Yesterday was a prime example of why so much of my condition management (#Hypermobility #PoTS) is planned in advance. It was getting towards dinner time.
And then I gave myself a minor burn trying to get the potatoes out of the oven.
Now: I have a long established rule of 'no oven use on bad days' - because experience says my coordination and ability to assess and respond to risk just isn't there. I'm not safe. And in that state I'm also not clear thinking enough to do anything sensible about it. This 'advance rule' means as soon as I note it's a bad day, my bad day plan can be followed. I don't need to process and assess the risk, I can simply follow what I know to be safe - built from past experience and planned when I could think clearly.
But I hadn't categorised yesterday as a 'bad day'. It was a fairly busy day - not ridiculously busy with out and about stuff, more like a bit more of normal stuff than I usually do in one day. I knew my symptom levels were pretty high but lacked the processing power to connect those symptom levels to 'bad day' needs. So instead I attempted something above my capability and burned my finger as a result.
So now I've added 'had an afternoon meeting that's left me with both my coordination and thinking decidedly fuzzy' to my list of things that trigger 'bad day strategies and rules' around food prep.
Next time that happens, I won't need to understand or process my capacity vs the capacity needed for that task. I've done that thinking in advance. Instead I can settle safely into the plan of "feeling fuzzy = cheese sandwich or pasta pot from the cupboard is an appropriate dinner."
Does yesterday's error mean I failed? No. It was a completely understandable consequence of my health issues. And as a result I've learned a bit more about myself, and built another little piece of a lifestyle that works for me.
"What to eat? Hmm...I like jacket potatoes. I think I can manage to cook a jacket potato cos that doesn't take much brain....Really? That involves oven use....Oh, it'll be fine, I've not had a massively busy day...."
And then I gave myself a minor burn trying to get the potatoes out of the oven.
Now: I have a long established rule of 'no oven use on bad days' - because experience says my coordination and ability to assess and respond to risk just isn't there. I'm not safe. And in that state I'm also not clear thinking enough to do anything sensible about it. This 'advance rule' means as soon as I note it's a bad day, my bad day plan can be followed. I don't need to process and assess the risk, I can simply follow what I know to be safe - built from past experience and planned when I could think clearly.
But I hadn't categorised yesterday as a 'bad day'. It was a fairly busy day - not ridiculously busy with out and about stuff, more like a bit more of normal stuff than I usually do in one day. I knew my symptom levels were pretty high but lacked the processing power to connect those symptom levels to 'bad day' needs. So instead I attempted something above my capability and burned my finger as a result.
So now I've added 'had an afternoon meeting that's left me with both my coordination and thinking decidedly fuzzy' to my list of things that trigger 'bad day strategies and rules' around food prep.
Next time that happens, I won't need to understand or process my capacity vs the capacity needed for that task. I've done that thinking in advance. Instead I can settle safely into the plan of "feeling fuzzy = cheese sandwich or pasta pot from the cupboard is an appropriate dinner."
Does yesterday's error mean I failed? No. It was a completely understandable consequence of my health issues. And as a result I've learned a bit more about myself, and built another little piece of a lifestyle that works for me.
Comments
Post a Comment
Feel free to comment, but please note that any offensive or inappropriate comments - including advertising - will be moderated.