Thursday, August 16, 2007

Human Barometer

A large mass of low pressure is descending upon the southeastern US. I know this not becaue of the meteorologists and their tracking of Erin making landfall in Texas. I know this because I feel it--a slow ache in my legs that has been building since last night. A burning soreness that kept me awake too long. I realize we here in hot dry Georgia probably won't get any rain, and Texans will probably get too much. All the same, the large looming storm makes its presence known. Hundreds of miles away, and I can still feel the impact.

For those of you who don't realize why I'm displaying these strange symptoms, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia when I was ten years old. It's not as bad as it once was, and now I usually only feel the remnants during times of stress, or after sleepless nights, or, like today, during certain weather conditions. (JL, do you feel it to? Is lupus similar in this regard?)

For those readers who remain skeptical, I present this anecdote. One Sunday morning in April when I was fourteen, I was in such pain during church and was so uncomfortable that I asked my mother to take me home. Thw low atmospheric pressure that was to come was getting to me. I said that I thought it might snow. In some places, this might be a not unusual occurence, but this was south Alabama, where snow comes perhaps once a decade. And it was April. Sure enough, though, the next morning we awoke to wintry white on our yards and houses, enough to cancel school, I believe, though it all melted by midday. And I woke up feeling much better, not like the previous day when I felt as though a truck had run over me, achy nd flu-like. Like I feel today. I hope some sort of storm system moves through Georgia soon. If only for some relief.

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