Me Time

[KICKSTART]

Well 3 weeks on , still early days i know, but i seem to be getting over the trauma of Hemo both mentally and physically. What i want to know is ..how do you get some me time ? I seem to spend the days i have off catching up on all the things i neglected while i was so weak and ill. Also if i start to go out a bit , i will feel so guilty leaving the dogs and not spending time with them (they are not used to being left while i go for hemo yet and sulk ! yes sulk!.  I seem to spend the day off doing some housework , washing , ironing getting everything ready for the next day etc. I have to be up at 4.30 am to go to hemo so i cant leave anything till morning. The day off seems to fly by with no time for anything now. Maybe im just not organized ?

[Darthvadar]

Hi KS...

Great to see you doing a bit better.... I was worried about you, and I'll never forget how good you were to me when Mum was struggling!...

About the 'Me' time... I'm with you... We certainly need it... I've become very good at leaving the phone off the hook, turning off the mobile, and disconnecting the doorbell... All I'm short of doing is welding the front gate shut, and that could happen yet!... I've realised that I NEED to get away from everyone and everything for a while to recharge my batteries...  Don't worry about the dogs... They have each other... You're a far better owner to them when you're well  and happy yourself...

Escape for a few hours if you can... Even go to the park and feed the ducks.... Visit the library with the mobile phone turned off... Do anything (within the limits of the law and decency!), but get a few hours to yourself.. Don't feel guilty about housework or ironing... A clean house is a sign of a boring woman, and if anyone else doesn't like the fact that their clothes aren't ironed you can always tell them to do it themselves!.. By the way, I NEVER iron... Only ever buy clothes that don't need ironing... I wouldn't know where to find the iron... Don't particularly want to know either....

God bless, and I hope you're soon in flying form!...

Darth....

[willowtreewren]

HI, KS.

Yes, it is hard! I really understand. And we do dialysis six days a week. so every day we have to schedule our lives around the process that keeps my husband alive. And THAT is really the bottom line. Because of dialysis he IS alive. So all the inconvenience is well worth it!

I hope you can get settled in soon.

Aleta

[Rerun]

My ME days are dialysis days.  No one expects anything out of me on those days, so I can do what I want.  If I want to sleep I grab the dog and we take a nap.  If I feel like going to the book store and hiding I do that.  My off days are for others.

[marti824]

good question KS,  it's hard to get me time when you have a family.  I'm hoping to get a little more of it when my son goes back to school this week.  But of course, I still have my mother here with me, and she, like most, expects me to cater to her on my off days.  so I do, but there are times when you just have to tell everyone to back off.  Most of the time, they understand.

glad you're doing better, it does get easier, qlthough it never really gets better!

It's a holiday weekend, do something fun!

[twirl]

I feel the same way..... my only me time is the four hour chair time.... I can't move but WTH... I can change channels for four hours and try to think.... sometimes I read and sometimes I eat -- not much ---
and I drink hot tea.....
when I am home I am tired after dialysis and I feel like I am taking advantage of being sick by sleeping...
I try to get everything done on Tues and Thurs -- Saturdays are days for football and sports my family does -- Sunday -- church -- which sometimes I fake feeling sick so I can stay home....
I like to cook ahead on Sundays and freeze things for Allen and for when I do not feel good.
Pool days are getting shorter -- it has been under 80 degrees some mornings and the pool water is cooler-

[YLGuy]

me time?  What's that?  JK.  Actually my me time is just being with the kids.  My son has just switched from having football practice 5 days a week to 3 days a week.  My daughter comes with me to every practice and we sit together and watch the boys practice from 5:30-8:20.  I try and bring some healthy snacks and we sit with the other parents and talk.

[Hanify]

I get a hot stone massage every week.  It's incredibly expensive, but it's so worth it.  I also go and get a laksa after it.  It's my me time.

[RichardMEL]

I agree that Dialysis afternoons(for me) are my "me" time and the hours afterwards... sometimes I can go out for tea and other times I sit at home having a cat nap (with the cat ). However strangely enough I also find "me" time when I go to work. That may seem odd, but at times I find the social interaction with my mates at work is a very "normal" thing to do and something that dialysis doesn't affect (well for 99.9% of the time anyway). Sometimes I take the morning before D off so I can sleep in, and I suppose that is me time too

[KICKSTART]

I love some of your ideas. The hot stone one sounds great but at the moment i cant have anything like a massage because of this bloody thing in my neck/shoulder , which is very annoying ! I would love a bit of pampering right now !

[ardyce]

KS

Since you have dogs, walk them and enjoy the scenery.  That always makes me feel better if I can pick out something beautiful in nature.     

I love Hanify's idea "a hot stone massage".  I have to find one of those!       

Ardyce

[willowtreewren]

I even find me time in the shower. Sometimes I just take a long relaxing shower to rejuvenate.

There are so many opportunities. I think the real trick is to keep your eyes open to the pleasurable things, no matter how mundane they may seem.

Aleta

[KICKSTART]

Ha.. at the moment im deprived of 2 of the most relaxing things ! I cant shower because of the line in my neck and i cant bath because of my pd catheter ! And no im not smelly  i make do with a VERY good wash down .

[Hanify]

I love some of your ideas. The hot stone one sounds great but at the moment i cant have anything like a massage because of this bloody thing in my neck/shoulder , which is very annoying ! I would love a bit of pampering right now !

I've been getting a massage from over a year and a half ago.  It that time (or during it) I had two different catheters - one in my neck, and one in my shoulder, I had a major op on my lung and had two drains out the side.  My masseuse worked around the various things poking out of me!  Also, I always showered - I just covered the catheters and tried to avoid them as much as poss.  My masseuse is what's called a healing masseuse - so she's really gentle when she needs to be.  I think when I was really sick she barely touched me.  Now I'm better she can go a bit harder.  If you can afford it I'd really recommend it.  A good masseuse will work around your various appendages!  Go for it.  It's lovely.