive to pokes and rough edges. The rising tide seems to have slowed (or maybe even stopped, dare I say?) after covering my breasts about where my bra does and my inner arms up to my armpits. My legs are fairly clear now however and the skin is slowly going back to a more normal colour. I still spend way too much time gooping myself up with various potions but I’m feeling a small glimmer of optimism. At least it’s better than the alternative, right?

After perusing the Internet and chasing down as many leads as I could find, I’ve come to the conclusions that a) doctors really know spit about how to treat psoriasis and b) that leaves the door open for snake-oil salesmen of every stripe. Persons With P are desperate for something to relieve symptoms. The fact that what works for one doesn’t necessarily work for another and that what works for a time doesn’t necessarily continue to work just compounds the desperation. “If you just use this cream/eat this diet/get this light you’ll be cured!” Hah. Personally I’ve already used something like 8 different prescription meds, 4 over-the-counter creams, my own handmade cream and shea butter with varying success. My pharmacists know me on a first name basis. I’m actually getting a tan after decades of avoiding the sun. I don’t wear anything that shows tar and grease stains or that I care about at all. Right now at least, this disease is dictating my life in a big way. Which is why you, my gentle readers, are being subjected to too much of my babbling about it! I don’t have much else to talk about really.

Off to water the garden. Again. The weather is lovely – sunny and hot-but-not-too-hot in the day but cooler at night. Perfect.

2 comments:

Sharon in Surrey said...

You have my heart felt sympathies!! It's bad enough to be in a heat wave but to be in a heat wave covered with tarry goop that doesn't really work on the skin condition must be really awful! I think doctors play a guessing game too often - I wish they'd just admit it instead of trying to be a Great White God! Is there an Olde Fashioned Remedy?? or something from a Native or Chinese herbalist??

Louisa said...

Thanks for your kind thoughts, Sharon. However, the tar IS the olde-fashioned remedy! And it's also the most soothing. I've learned to put it on more sparingly and it's not so messy.