I know. It’s that title thing. 
What does PMR even mean? In my case you can almost be certain that it could stand for Personal Musings Rant. In fact, the PMR actually stands for something in particular but could mean several things. I thought I’d start off explaining how this came about and then have a little fun with it. So, this is going to start off as a Private Misery Rant but will morph into a Pun Making Ramble. Let’s get started.
Like other times when my blahgs have skipped a period of time, this one has a back story. About two months ago I thought I had the flu because I felt achy all over and that became serious pain in all my muscles. I took two days off of work and then the pain became so intense that my wife had to drive me to the hospital in the middle of the night. The on-call Doctor would diagnose me with Myositis which she felt was a result of a recent bout of flu. I was given a prescription of 600mg Ibuprofen and sent home. For two days I felt better. Then the pain came back again. Both of my legs and my left shoulder were so painful that I had problems sleeping at night. I couldn’t get my arm into a comfortable position and my legs pained so much that it was also like restless leg syndrome.
Ten days of the pain and not sleeping well and I was exhausted. I had to sleep in a spare room in the house because I was keeping my wife awake. I kept getting up in the morning to go to work but things did not get better. Finally, two weeks ago, my wife took me back to the hospital and I was diagnosed with Polymyalgia Rheumatica; also known as PMR. So what’s the difference between Polymyalgia Rheumatica and Myositis? You tell me. Here’s an online description for Myositis from http://www.webmd.com:
Myositis refers to any condition causing inflammation in muscles. Weakness, swelling, and pain are the most common myositis symptoms. Myositis causes include infection, injury, autoimmune conditions, and drug side effects.
Now from that same webside is the information on Polymyalgia Rheumatica:
Polymyalgia rheumatica is a rare, inflammatory condition that causes pain or stiffness in the large muscle groups, especially around the shoulders and hips. Other symptoms of the condition may include fatigue, a general feeling of illness, and weight loss. Despite the name, polymyalgia rheumatica is not related to rheumatoid arthritis. Some patients also have temporal arteritis, which causes inflammation that damages arteries. Corticosteroids are used in the treatment of both conditions, for which there is no known cause.
I think the difference here is that PMR has no known cause and the treatment is different. I was given a prescription for Prednisone which is a form of steroid treatment. It worked well within the first few days and significantly decreased the pain. I could walk better and started to be able to sleep and could put my own socks on. Unfortunately I have been on it for two weeks now and it takes longer to kick in and doesn’t last as long. Mornings are the worst with leg, thigh, and hip pain that still makes it difficult to put on my own socks. I’ll be going back to my Doctor this week for a follow-up. I guess I’ll be hearing my Personal MD Recommendation. I know, that one’s kind of a cheat but it fits.
Now to move off of this and on to some fun. 
The first time I started thinking about this blahg and parodying PMR, I had an idea for Please Milk Responsibly. It conjured up images for me of a poor cow being milked by a farmer with cold hands. The internet is such a great place for research because if you can imagine it, there’s probably a graphic out there for your imagination. The cartoon on the left was exactly what I had in mind.
Of course I sometimes have too much time on my hands. Another thought I had was to dispel the myth that Poetry Must Rhyme. I have published some of my poems in previous blahgs over the years and in my last blahg, ME AND MY GRIEF, I posted a new poem called “when my father died”. Writing is a way of release and certainly I’ve demonstrated that my poems don’t always rhyme. I found a poem in one of my old journals that I wrote on April 12th, 1992. It’s about my wife and was written after we’d been married for five years. It doesn’t rhyme and the sentiment is still felt today:
I’m rememberin’ a girl who could raise hackles
I’m rememberin’ a girl
who could raise hackles
in humans?
and as I remember
she turns to me half asleep
and kisses my back
where I think my hackles must be
So what’s next? How about a Personal Music Request? I might want to also include this in my next section which, spoiler, is Private Movie Recommendation. Recently, I saw the movie “The Greatest Showman” starring Hugh Jackman. I wasn’t sure what to think because I had heard mixed reviews. Mixed Reviews? Could we say, Possible Mixed Reviews. I had to sneak that one in. No PMR here for “The Greatest Showman”. 
I loved it. The story was good the music was phenomenal. I had to go out the next day and buy the soundtrack. One of my favourite songs from the movie is “Never Enough” which appears to be sung by Rebecca Ferguson, as the character Jenny Lind, but is in fact dubbed by Loren Allred. Here’s an amazing video of Lauren Allred actually singing the song live:
What an amazing performance. Performance Majestically Recommended. This is too easy.
I gave away this next section in the last part when I stated it would be a Private Movie Recommendation. I was recently having a conversation with my friend Bryan on the occasion of his birthday. We talked about movies that we would always stay up to watch when we were younger no matter when they aired. The list I came up with aren’t popular movies but include ones that are of a guilty please. Here’s my list:
- The Magic Sword 1962
- Killdozer 1974
- I Love A Mystery 1967/1973
- Hello Down There 1969
These films always kept my interest and over the years, I’ve tried to find and re-watch them. Everything but “I Love A Mystery” has had a DVD release but there’s a rumor (Possible Media Rumor) that it too has had a release. 
Check out these images of the DVD releases. The possible release of “I Love A Mystery” (filmed in 1967 and not aired until 1973) is as a bonus movie on the 
“I Love A Mystery The Film Collection.” If anyone can confirm that, let me know.
I’m not sure where to go next as the PMR spin could go one for a long time if I set my mind to it. Possibly More Rhetoric could be derived. Passable Musings Require more thought. However, People Might Rebel if this continues. Maybe I should just quit while I’m ahead. Pen My Resignation. At least my PMR pain has subsided for now. But the pain of some of these Puns Might Remain. Of course there’s no cure for that.
Tags: PMR, Polymyalgia rheumatica, Scott Henderson. False Ducks