Feelin Hot, Hot, Hot

Multiple Sclerosis and the Heat Wave

Alert– this a Multiple Sclerosis Weather Advisory. We interrupt this ‘get fit’ plan blog post for a heat wave. It is highly recommended that all people with multiple sclerosis be advised, hide and take cover.

Based on the above, there was no work done on my new ‘get fit’ plan this past week. I didn’t fall back into my old ways, I just didn’t do anything but melt. And, in a world where life is cruel, melting does not translate into losing, at least not into losing inches, weight or fat. It just translates into being a sweaty, stinky, useless mess. The ‘get fit’ plan blog will resume next week. For any of you who may have been holding your breaths in anticipation, the Banana Peanut Smoothie was good.

I don’t mean to minimize the seriousness of the heat wave and drought that are affecting most of the country, but with the horrible weather I was a hurting, fatigued, miserable, useless mess. Call it a flare, a mini-flare, or an exacerbation (I can never tell those three apart) the bottom line is, I felt like crap.

But it got me thinking. Do you know how they say people with pets, often resemble their pets? A short, muscled tattooed guy with a shaved head and a leather jacket will have a pit bull named Spike. A sophisticated aloof elderly lady might have a snooty Siamese cat named Princess. A crazy lady might have a mangy, crazy cat named Hattie. Or, a rambunctious seven year old little boy might have an overly energetic beagle named Buddy?

Well, I don’t have pets but what was interesting, during the heat and humidity when I was so miserable, so were the two most needed machines in my life. It was like they felt that by being miserable in the heat like I was, we were bonding and growing even closer.

Let’s start with my laptop. When I was barely moving, my computer became very s-l-o-w- as well. When I would try to pull up a website it would take forever, as if it just couldn’t muster the energy. I would eventually get into a site and then it would just freeze. I could almost see it telling me, “Yvonne it is so hot and I am so tired, let’s just rest….”

The computer brain slowed down as well and all of a sudden it forgot logins and passwords it had known forever. I could totally relate. In the heat I couldn’t remember anything either, my poor computer.

The real surprise however was how my AC started acting like me as well. On an unusually hot day in early June I went to turn on my little portable ac and it flashed numbers at me instead of cold air. After digging out the instruction manual and trying to understand the Greek it was written in, well, not really Greek, it seemed like Greek, I had to call the company.

They told me that my ac had a small bladder (oops, I mean basin) and on hot days had to be emptied regularly. With sweat pouring off of me, the company walked me through the annoying process of draining the unit.

Then the heat wave hit. In the middle of the night I got up to start one of my twenty evening trips to the restroom. My ac had shut off. It seemed that it needed to relieve itself of extra water as well. I went to the bathroom and when I felt better, I emptied the ac.

One hour and 15 mins later, up to the restroom again. As I came back into the bedroom, the ac stopped. Again I emptied the basin. First thing in the am, both the ac and I could barely make it before we burst.

I know there are adult diapers but that is too gross. I would not be opposed to ac diapers though- how come they don’t exist? The manual did say you could use the little hose thing that came with the unit to continuously drain it but when I tried, my ac had an accident that lead to it’s emptying itself all over my bedroom floor.

For days this went on. With the heat, I needed to drink extra water which meant I needed to be in the bathroom even more frequently than I thought possible. Feeling left out, my ac began to whine that it needed to be emptied as well. The flashing code seemed to be saying “wait Yvonne, I need to pee too!” So I would change it and we would rest. Forty five minutes would pass, repeat.

I have threatened this before, but with the horrible heat I was about to grab a book and a pillow and push and pull myself and my ac into the bathroom permanently. Luckily, the heat finally passed. Since that day, we are all happy and feeling much better, in or out of the bathroom.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net