Saturday, April 9, 2016

Latest Addition on Saturday of "All Things Autoimmune""

Latest Saturday Addition of Rhia's Newspaper "All Things Autoimmune" - Chronic Pain, Health, Laws, the CDC, technology and so much more... feel free to subscribe to have it come to you daily via email!





http://paper.li/ravishingrhia/1438808814#!headlines


Friday, April 8, 2016

More on Dementia, Your Parents, And the Extremely Tough Decisions to Make, When YOU ARE ALSO CHRONICALLY ILL and in CHRONIC PAIN...

(My firend Denise that I went to high school with is struggling also with a 2nd round of cancer of her ovaries I believe, and it has spread down into her thigh and presses on the nerves in her legs so she is also dealing with lots of drama in life )   -  I appreciate you so much Denise Tekell...(I am speaking of Lisa that I had lunch with yesterday, another friend from high school)  We both spoke about your struggles, and just how brave and strong you are. It is so difficult to watch someone who deserves happiness to have to struggle through despair that they don't deserve. And (this lady is a FB friend, but she is like a dear "physical friend who is right here with me at times)  Lourdes Villegas-Anaya even though we are not close "physically" you remain a dear friend also. You have also helped me through some difficult times, and I hope someday we can meet in person! I am still struggling with getting things settled for Mom, before I have the neck surgery. I have decided to postpone it until the end of April or first part of May. 
 
I thought by now I would have the Home Health Care and more of the things I need for Mom done by now. But it all takes time, and I am still working on some aspects of getting her people in there to help her, and to get this new phone that has an emergency button on it set up, and pray she can understand how to use it. When I had lunch yesterday my friend was explaining some things she went through with her Mother In Law and her having Alzheimer's... and now some of the things Mom does or does not do, begin to make sense. So, I now have more information that helps me to understand her reactions or actions at times. I went over there yesterday afternoon kind of later, around 3:40 or so. After lunch I had stopped at "Wally World" to pick up a couple of things, a couple of which I needed to take to her, and when I got to Mom's house, and opened the door... it was so odd, she was standing there by her chair, in a blouse that I have not seen her in gosh, in months. 
 
She always remains so COLD, and usually she had some "house dress" or gown on, and I've not seen her in actual "clothes" in a while. But, she did not have on any bottoms... And I asked her what she was doing, and in fact I had bought her a pair of Capri pants while I was out, because all of her clothes are much too big for her, so I got them and told her they were an "early" Mother's Day gift... but I don't know if she was "dressing" thinking that "we" were supposed to go somewhere and I just caught her in the middle of getting dressed or what. She never really "told" me why she had that blouse on, and I made light of it, and said "Mom you must have known I was bringing you a pair of Capri's that will fit"... anyway, I did not stay, it was getting later in the afternoon, and I had a few things to do at home, so I told her I would be back today, but I have SO MUCH to do for myself, and I need to wash her car, it is so covered in thick dust that it would be like mud if it got wet, and I have a new curtain rod she needs hung, and a new mini blind I bought, and all of those things take time, even with my cordless screw drivers... 
 
so if I go there it will be a full day plus in order to replace her Social Security Card she lost, I have to drive over to the next town about 15 miles away, to the nearest SS office in order to get the replacement. So, that is another couple of hours depending on how busy they are... but my lawn needs mowing, and I have clothes to wash, and my own house to clean, and need to get busy on painting a bedroom, the spare room... along with trying to get the outside of my own house painted... that is what I mean, and my friend said it herself, even her and her husband with her Mother in Law living with them, it was over a full time job for BOTH of them, and there is no way I can do it ALL myself, even with home health care... if she continues to go down as quickly as she is mentally, I may need much more help than I have now... and the decisions that have to be made are not easy ones at all. That is also what makes it so difficult, it is the tough decisions through all of this... 
 
I NEVER, and I said it a billion times would EVER put my parents in any type of "home" but if Mom continues to go down as quickly as she is, even building onto my home and having her here may not even be enough... that may not be the answer as much as I want it to be... so all of the decisions to make and the "footwork" I need to do, those are difficult issues to deal with.... so keep me in your thoughts and prayers... I need a "break" but I just don't know how to get one, and I need the surgery, but it just seems like now is not the time.... 
 
I recall when my Mom had to come to make the decision to my put Granny (her mother) in the nursing home. Even though Mother had a sister and brother (who have both now passed away) their health, and the size of their homes were not conducive with bringing my Granny to any of their homes after she fell, broke a hip, and the doctors said she could no longer live alone. But, my Granny was 92 years old and had lived alone from the time my Grandfather passed away of Alzheimer's and Lung cancer at the age of 77, so she took care of herself for many, many years, and if she had not taken that fall and broken her hip she may have been able to stay by herself a bit longer.  She had osteoporosis, like myself, the severe range which frightens me, so they feel her hip "broke" and then she fell... that the osteoporosis caused the fracture which led to my Granny falling. 
 
So, these truly tough decisions in our lives about parents or loved ones, are often times something we never "see coming" until they are upon us. I know that my Mom had been showing "signs" of Dementia/Alzheimer's for a long while, but it was not until the past 4 to 5 months that things went South extremely fast. That is why through my own research, and what I have been told, I feel this is not a "regular" type of Dementia, but one that comes on much more quickly, and takes its toll very soon. It is not like some types of Dementia and Alzheimer's that seem to come on slowly, and sometimes the patients may live for years and be able to function in a good deal of capacity before it really gets bad, but this is so very, very different than even my Grandfather, who had full blown Alzheimer's... this has taken my Mom from being able to do many things herself, just 5 to 6 months ago, to not even being able to turn on her oven, her washer, her dryer, know the month, date, time, and not understand MAnY things, and I feel she does not even recognize some items. Like she was telling me on the phone that the "phone" light was blinking, and I tried to tell her Mom because you are talking on it, the "base" light will blink in use... but when I got to her house, it was the alarm clock blinking because of a storm we had the night before had caused the power to go off for a few minutes, so it was not the "phone" at all. And she cannot recall the names of things, or of people, and now she tells me "YOU know it was "different' when I lived "over there"? And Mom has lived in the same home since I was about 3 years old! There is no other "over there".... So, unless she is talking about when she was still living  home with her parents, I had no clue where "over there" meant....


It is very difficult to watch a parent, or any loved one lose their capacity to manage things on their own, and especially difficult when it happens so fast... 

All I can do, is try to do my best to help her and support her, but I also have to take care of myself.

I should have that neck surgery next week, that I am having to put off again. I am not getting things in order quickly enough for her before I go and have cervical neck surgery that will incapacitate me for several weeks. And now, a few months ago, she would have "been able to understand and even maybe help me", but now, I don't think she even realizes what it means for me to go through this complicated surgery, or that I won't be able to life things, drive for a little while, that I will have a neck brace on for six weeks, and that many of my daily activities that I do at my own house will not be able to be done by me.... 


So, if you are in a situation such as this, and I know many of you are, please try and not feel guilty, or selfish, or like you are disappointing a parent or loved one if you must make hard decisions that you never felt you would have to, such as putting them in some type of assisted living center, or nursing home... it could be the best for you and them also... they need 24/7/365 care, and lots of it... 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Thursday, April 7, 2016

A Lesson In Life About Taking "time" to laugh, to catch up, and to be out of the "hellish" times so many of us have....

As I was typing out about having a lunch and it has been a long time, or being with an old friend from High School or College, maybe a job from your past, all of the hopes, dreams, plans, the "faith and hope that can move mountains" go with you, and in a small town such as Ennis, it never dawns on you that it maybe YEARS before you see those people again. Whether it is family, a friend, or whomever that was a "pat" of your life back then, all too often becomes "lost" in "life". We have "corners and curves we don't often expect. Things that were supposed to happen, didn't or they did yet something changes your path, and what you felt and thought would happen, is far from that memory in your mind. I know when I was in especially High School, I had a "few" really good friends. Due to the fact, that I felt "overweight" and I was a bit back then, and at that time Mom 9bless her heart not her fault because she was not taught either)... didn't know how to "fix" my hair, or how to put makeup on, and dress more in "fashion" ... I realize my parents did the very best they could, and I thought about that in the shower this morning. I was "fortunate"... 
 
I had a home, both parents, Mom never had to work, so I was never "alone" after school. Dad worked at the same place all his life from the time he was 16 when EBF was Ennis Tag back then... I always had 3 meals a day, I was always able to take a bath, have clean hair, and clothes on my back. Those were things that all too often we don't realize until we are older there were families that were not and are not that lucky. Kids that may have one or two meals, and those are at school, or go home to an empty house because both parents work, and they may not have food on the table every night, or clean clothes that fit them, or new shoes... and more so today, we have kids that go to bed hungry in this nation, in this state, in this county, and in this town... Anyway, what I am trying to get at, is that I did not realize just how "lonely" and "alone" I have felt now for months, and months, probably at least a year..
 
I have had to do my very best with what I know to help my Mom in any way I can... most of my time is spent either helping her, whatever that might be, especially now, she cannot even start her washer, or turn on her oven... and if I am not there, I am at home, with two awesome puppies, but they are "WORK" also... I love them and they keep me "sane" when my world feels insane....yet they have to have care also.... and then my home has to be cared for, whether it is daily things, dishes, sweeping, mopping etc.. taking my own medications correctly, and then the other things mowing the lawn, getting the house painted, getting the back "forty" mowed, and all of the "deeper" things we have when we own a home need to be done... so until I went to lunch today with a dear friend, I didn't realize just how "I have not laughed", I have not "smiled", I've not been with anyone my age, who understands my situation, and just getting to go out of the house away from it all, and have lunch was such a special treat. IT is almost like a Kid in a "candy store" for me... that is something I have not gotten to do very much over the past year... I had wanted to go dancing, yet I always "feel guilty", or I feel I should stay home with the puppies or not spend the money, even though I don't drink a drop, and that "old feeling" of "what if like high school" no one asked me to the high school prom or out on a date... none of the guys from school ever asked me out.... in fact my cousin from Mesquite came down and went with my to my Senior High School Prom, so I would get to go.... 
 
I still recall the dress I wore... LOL... but we get "lost" in "transition" of marriages, illnesses, families, jobs, moves, all of the "stuff" in life that as Seniors leaving High School never in a million years would have thought would happen in our lives... Our nation is NOT the "nation" of the USA that we knew back then, not many "towns" are "safe" like Ennis was back then... things move faster, and if you don't keep up, you are left behind in the stone ages, almost like my own Mother, who even before this horrible Dementia/Alzheimer's or whatever it is hit her, she knew nothing about cell phones, or cordless anything, or even how to put gas in her car... 
 
...all of the technology we take for granted these days, she has no clue of how to use a computer, or what the "internet" really is all about. She hears me of course, and knows what I tell her, but she has never had that experience... so we are "wound up" in a ball of "life"... and we often "lose out" on a "lunch date" with a high school friend, or a great conversation with someone you had not seen in years, or all kinds of "small things" that when the do happen, you "CHERISH" them forever. Age gives us a space, where we no longer "take so much for granted each day, or even each hour. We learn what was important 10 years ago, means nothing today... we take those "small times" and keep them locked in our heart, knowing life again can get us lost in "transition" once again... it is sad... but it is true... so TODAY, to be able to experience a smile, old memories, and make new ones, catch up on the years between, and laugh about some of the old happenings.... Today remains that way for me, as well as Carrie Wilson Taking time to take me for my surgery to have my new pain pump put in, .... I will cherish those times, that Denise Tekell and I get to talk for a moment in WalGreens, or run into an old friend you have not seen and be able to find out how things are.... those are the true things I know now I cherish... Laughter, people who truly care, someone that helps not because they have to, but because the want to, and I hope I can "take more time" for "me" to write, to do my advocacy work, to play with the dogs, to have a laugh with a friend, and not be "stuck" and "stagnated" in the "moments of hell on Earth" that most of us know all too well.... Rhia

WORLD HEALTH DAY APRIL 7TH, 2016!!!

With a WORLD FULL of terrible diseases, illnesses, syndromes, and places that lack healthcare, fresh drinking water, food, & even being able to live in more of a sanitized place, all seems impossible when so many of us take for granted clean drinking water, food, and being able to live where we are in more sanitary conditions.

Yet, with all of that said, look at HOW MANY OF US, even in the best of places, still have so many chronic health conditions, that often go untreated, and even undiagnosed for a very long period of time.

In a Nation, who is supposed to be a Leader of the Free World, and the amount of funds the pour into all types of Health Organizations, we still deal with cancer, all types of AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES, that have NOT even been really explained, and so much more needs to be known about them.

When you walk through your stores, you see all kinds of people, old and young, that are either obese, or are "appearing to be ill", or weak, and our pharmacies seem more full of those standing in line for prescriptions each day.

We still have many, many diseases that are not answered, we do NOT have a viable reason for why they exist, or why we cannot find a way to destroy them. With our "global' society becoming closer each day, with airlines, and fast transportation, severe diseases, such as the latest "Zika", or something such as measles, or polio that had once almost been eradicated from the free world, and many of our nations, NOW are coming back to our nation, and nations that thought they were free of dealing with something such as the whooping cough, or diseases that we only have to be inoculated from if we are traveling to certain countries. Scarlet Fever is another disease long thought been wiped off our continent, and yet in certain places it has reared its ugly head again.

Small Pox is another disease that we long ago were able to quit getting vaccinated for, yet in some of these countries where they have no way to be vaccinated, that live in horrid conditions where such types of viruses, diseases, and germs live, those illnesses can spring forth, and one day be a problem globally once more...

We feel like with all of our hand washing, laundering, keeping our homes as free of germs as we can with different cleaners, sprays, and viral fighting defenses, that we would stand to be more free of getting such illnesses.

Yet, look at the flu... it appears to mutate every flu season, and we stand fighting not just against one or two strains, but 3, 4 or more strain of flu, of pneumonia, and we find that we get a vaccine in place that may work for years, and once those viral or bacterial diseases "mutate" the vaccines we have may be useless to fight them.

So, give heart today for it being World Health Day! Think about our communities, and how we try and live as cleanly and "germ free" as possible. Then we can step into a doctors office, or a hospital, or just grab a basket at the local supermarket, and pick up all types of illnesses just by touching a handle where someone else ill has just touched it.... we have so many diseases that are airborne and are extremely contagious, that just being in the room with someone can cause you to become ill, even through hand washing and antibacterial hand wipes and so forth.


As our world continues to grow LARGER, yet we BECOME EVER CLOSER with our modes of transportation today, we become more susceptible to all types of diseases we may not even know or have a name for yet.


We can help to fight some of these off by trying to stay "healthy" as possible ourselves. Getting proper daily nutrition, getting some exercise daily or several times weekly, making sure we get enough sleep, trying to lower our stress levels, doing things to keep us from possibly catching some illnesses like the flu by having the vaccine, by washing our hands often, or grab one of those hand wipes at the store and wipe off the handle of your basket, and take time to be aware of symptoms of "sick people" who are sneezing, or show signs of not feeling well, and educating ourselves on the ways we can try and fight diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and other illnesses that we can try and prevent by doing a few smart things...

Most of all, try and add some "fun", laughter into your day. Whether it is petting your dog or cat, playing with your kids, having a good healthy dinner around the table with family all together, talking about your feelings, telling your physician about sudden new symptoms, there are ways we can try and remain as healthy and have as wonderful of a life as possible....


#HappyWorldHealthDay!


As I was writing this in my blog, I had thought about small things we sometimes take for granted, like changing out our toothbrushes often, or our sponges or towels we use in the kitchen, or I know for me, I put out a new "shower net" or whatever you want to call the shower netted balls... quite often ... wiping down things such as your keyboard, or remote controls for your home appliances, and at work as well, keyboards, phones, your desk, all places we may not think of but germs can lurk easily. Even for women our makeup. We should take heed of the advice of the experts and not keep foundations, eye shadows, mascara's and all of those types of things for too long without replacing them. My towel in my bathroom, I change sometimes twice weekly, especially in warm weather. Although I am sure there are things I forget or do not think about as much as I should, even wiping off my handles on the fridge, microwave,sink faucets, and oven, and knobs, I try and remember to do frequently.... I know as bad and humid as our summers are in TX, I also run bleach through my washer often with warm water, to clean out all of the mold or whatever maybe hiding, and it helps to keep tree roots from clogging your pipes I found out from a plumber that came out for me... I was having heck with a clog, and he said here that tree roots even through the pipes you would never think that they could get through can eventually the tiny pieces get into those pipes in the ground and cause clogs... so he recommended that I buy a cheap bottle of bleach about once a month, and pour some down my drains, and toliet, then I can get to my "cleanout" easy, and open it and pour the rest down into it... that would help to rid those tree roots from clogging my pipes.... anyway, we are all living in a "too busy" world... I know mine is, I feel I barely have to time breathe some days... but some of these "little things" could keep us from becoming HUGELY ILL!!!!

Good News on the Homefront for a New Generic (Biosimilar) Inflectra for RA, Crohn's, and more....

Brand New Generic Inflectra FDA Approved for the Use in Several Diseases Including RA, Arthritis of The Spine, Crohn's disease, Psoriasis and more....





http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm494227.htm

Monday, April 4, 2016

The "NIghtly News" and "Heroin Safe Zones" There is about 3 Billion things wrong with this!

http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/this-heroin-safe-zone-permits-users-to-shoot-up-658159171526



I could not believe my eyes or ears last night! The CDC and the Congress want to "screw us" with Chronic Pain out of getting out medications, BUT GIVE HEROIN ADDICTS A PLACE TO USE????? WHAT THE HELL!!!! There is about 100 billion things screwed up in all of this!