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Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of, and finding treatments for, complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia, long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.
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Blog entries by Howard
Robert is gone. He was my roommate for nine days. An eventful nine days. You see, he's suffering from dementia. And for the first 48 hours as my roommate, he was quite agitated. He neither slept, nor stayed in bed. Nor did he wear clothes, all that often - careening down the hallway with his...
Dateline: two days ago -
A frigid desert night is in the making. Freezing. Below freezing. Our version of an Arctic blast. This winter has been cold. Colder than normal. Or at least, far colder than it's been (on average) in the past decade or so. But that's okay, as the chill is much more...
I'd been outside waiting for my return ride back to the nursing home (for nearly two hours). That's right, they forgot about me. And hence, the possibility of being stuck in Gilbert, Arizona overnight on Christmas Eve was becoming a real possibility. Lucky for me, the temperature was agreeable...
I've written five full blog entries (ready for posting) in the past six days. But for a multitude of reasons, I've decided against actually posting the darned things. Why? Because my purpose in doing so is unclear. And also, I do not wish to unnecessarily hurt others, or stress others...
Isolation - Day 6 (Wednesday)
Sleep. It's something I've been doing of late. More specifically, lots of napping. The other thing I've also been doing with some frequency is wake up whenever the blaring door alarm goes off.
Because we are under quarantine, all staff members must exit our unit...
Symptom Status
I'm fine. Or at least, in most instances I am getting there. Since early this morning (Monday) my chief complaint is a semi-regular cough. So that's not much to complain about. The fever, elevated blood pressure, sinus / facial pain, and body aches, are no longer much of an...
Yep. I just tested positive. There's no way the experience could be as bad as last time, right?
My fever is at 102.3 degrees. And of course, all the rest of the symptoms.
But I should fare better this time, right? I've had it twice already. And I was outside in the direct sunlight yesterday...
Thought I would share something silly with y'all -
Background: it's 418am and it's really warm in here! So I just sent this off to management via email. And no, this is not a crisis situation. But I thought you might find this communique amusing on some level.
Good morning,
Once again I...
He exited I-10 instead of going straight, which put us on the outer fringes of Tempe, instead of Ahwatukee. No, it wasn't a fatal error, but there would be several more "errors" to come. Upon entering the chosen apartment complex (15 minutes later) the driver angled to the right instead of...
After being rejected, deflected, and neglected for so long, something positive has finally happened. No, it really hasn't been all that bad of late. Just mostly that bad. Anyway, Valley Metro Transit approved transportation for me. What this means is that I can cop a ride anywhere in and around...
My application for disability was rejected. Again. And already. Heck it's only been three weeks. Talk about fast rejection. I don't even know how to react at this point. Supposedly, they're going to send me some sort of documentation within the next two weeks that shall explain in grave detail...
I came down with something Monday morning. But in the meantime I did test negative for covid-19 and the flu. And now it's Friday. I think. And my symptoms are on the wane. Just some leftover congestion. You know what I mean?
But sleeping? No. That's not a thing that's happening (I realize I...
It may be difficult to contend with this new song at first, but after a period of time it settles in - awkwardly.
Because there are guest vocals you don't have to listen to me sing. An added bonus! Yes, the vocal renderings originate in India. The vocalist's name is Dabra. Or perhaps not...
Sure. Sure. Sure. I can sleep any old time I want to. I mean, I don't have a job. I never need to be anywhere. And heck, I've spent the past seven years in bed (besides my newfound freedom in the power chair). So why exactly am I so angry?
Well, it's 3:39 in the morning, and the ruckus - nope...
Because my roommate is snoring as loudly as he is, I am afforded the rare opportunity to voice text into my phone at this late hour.
Not much has changed here. Except my clothing. Yes. I am now wearing warmer things out of necessity. Even in my room.
Of course, the air conditioning is on...
Yes, I'm finally offering up the fruits of my chosen labor of love. My expression to the masses. Well, not very many of the masses will be watching or listening. But I've never let that stop me. And neither should you. Don't stop. Unless you're doing something bad. So you know, bad things should...
I am finally able to write again. Numerous factors have come together and efforts to prevent my normal writing efforts. I will list them with exacting details. Okay, yeah… details won't be exact and perhaps not even clearly defined, but I will offer some details in regards to this.
First off...
I've been meaning to write of late, but time is conspiring against me. Well, it's actually a toss up. The lack of time available versus the distraction of pain.
Do I have time available? Why yes I do. Each of us could squeeze in dozens or hundreds or perhaps even thousands of words per day if...
Our monsoon season may have gone out with a whimper, but radiant sunlight shone vividly across the horizon in one last gasp effort.
When I came back down from atop the pedestrian bridge, I showed several staff members these sunset images… and their initial supposition was that I used filters...
This installment has everything to do with black and white images. Mostly, clouds. And as some of you may already know, I am practically obsessed with weather phenomena. Or perhaps I am impractically obsessed. Either way. I like clouds. Certain types of clouds. The clouds that have three...