Sharing and Supporting Lupus Awareness!

For all that work so hard to get the word out about Autoimmune Arthritic diseases, as well as those other autoimmune illnesses, many come as a 2nd illness to the main illnesses such as RA, Lupus, or MCTD... getting the word out...

Great news for those who take Methotrexate! This is especially wonderful news for those of us who go into the doctor's office, a clinic etc... to get an infusion or injection of the medication weekly... You can deliver it to yourself at home, like a "diabetic" pen for insulin does. Here is the news report on it! This is awesome!

http://www.medgadget.com/2013/10/otrexup-self-injection-device-receives-fda-approval-to-treat-rheumatoid-arthritis.html

A New Book - and Our Immune System A New Look (and the drama of being a woman in her 50's)

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/science/the-compatibility-gene-offers-interesting-insights-on-the-immune-system.html?ref=nicholaswade&_r=1

I found this article interesting and thought I would share with you. I am extremely busy this week, although I feel I have gotten nothing done. I  try to get here to post and dammit, there seems to be always something else to do, look up, and it just goes on and on.   With the weather changing I woke up to a "crick" in my neck and my entire left shoulder (OMG NOT THIS ONE!!!) in just a stage of almost hurting enough to make me cry! I feel like we must have a cool front headed this way. I have had such great success so far, so good (cross my fingers and toes if I could) since the 2nf Rituxan infusion, am I so prying I am able to continue to be as least that much free of pain, (never all of it is ever gone), but also some of the daily stiffness had diminished until this a.m. 

Of course the (OMG) above is because even though my left shoulder did have surgery on it,several years ago, I have been extremely fortunate that it has not given me much hell. Even my left elbow, which in MRI's show to be just a freaking mess (I had surgery on it in the late 090's for a severe tear, and it is torn again, but it quit giving me trouble,. So, I have just gone on without being concerned. Hopefully it will continue to behave, but with me you never know. None the less, I am not sure what this left neck/shoulder thing is but my hopes are it is just a "crick" and it will dissipate soon.

Other than that this week has been a conundrum of good and not good at all. I did finally go to the new "female" .... female doctor. I did really like her, so that is great news. Of course not that I want to have to see her again, but I do have a GYN now just in case I need one. I found out, that even though I had a basically complete hysterectomy in about 1995 or so, I was supposed to have an "annual" pap smear anyway. Of course I felt like a fool, because out of all the medical knowledge I try to keep up with, especially anything that involves something that effects me, I had no clue about this. Not one doctor had ever mentioned it to me. They ALL know I had a hysterectomy, and from day one, not one said that even though the cervix is all removed, that if you had any displasia from your previous pap's that you could have some cancerous cells develop where that has been taken away... that there can be a tad bit of tissue that may develop into cancer... NICE TO KNOW 20 years later!!!! And that is the "cut-off"... once it has been 20 years with all "clean" pap's, then no others are required... damned talk about embarrassed... out of all the stuff I TELL my doctors about and it seems they may not know... here I am walking around all these years and could have still gotten "cervical cancer" or even ovarian cancer (as far as I know I still have one ovary)... so guess what?? I got a damned pap smear yesterday... go figure! She said I probably would not need any more. If this one is "okee dokie" then I am probably good to go. 

Then she seemed to think that my bladder repair surgery has nothing to do with my problems now. She seems to think (this word of dread for ALL WOMAN-KIND) - that I am going through .............grrrrrrrr and I never really believed it could cause issues... Menopause.... damned not something any "girl" my age or any age wants to freaking hear!!! So here we go with "hormone" creams etc... as far as I know I cannot freaking take estrogen pills due to my previous heart attacks... but she did talk about a brand new pill out that "acts" like estrogen to help with the symptoms, but it is not supposed to be estrogen related as far as its side effects..... but before I even dare get a script (which a pill is so much better than damned creams---yuck)!!!! I have to talk to my cardiologist... no way will I risk having another MI = since I have had 2... don't need or want any other heart issues for sure... I already run enough risk with RA, Lupus etc.... all of the Autoimmune Arthritic diseases and their "mates" I have... thus adding something else to the fire, is not what I need to do. I am in the midst of looking up this new medication today... and I will post about it also.... more to come... freaking nine billion things to do today... and not enough "spoons" to do 3 of them :)  Rhia

Getting the most Quality Time out of A Doctor's Visit

There are many of us that feel when we see our doctors we are hurried through a visit, don't get to discuss all we wanted to, or get out of the office and remember you have questions that did not get answered and so forth. It seems all of our physicians now are "overbooked" and "under staffed", or they just stretch themselves too "thin", thus we don't get the undivided attention we want and should have when visiting our doctors office. Here is an article about how to make the most out of your doctors visit.

Before I post it, I wanted to give you a few of my tips, even before I read the information. :) I ALWAYS go in with a LIST! I first of all, carry lists of my current medications, my current doctors with phone numbers, addresses, and FAX numbers. I carry a list of EVERYTHING I want to speak to the doctor about, questions, concerns, symptoms, side effects of medications, new things I have read online and so forth. If this is a doctor I don't see very often, I start my list even a week before the appointment. That way I have time to "remember" all of those questions and/or comments I had been thinking about since the last visit. With the age of the internet, if I read an article, see a new medication online, or see anything I think maybe pertinent to my office visit, I print it to take with me. They may not have time to read it then, but it is there to scan over and possibly hold answers for you when they have time to read it. IF the visit is with a brand NEW physician I check to see if they have a website where I can download the new patient information to fill out and take with me. This saves a load of time for you and for the doctor's staff, and the physician. That may lead into giving you more time with the doctor, rather than filling out paperwork in the waiting area. If they don't have a website, and the appointment maybe a month away or more, I ask them if they can mail me the information so I can fill it out ahead of time. If you have had new "procedures", tests and so forth, take copies of those results with you, if possible. I try to get a copy of everything I have done to keep in a file at home. I scan them into my computer, and keep a file on my desktop. Then all I have to do, is print it, update medications and so forth. This saves YOU lots of time hunting for results, or having to wait until the doctor requests the information, thus holding back a possibly diagnosis, or them wanting you to have the test again, and so forth. Now I will post this page about their tips... I will see how closely they are to my way of trying to make quality time with my physicians or what they may also advise...

http://www.lupus.org/blog/entry/getting-the-most-from-your-doctors-appointment?utm_source=Newsletter+10-22-13&utm_campaign=Newsletter+10-22-13&utm_medium=email

Recovery - Life long Process

I know some ill think this has nothing to do with Autoimmune Arthritis or Chronic Pain and Chronic illnesses but I know from speaking to many, that at one time or the other they used the "addiction" to squelch the pain... whether physical, emotional or mental... it "dampened" the hurt... thus this does hit home for many...


 Here is the link to the entire website and its information:

http://blog.stjosephinstitute.com/how-long-to-change/

Due to a very personal friend of mine coming to grips with the realms of an "addict" of pills (I HATE the word ADDICT but I know that really is the term no matter how WE outside the situation feels about it. So, I have also recently found out there are several of my close friends on Facebook  that have dealt with recovery and now sobriety for years. Which I commend them highly! After reading this I felt the need to put it out there, for I feel there are many of us that honestly don't know someone who can be very close to us, and addict or alcoholic, and we not know. I am so proud of this person who has been "clean" now for 6 weeks. I am trying to understand the whole thing, from why the addiction, and why "recovery" honestly is a life long process. And I know where there must be especially spouses, man or wife that would not be able to "walk" that sobriety "walk " no matter how much love you feel. It just like some of us that so "chronically ill"( of which I think of and addiction of any type to be a "chronic illness") just like a diabetic or we are... we have those that their spouse cannot deal with the chronic illnesses and they must go... even if love is there sometimes people are just not that strong.... So,  post this for those who are recovering, those that have a spouse who is trying to recover, even more for the ones that need their spouse of family member to realize their problem and take that first step...  my heart and prayers are with you and my hopes are that even though that "craving" may never truly disappear completely, may you find your life is more life now full and more "normal" than when you used those "wrong tools" to aid you to get through emotions that can be very difficult..  I hope this post may help someone else...