Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Garage Cleaning and Aftermath

We had a Friday with awesome weather, and it was likely the end of nice weather since we were having forecasts that started creeping towards freezing.  When we moved, the last loads were done in the middle of the night and we were exhausted and just put a bunch of stuff in the garage.

Then, during the summer sometime the garage window broke, and then the landlord came and cut the beautiful rosebushes down in front of the window so he could do some repairs on the barn without having to go through a rosebush, so it was left open with our stuff inside.  We knew we might as well trash everything in the garage if we didn't get it taken care of, so we decided to get it done.

It was PACKED.  It was overwhelming in every way. It looked like an episode of hoarders (no joke).  It took the entire day, and included Zach having to go to the basement to rearrange and make room for stuff.  Finally as dark began to fall, we finished up.  The only things left in the garage were the bookcases that had water damage, but could still be used for random garage things, some boxes of toys that needed to be hosed down before selling them or taking them to the thrift store, the kid chairs that we don't really have room for, and our bicycles.  YAY!  We could get a vehicle in there in under 5 minutes now, if we wanted to.


The aftermath

As you would suspect, after cleaning out a garage in an old barn, it was dusty, dirty work.  I was never so glad to jump in the shower as I was that night because every inch of me itched and my muscles were already sore.  

The problem was, I couldn't get the itch to go away.  Over the coming days I did every over the counter and home remedy I could find on the internet, to no avail.  I stopped using my regular lotions and went to just using the oils directly.  At the same time every joint in my body hurt.  I felt like everything in me was inflamed: every muscle was sore, every joint, and it was pinching and causing considerable shooting nerve pain all over the place.  There was no position I was comfortable in, sitting, standing, laying down, so I was constantly moving trying to find something comfortable.  At one point I had nerve pain shooting down my arm and I actually wondered if I was having a heart attack.  A good massage (thanks to my wonderful husband) helped my back and seemed to unpinch something enough to make me realize the nerve pain was everywhere, not just my left arm.  

Finally, when I told my folks what was going on they helped me out by paying for a doctor's visit.  I started Prednisone the next day, and by the next night I didn't feel like I was ready to cry, and by 5 days later I mostly felt back to myself.  Not 100%, but a WHOLE lot better.  I sort of wish I could be on prednisone longer because I felt much more 'normal' on it.  More even tempered, more calm, and definitely in less pain.  I even slept better.  That is so backwards on what I was told the side effects were supposed to be...I was looking forward to "big burst of energy", but that never really happened.

So, I learned that I absolutely HAVE to wear a bunch of protection if I ever do work like that again, systemic allergic reactions are massively horrible (felt like I aged 50 years in a few hours), and I do not react badly to prednisone (which is a good thing, considering this could happen again).

But at least the garage is clean.  


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