I take for granted sometimes that people understand how difficult small tasks are for someone who is chronically ill/ in pain. I actually forget that getting off the couch to go refill your water bottle is not a monumentous event for "healthy" people. It doesn't cause them pain. They don't have to fight with their body to do it. It's easy, you tell your body to go and it goes. I'm sad to say that after 9 years I no longer remember that feeling. Every task put in front of me and everything I see, whether as simple as walking across a room, bending to pick something up or as painful as going to the beach or park or pool, it is immediately measured in my head as to the effort it will take, if I have enough strength to even do it and if it is worth that effort/ consequence. "Regular" people talk about things taking "effort" all the time so I almost don't like using that word because it doesn't accurately portray how difficult it is to do even the smallest of tasks.
One thing that isn't obviously difficult for anyone, but is for people in my situation is showering. I've explained why to a few
people and I constantly get "oh yeah, that makes sense". Showering back in the cold damp of northern California required many many spoons. I generally didn't have spoons to say shower AND go somewhere in the same day. I got used to taking showers at
night when I could. And always with the bathroom heater on high and only washing my hair periodically.
Showers are tough for many reasons:
1. Your body temperature fluctuates constantly in a shower since the water temperature is different than the air temp and the water hits different parts of your body constantly.
2. The effort of raising arms above the head is extremely difficult for many of us, so washing and conditioning hair is difficult.
3. Attempting to shave your legs is a nightmare. It's painful to bend over it's difficult to stand on one foot (turns purple and pins and needles).
4. Then there's getting out of the shower- sudden temperature change, more movement to dry and for some it's irritating to have textures rubbed against your skin (this happens to me sometimes) and then any sort of hair drying or product requires even more effort.
5. And you're still naked at that point! So you have to add getting dressed which is difficult
every time you do it and takes away spoons.
So, when I say showering is too much for me most days that's what I mean.
(There's a reason there's so many memes about this)
The GOOD news is that the first major difference I've noticed moving here is that showering doesn't require nearly as many spoons! The air and water temperature are almost exactly the same, there's no sudden change in temperature getting out and honestly you barely have to towel off because the heat will help that along! And for me personally I don't bother blow drying my hair here because it is curly so this humidity will just curl it right after I straighten it. So it can air dry with some hair gel. Getting dressed every day is shorts and tank top! No dreaded socks with the bending and twisting. Slip on flip flops and done.
This isn't something I anticipated being so much easier so it's a nice surprise! Score one for Hawaii!!!
