Plans

I am loving the rain. My breathing is a lot better with the coolness and the wetness of the air. Sorry it has been a while since I have written anything personal. I have been going through some things, both good and bad. I will start with the bad and end with the goodness.

Last month I had a flare up in my left leg and right hand. It made life tough for a bit. Thankfully when I increased one of my medications the flare went away. One thing that I noticed this time with my flare up. My breathing was worse. I also swelled in other parts of my body. Including, my belly, my legs, and my throat. I had to sit and rest between each active motions. For example, walking to the bathroom from the Livingroom. I walked to my bed, because in order to get to the bathroom you have to go through my bedroom. I sat on my bed until I could catch my breath and then onto the toilet. It made life frustrating. Thankfully, I own a wheel chair so I was able to roll myself down to the rec room to use the internet and to get my mail. I like to be independent as much as possible.

This afternoon I had my appointment with Dr. Anderson to discuss starting the process for my resectioning surgery. Next week I will be going in for a CT scan and then I will be seeing Dr. Anderson for the results and then I will be getting a referral for the thorax surgeon to see what he thinks. I am ready for this next step in the process of my wellbeing. It feels like I have been waiting for a conclusion for a long time. I feel that this is the best decision I can make for myself. I am ready for the next leg of my journey. I will keep writing about my experiences as I head closer to the surgery and even to my recovery.

Last Wednesday I went 3 hours to Seattle to see my Rheumatologist Dr. Gardner for my six month checkups. I love that I now only have to go up there every 6 months, instead of monthly. That saves myself a lot of energy and my sister in law a lot of time. I enjoyed the trip. I enjoyed the good news. I’m still in remission with only occasional flares. I realize that at the time I was suffering. I had a ton of stress in my life. I was in a stressful and toxic relationship. I was in constant fretting mode and constant everything mode. I hated it. I didn’t feel like myself around this person. I’m glad that they left. But since this person left and with the medications especially the Rituximab infusions I am doing a lot better. I’m okay with the occasional flare ups. They don’t happen as often as they used to. And they don’t last as long either. This makes me so happy. The good news is that I have a new column for Wellness Works NW called Chasing Wellness with Jamie Holloway. I posted my first article on Depression and men. You can check it out here. I never in a million years thought I would write about men and their health issues. It is opening up my mind to having compassion for them. Instead of fearing them and seeing them as evil monsters out to hurt me.  I can see them as individuals with feelings and obstacles of their own. It is a nice change of thought for me.  My next article will be about men and chronic illnesses. I was surprised to see that there are not that many blogs or sites catering to men. I found two. The U.S. Pain Foundation and Not That Kind of Doctor. Both awesome blogs that gave me a different perspective. I hope you will check them and share them if you know any men who are suffering from chronic illness. That is all the news I can think of sharing. Enjoy your day. Remember to Breathe and say thank you to someone who is helping you. Chao!