Holiday Feelings: Are They Merry or Stressful?

Reading a book by Richard Rohr gifted to me by a good friend. Bought a journal as part of my New Years program. Will look at medication in January as well. Trintillix is new for me, and doesn’t seem to do as much as the price would lead one to believe. This will pass. I appreciate your concern and kind thoughts.

@suerc-Welcome to Mayo Connect.- This can be such a stressful time of year. Can you complain to anyone about your contractor? He has to have a license from some dept. Also, since it's the holidays tell him that you need your bedroom back, that you have back problems and he will have to set up somewhere else. Maybe you have a deck that he can use? That's where my contractor set up. He also cleaned up everything and vacuumed the floors every night . I think that you need to put your foot down with him and make sure that your life is disrupted the least amount.
Are you in PT for your back? Do you still need pain meds for it?
I'm not sure what your daily routine is like but I know that I need to prioritize everything. Are you having Christmas at your house?

Thanks Ginger this is a bad time for me but I got through yesterday and am alive so yea. I did can some beets which was a release I guess you say ,best not to let those dark moments take over your life ,do anything that helps.

Hello @elwooodsdad
I'm glad to hear that you have a book that interests you and that you are considering journaling in the New Year. That has been so helpful to me!
Will you post again and let me know how you are doing?

Absolutely. This forum is reasonably new to me, but it(and the participants) are a true gift.

I just love beets, @lioness. Did you pickle them or can them plain?

My son had us to Rodchester for Christmas with his family so we had a 2 he Dr town and back. We will just have a quiet Christmas eve and Christmas day. My daughter is in forest lake so she is going to cook for us. I just started P.T. I have my turtle shell back brace on for 3 more weeks then a smaller brace. I really just want to lay in my own bed and rest. I am tired and yes I have dilaudid if I have pain but I try not to use it.

@suerc I agree with Merry, no contractor should be doing this. He needs to be responsible to clean up his mess and right away, and you should not be trying to sleep in a room covered in construction dust. The dust might also have collected in the air ducts in your home which would then need cleaning. That is just bad for your health, and recovering from an injury is hard enough without a problem like this. This job should have been completed in a few weeks, not months, and he should have done his cutting outside of your home. If your contractor doesn't clean up his mess, you'll end up hiring someone for that too. Will your husband help clean up this mess? Is there a local church you can reach out to for help? Church groups sometimes do home repair projects for people in need and that might be a source of help. You could call a pastor or church leader and talk to them. If you reach out to a church, perhaps your husband would also get onboard. Are there neighbors who might help with the snow until the garage is usable again? Sometimes asking for help is the last thing we want to do, but it's OK. It seems much easier to want to help someone else in a situation like this than when it is our situation. If you need help beyond this, you might ask your doctor to recommend what you need. if no one is listening, that might support your cause, Try not to put extra pressure on yourself. Put your needs first as you are in recovery. I had a recovery from spine surgery and a month after that surgery I was at my mom's house for Christmas and I had to ask people to pitch in and help. I had to actually say "no" and that I can't do everything because I didn't have the strength and was still in pain with lifting restrictions and wearing a neck brace.

I can suggest you might want to get some good quality disposable doctor's masks to protect your lungs from the dust. I bought them online from Walmart ... 3M Earloop Procedure Face Masks, Blue, 50/bx 3M Model: 1820. The masks have >99% Bacterial Filtration Efficiency (BFE){1} and >95% 0.1 micron filtration efficiency which is comparable to HEPA filters. I bought these masks to help with my allergies/asthma and I sleep in them. With the ear loops rather than masks that tie, they are more comfortable. I also wear these when I'm exposed to things outside and they do help and are easy to carry in my pocket.

@suerc- I'm glad that you are seeing your children. My husband and I will also have a quiet Christmas because all our kids will have to return to Boston tomorrow afternoon.
I wish you a peaceful, pain free holiday!

When we went down to Rodchester for the weekend I told him that all this better be out of my bedroom by Monday that Gaye him Friday eve ,sat and Sunday. I also told him that the garage better be cleaned up also by the time we get back. He said oh I don't know. I said if you. Don't clean it I will. He said you can't do it. And I said watch me. My husband told me not to be Dutch a bitch. But he won't stand up for me at all. My husband does not have a backbone to stand on. This guy has taken over our house for 4 mo and I am tired of it. I came home this morning and garage is clean and machine is out of the bedroom. Now the daunting task of cleaning up all the dust. Cleaning walls and everything. I walked in the room and I. Could just see the dust in the air. Yuck.