A little better

Today I feel a little better. The pain and nausea haven't been anywhere near as big a problem as they have been recently. I'm not really sure whether that's down to taking the medication, my swim, actually stressing less or because I only have one more day left at work before a week off (hooray!).

I woke up in the night and immediately started thinking about the work I had to do. Somehow, I managed to use the meditation techniques from the class last week and concentrate only on my breathing. It really helped me to relax and drift back to sleep, so I'll definitely be putting that into practice more often. The things I was worrying about weren't even things I desperately had to do today, though I do need to do them tomorrow!

Work is crazy busy. I sit down to work on something and my phone rings, I get called away to help other people, I get interrupted by people asking questions... it goes on. I really don't mind helping other people - it's good to share knowledge - but it makes it difficult to get on with my own work at times. I'm going to try to get there slightly early tomorrow so that I can plan my day properly before work really begins. That should hopefully set me in good stead for the rest of the day. Fingers crossed.

Planning is just essential for me if I want to avoid stress, or at least reduce it. It isn't easy, and even if I do manage to form a good plan, it's likely that it won't run as I intend it to. Somehow it's just a case of prioritising as much as possible and, if completely necessary, asking people to get help elsewhere.

I feel more positive though. We will get there.

For better or worse?

After feeling rubbish yesterday, I decided to be a good girl and take the tablets the doctor recommended. I still didn't feel great for some of the morning, but it has definitely been better today in general. Whilst I don't want to rely on the medication, at least I know I can get some relief from the pain and nausea. So hooray!

I still haven't got anywhere with work, but I'm feeling a little better about it. We at least have a plan. I also had a one on one meeting today with a guy who comes and works with our company to help us improve - both as a company and as individuals. He's really good and has a lot of excellent advice on how to be more positive and achieve more. Anyway, he'd spoken to some of my colleagues before meeting with me and they had some really great things to say. That definitely gave me a bit of a boost.

In even more positive news, I actually made myself go swimming this evening. It wasn't a long swim, but it was enjoyable. I find that doing enough exercise to get out of breath does me good, and makes me feel much better mentally (and hopefully has a good impact physically as well!). I only recently started swimming again and I love it - I love doing exercise without getting sweaty!

This evening I feel much better. I still felt pretty stressed at the end of work, so I'm mostly putting it down to swimming and to my wonderful other half, who somehow always knows how to make me feel better. Even just a hug from him improves my mood immensely. I also think the Buscopan is helping - I just want to make sure I get to a point where I don't have to take them every day.

I feel incredibly tired and worn down, and in desperate need of a holiday. What I could really do with is a month off, but given that I can't have that, a week and a day will have to do. Only 48 hours to go until that's a reality, and in the meantime I'll try to relax a bit more whilst I'm having a break from the pain. Hooray!