Tuesday, January 3_ Technology is Amazing!

Hello Everyone,

I hope that today was as Blessed a day for you as it was for me!

God woke me up this morning and allowed me to see the light of a new day!

It was wonderful to read an email from my aunt today! Thank you Titi! I miss you dearly!

Technology can be so wonderful at times, as in the instance mentioned above! It allows us to communicate with friends and family in a way that was not possible just 20 years ago. Now we can instantly send messages and know that the recipient will have the ability of reading the message shortly there after. We also have the ability of visually seeing others through the use of Skype.  Amazing! I know! I have the ability of being blessed to Skype with my mom every evening now!

I have the ability of being able to seeing her from over 3,000 miles away! Isn't that great? Where was Skype when I was stationed in Korea and did not have the ability of seeing my babies...but I guess I was still Blessed since I was able to call my babies every day!

Even though I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, I am still Blessed because I still have the use of my hands and feet! I have the ability to type to all of you and reach out and tell you how my day was...Whether my days are good or not so great...the ability to communicate is such a blessing...the ability to tell you about how I feel today and the ability of hearing how your day is going with your RA is a blessing. Being able to share information about medication is...what works and which ones do not...is so beneficial to me because in the beginning, I did not have anyone to reach out to in order to ask questions.

Sure there is the doctor but not always the easiest to speak with when they are busy with other patients especially when dealing with the VA.

I give God the Glory every day. From the time I wake up in the morning until I lay my head down at night! God has brought me through so many trials and tribulations! He holds my hands when my joints are screaming out in pain. El me da la fortaleza cuando necessito!

No matter what I have going on in life, RA, working on my dissertation, being a wife or a mom I know that God will bring me through because I have hope!

Joyce Meyer had on her daily devotional today a message of hope.

She discusses how we need to have "Trust in the Power of Hope."

Joyce uses Proverbs, 13:12 as a scriptural reference, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life."

Her message was regarding hoping for something good to happen to you if you learn how to celebrate and enjoy life!

Isn't that a great idea! Learn how to celebrate and enjoy life will allow you to hope for something good to happen.

So, if you think about it, my being diagnosed with RA is not a punishment...it is another trial/tribulation... James 1:2 tells us to "Consider it pure joy, brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds."

Knowing what type of trouble to expect is a great help in being ready to meet that trouble!

I am learning to celebrate and enjoy my life no matter what...this weekend...I was able to visits my cousin and we went to Sea World...We had a blast...I took a picture with Bert & Ernie! hahaha...I rode a roller coaster, took a picture with the cat in the hat! Hung out with a few penguins...Yeah...Life is great!

Life is what you make of it! God gives us that ability as a Christian to deal with the trials and tribulations that come our way...No matter what! I will continue to praise Him... so until the next time...Continue to pray for me and I will continue to pray for you!

It's January 2012

Seriously, I can't believe how quickly time has gone by! My last blog was last summer!

I hope you are all well! I hope you are all taking your Tylenol and exercising! (inside joke)

To catch you all up a bit, I will be graduating with my Doctorate's Degree in Educational Leadership, K-12, in 149 days!

I have been so busy typing my chapters and making revisions that I really have not had the time required to blog! I am going to work harder at it this year!

My girls are all in college now! Two are seniors and the youngest one is a freshman! Wow! My baby boy is a sophomore in high school and taller than I am!

Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis has and always will be a challenge!

I find myself with days that are extremely amazing with no pain or difficulty moving around...and then there are days like today which were extremely painful and lots of exertion on my part to just get off the bed this morning.

I find that my skin is changing and it is severely dry. My face feels as if it is burning and my cheeks are bright red and itchy. I try not to scratch but I see my face is well having issues with a spot turning brown...idk kind of like the spot on my stomach from over the summer...which by the way has still not gone away! Don't know what to make of that yet...well eventually I will see my doctor when he makes an appointment or I actually care enough to make the time to schedule an appointment in order to see what is going on.

Medicine has not quite changed much...I was placed back on Enbrel this summer and well had a few allergic reactions that occurred around the site of the injection...pretty gross! But not taking it any longer and back on the injectable methotrexate and sulfur salazine.

Have not done Zumba in quite a while because I really do not have time and even if I did I just do not have the energy! It's like the old days when I would get home from work and I would just sit there because my mind and my body were not in sync with each other...which means my mind says I could do this or that and my body just laughs!

I have also found that you should not take water pills and shortly there after take alleve! Allergic reaction yet again! Make sure you have benadryl readily available or and epi-pen! I believe that I will wait and take them with over two hours of time prior to each other! Yeah! Not the greatest of experiences.

I got really ill prior to Thanksgiving...and that turned into Bronchitis...well after taking the Z-pack which by the way is a great antibiotic! I had a relapse the week after and I am still trying to recover and it has been over 6 weeks! Not as bad but I have my inhaler with me wherever I go.

My sixth year Smober anniversary was on New Year's Eve! Yeah! Six years and no smoking!

I have maintained my regimen of a hot bath daily...this seems to assist with stiffness prior to going to bed and in the morning if I have time I will use the paraffin wax for my hands and elbows to give me some relief prior to going to work.

Well I know this has been a lot of writing after taking a break but I am trying to get a little better at this and use it as a release from writing my dissertation! Which by the way we are having a love hate relationship at the moment! I do not know who or what I have ever spent so much time with over the years but this dissertation has to be in the top 10! Some days I am writing/researching/rewriting for 12 to 15 hours a day! I have become best friends with some members of my cohort because they spend the same amount of time with me in a library or in my home. We are on the home stretch!


So until the next time...I will pray for you and if you will continue to pray for me.

T

Wow! This year has gone by quickly!

Hi everyone
I know it has been quite some time since I last posted but I have been busy working on my dissertation...Chapters 1, 2 and 3 are done. Well they are just in the revision stages! Long story but My committee chair took a new position at a new university up north and we were given a new committee chair. She is one of my favorite professors ever! But she has a different style of writing preferences so as stated...revisions!
RA update!
Still on methotrexate and now they want me to begin Humira again! Ugh! Still taking sulfursalazine and Vitamin D which apparently I am always deficient in every time I take a blood test! Still struggling with weight!

My dad is 3/4 complete with his Radiation treatments.
My aunt Yvette passed away on July 6, 2011
My aunt Josie is still in the fight with her cancer

It's been a long year! But God is good!
so until next time I will pray for you and please pray for me!

Great Week!

So this week I decided that Zumba was just not enough for me 3x's per week to assist with the weight issue.

This week I've decided to drop my caloric intake to 1200 calories per day and I am walking 3 miles, 4 times per week. That's right! 12 miles this week!

My knees are stiff today but while I am walking I feel great!
Isaiah has walked 9 of those miles with me and I am greatful for him keeping me company. You would think that my girls would jump at the chance of being able to "exercise" with their mom but....we all know that will never happen!
That is just too much for me to ask! Whatever! That is a completely different BLOG in itself!

Started the sulfur salazine this week. Taking one 500mg in the morning and one at night! then next week 1000mg in the am and 500mg at night. then the following week I get to have 1000mg in the morning and 1000mg at night. Whoo-hoo!
Party over here!

It makes me very queezy but I get through it! Still sticking to the 1200 calories per day!
Thank you Lean Cuisine for making this very easy for me!
Well tonight is Zumba so I will not be walking and tomorrow morning is also Zumba so if you would like to come and hang out I will be there!

Until next time, keep praying for me and I will pray for you!
God bless!

Another Dr's Appt

Okay here we go!
Seriously, can I ever get the same doctor? The VA hospital has so many interns that I feel like I should carry a video with me
each time that I go because I see a new intern each time and have to explain everything over and over again!
It is such a pain in the backside!
Then when you tell them your concerns about weight gain and/or weight loss does anyone ever listen? Why do they ask you
if you have concerns if they are not going to listen to you! Because telling me that maybe I don't know how to count calories correctly or that maybe I'm not aware of my metabolism slowing down because of age? Really!
So first they tell me I'm stupid and now they are calling me old! HELLO!
Argh!
Are they waiting for me to lose my mind and begin complaining about depression!

Now they want to increase my methotrexate from .7 to 2.o and add Sulfur-Salazine
(SEE BELOW)


Sulphasalazine and lung toxicity. S.D. Parry, C. Barbatzas, E.T. Peel, J.R. Barton.
#ERS Journals Ltd 2002.

ABSTRACT: Sulphasalazine prescribing is on the increase. Pulmonary toxicity and
blood dyscrasias are rare side-effects. Numerous case reports have been published
implicating sulphasalazine in pulmonary toxicity. The authors searched the literature
for cases of sulphasalazine induced lung toxicity and the 50 cases identified are
discussed here.
All published case reports/letters referring to sulphasalazine and lung toxicity were
studied. The search terms "sulphasalazine" and "sulfasalazine" were combined with the
terms "lung", "pulmonary disease", "pneumonitis" and "pleuritis" using Medline and
PubMed databases.
Typical presentation of sulphasalazine-induced lung disease was with new onset
dyspnoea and infiltrates on chest radiography. Common symptoms were cough and
fever. Crepitations on auscultation and peripheral eosinophilia were noted in half of the
cases. Sputum production, allergy history, rash, chest pain and weight loss were
inconsistent findings. Pulmonary pathology was variable, the commonest being
eosinophilic pneumonia with peripheral eosinophilia and interstitial inflammation with
or without fibrosis. Fatal reports were infrequent. Most patients were managed by drug
withdrawal with 40% prescribed corticosteroids.
In conclusion, sulphasalazine lung disease should be distinguished from interstitial
lung disease due to underlying primary disease. Despite the increase in sulphasalazine
prescribing, pulmonary toxicity remains rare. The majority of patients with suspected
sulphasalazine-induced lung disease improved within weeks of drug withdrawal and the
need for corticosteroids is debatable.

That is what it is! So Going from bad to worse! I'm going to be taking 2000 mg per day!
Really! How does this show that they heard me when I said any issue about weight.
This is just giving me more crap to take!

So until next time, pray for me and I will continue to pray for you!

School is almost done! Two more days....

YEAH!

Wednesday Woes!

It is only Wednesday! Two days after the methrotrexate shots and my knees have been killing me....not to mention my hands are feeling as if somone has taken tiny nails and placed them into my joints as they continue to move those nails around.
Sad thing is its not just in the mornings it happens at night when you are trying to go to bed. UGH!
On the other hand...Zumba is going great!
I love being energized and being able to move to the music!
Don't get me wrong, I'm exhausted and extremely ready to soak in a hot bath afterwards but it helps you keep your joints active and moving!
Don't you wish there were tiny little elves that could massage your joints on command!
Wouldn't that be great?
So Summer is coming and soon it will be time to put on that bathing suit! Yeah Right! Like that will happen
Let's go back to my favorite subject! Weight! What the heck is going on with not being able to lose weight?
Really! Doing Zumba 3xs per week for hour long classes, getting your heart rate up as you are supposed too....but the weight is not coming off! Argggghhhhh!
Help! Someone come up with an idea as to how to make the weight come off! Please all ideas are welcomed!

Okay until my next post! You pray for me and I will continue to pray for you!
God Bless!

Loving Zumba

Hey everyone

Just thought I would drop a quick line to let you know that I am fine.
I have been very busy lately
Still on Methotrexate and still doing Zumba

Keep in touch!