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Didn't want to be your ghost
1. Alan Turing has been pardoned. Better if it had been in his lifetime, but still.
2. My diagnosis of Raynaud's is official. I didn't go looking for it; the dermatologist this morning informed me that the problem with my feet is chilblains, asked me a question about my colitis and a question about the color of my hands in winter, felt their temperature after five minutes' walk through cold rain, and that was that. There's not much to do about it medically, as I'd thought; I'm not going to start taking vasodilators in winter. (I am going to invest in serious fucking socks.) Now I get to deal with a problem with my feet that I thought had gone out with central heating.
3. It is my grandfather's yahrzeit. Not by the Hebrew calendar, which would have been December 1st this year; but he died on the morning of the 24th in 2011, so my mother and I lit the candle this evening. I was in Lexington, decorating my family's tree for Wednesday. (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
derspatchel and I do not have a tree of our own this year, partly because our house is still full of boxes, partly because it turns out that our driveway shrub disappears under a snowfall. It's become visible with the rain in the last couple of days, but I am still sad that we didn't at least run some rope lights around it. It would have been unequaled in pathos since A Charlie Brown Christmas.) It's a completely different tree from last year, but they always are. The star of David of heavy amber pressed glass—my grandparents' gift, my first ornament—still goes on the tree first.
I have yet another chip in my left front tooth. I spent most of today running around in the rain with Rob, buying candied fruit peel for my mother and books for a variety of people. I've had very little time to myself in some ways recently (and now we're heading into more holidays), but it was a good solstice this weekend; the sun came back. I didn't go away.
2. My diagnosis of Raynaud's is official. I didn't go looking for it; the dermatologist this morning informed me that the problem with my feet is chilblains, asked me a question about my colitis and a question about the color of my hands in winter, felt their temperature after five minutes' walk through cold rain, and that was that. There's not much to do about it medically, as I'd thought; I'm not going to start taking vasodilators in winter. (I am going to invest in serious fucking socks.) Now I get to deal with a problem with my feet that I thought had gone out with central heating.
3. It is my grandfather's yahrzeit. Not by the Hebrew calendar, which would have been December 1st this year; but he died on the morning of the 24th in 2011, so my mother and I lit the candle this evening. I was in Lexington, decorating my family's tree for Wednesday. (
derspatchel and I do not have a tree of our own this year, partly because our house is still full of boxes, partly because it turns out that our driveway shrub disappears under a snowfall. It's become visible with the rain in the last couple of days, but I am still sad that we didn't at least run some rope lights around it. It would have been unequaled in pathos since A Charlie Brown Christmas.) It's a completely different tree from last year, but they always are. The star of David of heavy amber pressed glass—my grandparents' gift, my first ornament—still goes on the tree first.I have yet another chip in my left front tooth. I spent most of today running around in the rain with Rob, buying candied fruit peel for my mother and books for a variety of people. I've had very little time to myself in some ways recently (and now we're heading into more holidays), but it was a good solstice this weekend; the sun came back. I didn't go away.
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Chilbains! You poor thing. You need a footmuff and a pathetic woolly shawl, like a Darwin.
It's my mother's yahrzeit as well, by the Gregorian calendar. *hugs*.
"Our driveway shrub," bowed and dripping, should have been a Dickens waif.
Yowch! Sorry about the tooth.
Hope to see you and the sun.
Nine
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That's about where I am. And now I hope the same clemency is extended to all men, even posthumously, who were convicted by the same unjust laws.
You need a footmuff and a pathetic woolly shawl, like a Darwin.
I can spend Christmas looking like Newman Noggs!
(I MUST SHOW MY HUSBAND NICHOLAS NICKLEBY BEFORE NEW YEAR'S MAN WE DON'T EVEN HAVE EIGHT HOURS OF SPARE TIME NONETHELESS ARGH TIME WHY IS THERE IS NOT MORE OF IT.)
"Our driveway shrub," bowed and dripping, should have been a Dickens waif.
It's adorable! And it's survived being parked over several times since we moved in, so we think it might even make it to the spring.
Yowch! Sorry about the tooth.
Dentist's office is closed till January 3rd. Naturally.
Hope to see you and the sun.
The sun is outside, looking fragile and warming, and
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I have had it for years, I have several dozen fingerless gloves that I wear when I start getting the cold hands and numb fingers. Mostly its covering the wrists where the blood vessels are closest to the surface. I recently found out that the issues with my fingernails being brittle and splitting is connected to it, along with the longitudal lines down the nails.. which makes sense when taking into consideration of the temp fluctuations in the fingers.
A few adaptations will cover most of the problems, unless the only way to get relief is the drugs. My biggest problem is the cold part of it, but with the numbness, I have no sense of hurting myself (or burning!) until its too late.
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My circulation has behaved like this since early college, so I start wearing gloves every year in September, but never the fingerless kind—it's my fingers that give me the most trouble in cold weather, so exposing them always seemed counterproductive. Keeping the rest of the hands covered makes a perceptible difference?
I recently found out that the issues with my fingernails being brittle and splitting is connected to it, along with the longitudal lines down the nails.. which makes sense when taking into consideration of the temp fluctuations in the fingers.
Huh. I always assumed that was connected to something in my nutrition. (My fingernails are not brittle and they do not split easily, but they are visibly ridged. I bit them severely as a child, is the other reason I thought they might have grown weird.)
A few adaptations will cover most of the problems, unless the only way to get relief is the drugs. My biggest problem is the cold part of it, but with the numbness, I have no sense of hurting myself (or burning!) until its too late.
I don't have to deal with that, fortunately—I have never accidentally cut or burned myself without noticing. My hands only reach that level of numbness if I'm out in the cold, when I am generally not dealing with sharp objects or hot liquids or fire.
(When the zombie apocalypse strikes this winter, I will let you know how I fare.)
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Like you, I thought the issue with the nails themselves were from nutrition. No blood, no nutrition to the fingers.. duh..
On the days when the hands are really bad, I just hold them up and say that they are for decorative purposes only, since they aint working for shit.
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I have not experienced that problem, I am happy to say. I wrap my hands around hot mugs of tea and it keeps them warm.
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My mother had Reynauds--she--WAIT. I am not going to do that thing of, "Oh, you have [thing]? Someone I know has [thing]; here, let me share a probably irrelevant piece of self care." No seriously. I have a feeling it wouldn't help.
(This is not a criticism of other comments, which, in any case, I notice are sharing their own experiences but not recommending treatment approaches--more offering empathy, which is better.)
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I am so glad that's become a thing in your family! I like passing traditions on. It's what they're for.
My mother had Reynauds--she--WAIT. I am not going to do that thing of, "Oh, you have [thing]? Someone I know has [thing]; here, let me share a probably irrelevant piece of self care." No seriously. I have a feeling it wouldn't help.
I appreciate it very much. Especially since in this case it wasn't a diagnosis so much as a confirmation: it means I have to treat the problem more seriously than if my hands just went stiff in cold weather like everyone else's, but I had suspected it for years and tried to handle myself accordingly. (See: wearing gloves in weather when the rest of me can walk around in a T-shirt and corduroy jacket. I used to have a thinner pair for the fall and spring and a heavier one for winter, but both of them perished in the last year. As of last week, I have a sort of middling pair I've been wearing everywhere.) Not all self-care is irrelevant, and you have never been insulting with advice on LJ before, but it's not like I am facing a sudden life-altering issue of which I was entirely unaware.
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Good to know!
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That is an excellent typo.
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Check. I had thought they were inefficient, but maybe I will invest in a Dickensian winter look after all.
I also find remembering to massage my hands and feet before bed (sometimes with a nice fragrant oil like lavender) behind get the blood flowing before sleeping.
And this I hadn't even thought of. I put on a fairly heavy-duty hand cream before bed, because otherwise the skin cracks and chaps badly in winter (and other times of year), but it never seemed necessary to do the same for my feet. Cold hands are more immediately awkward. I can walk miles through snow when I can't feel my feet, whereas I can't type when my fingers get too numb—I prioritized and my feet are almost always cold, including when I go to bed. Lately I just tuck them up against
It's a lousy thing to deal with. I'm sorry you have it, too.
Thank you. It appears to be much more common than I'd thought!
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Those look brilliant. Thank you! I love the idea of concordant socks.
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Happy holidays!
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Absolutely. Information is always better.
Happy holidays!
Thank you! Likewise!
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Speaking of, I still need to mail you the pair I knit for you. I better make a note so I do that when I meet up with my belongings once again.
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Raynaud's comes in two forms. One is associated with autoimmune disorders and some other conditions, the other is hereditary and just turns up on its own. In my case it could be either, since I have ulcerative colitis (typical of secondary Raynaud's), but I suspect it's the hereditary kind; it manifested in late adolescence (typical of primary Raynaud's) and I have one close family member with the diagnosis already and another who shares the same sensitivities (ditto). Especially considering the hellacious state of your health when it's just resting, I think it's definitely worth your checking out.
Speaking of, I still need to mail you the pair I knit for you. I better make a note so I do that when I meet up with my belongings once again.
Thank you so much! Do you have my new address?
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