Although I have been doing well with my Gastroparesis symptom management, there are still two things that tank me faster than anything: traffic & heat. The heat in particular has been driving me crazy the past few days. I enjoy seeing the sunshine. I enjoy being outdoors. I enjoy playing fetch with my dog. However, when it is upwards of 90 degrees outside I just can’t do it. This is when I become under heat wave house arrest.
It only takes about 5-10 minutes of being out in the heat to start to feel nauseous, dizzy, light-headed, etc. I open the door and it’s like someone hit me in the face with a heated blanket. My body says…nope…not happening. This leads to me being confined indoors almost all weekend. My only saving grace is the evenings when it starts to cool off. I do not do well with being confined indoors. It’s as if I have reverse cabin fever from the “normal” population. Most people get cabin fever in the winter due to the snow and not wanting to deal with it. Not me, I get cabin fever when the hot sweltering sun has decided to come out and fry me like an ant under a magnifying glass. I start to climb the walls. I think about everything fun that I could be doing outside. I think about all of the work that could be done outside. I think about how I need to run errands and get necessary items for the week.
Running errands is next to impossible in a heat wave. It is the double whammy of sitting in a care and being fried by the sun. It is almost a guaranteed way to become ill and sleep for a couple of days straight. Fortunately, I have an amazing man at home the chauffeurs me around to do my errands. This allows me to close my eyes and nap during the driving portion of errands. For some reason that seems to help me.
Even though it was sweltering outside yesterday, we still managed to have friends over for a bonfire in the evening. It was nice to see all of them because we haven’t seen several of them in awhile. Thankfully, we had put the start time of the gathering near nightfall so it cooled off pretty quickly. It’s friends like this, that really understand the limitations of Gastroparesis and work with it, that make me realize there are plenty of people out there who have human compassion so who needs anyone else!
Now, if the sun would just stop smiling about it & it would turn to fall already!
~Millie
Filed under: heat, Inspiration, Life Tagged: gastroparesis, health, heat, Inspiration, life 
