Big Storm, Big Stress

We were without power for 20 hours due to the remnants of Ike. Hard to believe that a hurricane that swiped hard at Haiti and then veered left to cause great destruction to the coast of Texas, could cause so much damage in Kentucky and Ohio.

There are still nearly half a million homes in Ohio without power two days after the storm hit - and many won't have electricity again until the end of the week - or later. Many schools are closed. Many roads are impassable.

Hubby isn't even growling about not having cable. He's been too busy cutting up the tree that fell on his big red truck.

Why is all this info showing up on a blog about Fibromyalgia? Because big storms cause big stress. And stress sends Fibro into overdrive.

We watched, Sunday afternoon, as the wind began to nip and tear at the roofs on our sheds. I headed inside to stow away water for drinking. We're on a well, so no electricity means no water.

Hubby was alone on the back porch when the only tree in our parking area, in slow motion, tore away from the ground and fell directly onto the side of his truck. Big stress.

The tree lodged one bough straight into the ground while another stood in the middle of the truck bed. He was able to turn the truck slightly and drive out from under the tree with only a couple of small scratches on the side and a big glob of pitch on the cab.

We were thankful the tree had been lush with pine needles. We felt blessed. The storm finally died down and we went to bed.

Sleep usually helps ease Fibro. It would have been wonderful to sleep half of Monday but ... I had an article due an editor. An article that required electricity to finish and to email. We rode to hubby's jobsite together, where he has a generator because temporary power hasn't yet been hooked up. Made my deadline. Barely.

Then we were able to get through to our daughter and son-in-law in Louisville. Their power had been restored but they were missing parts of the roofs on their house and a rental house, and the top of a tree in their back yard had plummeted to hit Jeff's new closed trailer that he uses to haul wood, kid's camping gear, and essentially everything but the kids, the dogs, and/or the goats.

Damaged stuff, but our family is safe. Much stress relieved.

I'm feeling every knotted muscle, nerve, joint, and tendon. My skin hurts. My hair hurts. It's the initial reaction to stress that does the most damage to Fibro sufferers.