Some three weeks ago our friends asked if we would like to try out an Italian Restuarant they had recently found, good food and take your own drinks; helps to keep the costs down more important these days since I no longer work.
As part of our " keeping life normal " philosophy we agreed to give it a go, knowing as a sufferer of CFS / ME that at some point I would suffer a little bit more for my pleasure. But what do you do ? Whats the option? Stay within your four walls of home, which can quickly seem like your prison, or get out there and live. So far I have avoided depression which is common in a lot of CFS / ME cases, why? Because we try to live as normal a life as we can, when possible, while living in the shadows of CFS / ME.
Well the day soon came around, didn't feel very good this past week - no reasons you know what it's like. So in preparation for the the big night I did what I'm good at I went to bed and slept for a couple of hours and when I awoke I was feeling a little more energised. So the ritual began, shower, makeup, get dressed and finally my hair, dont scrub up too badly when I make the effort, well that's what hubby tells me.
Picked up at 6.00 p.m. for first sitting at 6.30 p.m., friends think of everything, second sitting would be too late and more likely I would fall asleep at the table lol. We arrived on time at the " Ponti de legno " Italian restuarant in Moseley Birmingham. The name was familiar but I couln't think why, hubby reminded me that we had been ski-ing at "Ponti de Lengno, Italy" twice in the past, how could I forget , brain fog another symtom of CFS / ME.
Shown to the table, orange juice for me and something a little stronger for hubby and friends. At this point in the early evening only a few other couples were seated and the atmosphere was relaxed and charming. We quickly ordered our starters, I had a very nice avocado and mozzarella salad; hubby had his usual garlic mushrooms in a cheese sauce. For the main I ordered a butterfly chicken cooked in a spicy sauce with vegetables for a side order and hubby had fillet steak with a cream sauce and french fries.
During the evening I became increasingly aware of the restaurant filling up and the noise level rising, especially when a table for 10 were seating behind our table. Starter came and went - very tasty- then shortly after the main meal arrived. At this point the noise was beggining to ring in my ears, ever louder and harder to hear, it became difficult to join in with the conversation. It was also difficult to concentrate, my breathing became heavier, numbness in my arms, difficult to pick the knife and fork up, totally disorientated everything becoming a blur - a bad dream.
Somehow I found myself outside having a breath of fresh air with my friend who rescued me from the table, it had become apparent to all that I was beginning to suffer in the din of the restaurant, no sweet for me or anyone come to think about it. Well, payback time had arrived a lot quicker than I had hoped it would, was it a price worth paying? Yes, oh definitely yes, a couple of hours of pleasure and normality are well worth the price to pay for living in the shadows of CFS / ME.