Hand X-Rays Show the severe damage of Long Term Inflammation, Pseudo-gout & Chondrocalcinosis & More...,

After weeks of waiting due to mostly the COVID-19 Virus pandemic, I FINALLY got the copies of my Radiology Reports on the X-rays of my Left and Right Hands...

                                      So Here is the "NOT SO GREAT NEWS...

Well after (not very patiently awaiting) my Radiology reports on my hands.. as I figured the news is NOT great on my left hand...much like "gout" and "pseudo-gout" (which the pseudo-gout is one thing wrong".. I have chondrocalcinosis (calcification within cartilage) found which indicate long term inflammation..( I suspected for years I almost constantly had inflammation in the left hand especially between my joints in most of my fingers) from the RA and probably osteoarthritis also. That calcification is caused also by a build up of crystallization from certain minerals in the synovial fluid between the joints and I have a narrowing between most of them but the base of my thumb and my wrist under my thumb is moderate to severe from the X-rays and Exams by my PCP, Rheumy and Orthopedic surgeon. My Right hand also has much of the same, but it is not as bad as the left one is. Same thing the crystals that are causing the cartilage to calcify rather than be "like softer cartilage like your outer ear for example)" as it should be. There is no "treatment" really. I cannot take NSAID's other than aspirin, and Motrin, etc... the prescription doses is what would possibly help is anything. I am on all of the medications they use, unless we change and go over to another biologic.. I am on Enbrel right now.. along with Plaquenil, prednisone small daily dose, the Enbrel, Methotrexate (which if I do not get ill with an infection they can increase my dose on this), the BC Powder, Colcrys (which I found out can be increased also but it's the latest one so I am sure they are making sure I do not have any side effects first).. what concerns me, is that this may be also what is effecting my lower back and hips also. It does tend to go to those as well as the feet.. About the only thing that would possibly be the answer would be hand surgery..especially on the thumb, and where this cartilage is getting hard... This of course is chronic and will not get better, only worse as time goes by.. unless we have a miracle.. Right now the miracle needs to be for the COVID-19 virus. It was honestly a bit better than I expected.. I felt with the way my fingers are bending and trying to twist on my left hand it would show to be worse. Going to and already does.. make very hard for me to don anything with my hands and fingers..type, open anything, zip anything, you name it, it either is impossible for me to do or hurts like hell to do it. Until this Pandemic is cleared where I can see my PCP, Rheumy etc.. I will not have any answers, but at least now I DO know (THANKS TO MY PCP for sending me the reports and explaining them) :) HE is my lifeline... so all I can do is read more on this & pray all of this Pandemic clears up and PEOPLE can get well, stay well, and try to get back to some type of "good new normal".. although my stuff is certainly not good, right now at this moment, I am not ill with the other and praying I don't and everyone in our town, county, nation and world gets well.. I have to admit I was quite upset when I read these reports.. even though I knew what they would probably say... but life goes on and so shall I. My prayers to EVERYONE!!! Stay In, Stay Well, & let's keep HOPE ALIVE!!!

15 years ago My Dad passed away on that Easter Sunday... here is some of his story...

Today it was about this time from Seattle (I think) I was talking to Dad.. He "heard" me I know... about 10 minutes or so after we hung up, he took his last breath...almost like he was waiting on my phone call... It took me a LONG time to forgive myself for not going town from Seattle, But him going downhill so quickly I may have never made it... It was better now I know for me to go down like I did to be there with Mom and the kids... during the days after and for the funeral.. Dad sang in church often - and his favorite song was (the song below)

Dad passed away March 27th, 2005 on Easter Sunday. I had been on the phone with him (I think he KNEW it was me) waiting for me (I was in Seattle WA living when he suddenly got critically ill from a knee replacement surgery that went very WRONG! The best we know is he probably got an infection that spread to his brain, and/or maybe mini-strokes. He had Diabetes and wasn't great about taking care of what he ate and taking his medication. I still talk about Him often. Right now, with the Pandemic going on it so reminds me of what he lived through, he was born in 1923, but did remember the Great depression, some, even though he was very young. All of how they lived what they went through (one time when he was about 10 years old, he ate some "green pecans".. in the middle of the night woke up severely ill, so bad, that they thought he may die... back then there were no hospitals, and rarely doctors in the country.. but His Dad got up, took the wagon miles and miles to get the only doctor around...he brought him back, and Dad pulled through... but that was just one thing I remember when I see how things are today... they wore shoes till they could no longer patch them, then they got a new pair ordered from the Sears catalog, his Mom made bread or bisquits every morning... they had "lunch pails" that were much like a paint can round with lid on it... he often carried a bisquit and a piece of sausage for his lunch.. BUT back then EVERYONE was in the same shape.... no one thought about it being any different... he GRADUATED in a ONE ROOM school house that ALL AGES were in that same room, I think IT WAS A CLASS OF 12 SENIORS & HE WAS I BELIEVE Valedictorian or Salutatorian.. right now I can't recall which... this was the last time I saw Dad... It was in 2004... I flew back for Amanda's & Jimbo's (my daughter's) wedding.. and I drove 7 hours up from near Corpus to see bHim and my Mom before having to drive back to San Antonio to fly back out. Dad, there is not almost 1 day I don't think about you... things you taught me, and lessons that no school could ever teach, how to respect others, be honest and truthful, work for what you get, be kind, and so many other things that have stuck with me in my years... I Love you and I know you and Mom are Happy to be together....

"Pearly White City"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66AFGwKBiyw

Coronavirus, Climate Change, and the Environment - Harvard C-Change

03/20/2020 | Harvard C-CHANGEA Conversation on COVID-19 with Dr. Aaron Bernstein, Director of Harvard C-CHANGE

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/c-change/news/coronavirus-climate-change-and-the-environment/

Below are some of the most common questions we have been receiving in relation to the environment and coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19).

"This page will continue to be updated as new information arises. If you would like to talk to someone at our center about coronavirus, please email us at cchange-media@hsph.harvard.edu..."

(Lots of great information in this article.) And for further articles and information see my Daily Newspaper...

An Autoimmune Arthritic Systemic Life    by Rhia Steele

http://news.autoimmunearthriticsystemiclife.com/#/

Life Chronic Pain & Autoimmune Systemic Diseases & Dementia®

Coronavirus and update from the NIH

Monday, March 16, 2020

NIH clinical trial of investigational vaccine for COVID-19 begin

Study enrolling Seattle-based healthy adult volunteers

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-clinical-trial-investigational-vaccine-covid-19-begins

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*This study is for people who:

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*Other eligibility criteria also apply

Learn more! #sponsored #cureclick

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Specialists-A WASTE OF TIME & MONEY ON A SO-CALLED (NP) DERMATOLOGIST WHO KNEW NOTHING!

Going to a "Specialist", Getting NOTHING but MAD, when they do not know a thing about WHY you were sent! When My Rheumatologist (NP) & My PCP BOTH already had agreed I had "probable Psoriatic Arthritis"

I've been "waxing and waning" at least 4 months, maybe more at this "sudden acute break-out" that started on the outside of my right ear, sudden big "flakes" on my scalp (NEVER HAD that before at all", then the top part of my upper chest, and my upper shoulders, a spot over my ears, and one on my nose, then on the side of my face... and a bit on my right wrist... ALL APPEARED.. they are round, at the time very, very "flaky, thick" almost as if it had been a sore that took a long time to heal. But, no itching, looking horrible, and no sign of getting better, just every one of them flaked every day... I tried everything I could think of, yet nothing seemed to be helping.

I did my own "research" and found with my other Autoimmune issues, the RA, Lupus, Sjogren's, Raynaud's etc... and my joints getting worse with stiffness, pain, beginning to "twist and turn" all of my knuckles on both hands swollen, I felt it could be Psoriatic Arthritis". 

I had seen both the PCP & the Rheumatologist (NP) BUT this was after 3 months of them beginning to heal. They could still see it on my scalp, and how it flaked off a few places, BUT OF COURSE they had began to look a bit better. As always, about the time you begin to get well, & go to the doctor so then they cannot get a good idea. 

BUT, everywhere I had one, a round white scar almost with a bit of a sunken spot in it developed. Plus even now I still have a couple in my ear.

So, after waiting weeks, getting into a "Dermatologist" & try to avoid Dallas, I found one closer. I go yesterday, & before I went I called & asked if there were any "precautions" they were taking, other than the normal ones for the Coronavirus. Well, the lady on the phone about half acted as if she didn't even know what I was talking about. Then she said, "we are going by what the authorities are saying. So, still a bit hesitant with all of my other issues (even the pacemaker, it's been there 7 months but it can be like the autoimmune illnesses, a complication, even with the flu etc. I always am very cautious during the flu season. 

So, I go into the building, NO HAND SANITIZER, NO WIPES, NOTHING... not at the door, at the lobby EVEN NONE IN THE RESTROOM! Well, by now I was a bit nervous. Of course I had my own, so I put some on, after washing my hands, and & went to find their office. Again, I go in the office, NO HAND SANITIZER, WIPES AND EVEN NO KLEENEX!!! NOW I was REALLY getting to the point I wondered if they took "any" precautions. There was NONE in the rooms, and other than a very small "posting" you could barely read on the wall in the waiting room, NOTHING about it! They called me in, the nurse NEVER asked about a fever, if I had been exposed possibly, or had been out of the country. Plus again NO HAND SANITIZER, NO TISSUES, NO SIGNS POSTED, NOTHING. SO, that was bad enough, then she was an hour late!! And she "barely" looked at anything I was trying to show her, or listen to what I was saying. And just said, "I don't think it is psoriasis"and I asked what about these white round "scars" left? She had NO answer... for one thing they are ugly & with spring and summer coming it is bad enough with the scars I have due to surgeries. So, she basically, told me the same thing I knew, about lotions, what to use etc.. and said "if I have some that come up she can see "better"then call & come back. 

By this time I was fuming and disgusted, and she even tried to shake my hand! I almost walked out without paying the co-pay I was sob freaking peeved! I left there upset in tears, ruined my day, when I could have been home working on my lawn, a waste of gas and money for a co-pay I should really not have owed. I paid it, hurried out, used my hand sanitizer, then went to the restroom and washed my hand... & the closer I got home, the more upset I got.... I wished I would have taken pics when the places were so bad... so, at the last I asked her "would Enbrel be a medication they MIGHT USE TO HELP THIS?"  SHE SAID "YES"... one of them & there are several others out they use for it. So, I said well I went back on my Enbrel about 4 to 5 weeks ago. So, I told her that, & she said well let's "hope", that will help. (So all of the paperwork I filled out over the previous weekend, along with medications, illnesses, surgeries, whom my doctors were etc... she NEVER even looked to see I was on Enbrel, Prednisone, Plaquenil, & Methotrexate.. because those 3 are the older ones they use... NEVER, NEVER, EVER WILL I GO BACK NOR RECOMMEND THAT OFFICE TO ANYONE! I have had a doctor or two really upset me over the years, but this one really "did not know her rear from a whole in the ground"....

Coronavirus & Some Updates... CDC, WHO etc...

Coronavirus (COVID-19) & some Key Facts for now  of course they update quickly!

I had not posted much on the Virus just due to all of the "stuff" going around. No one wants to have the illness, BUT we do not want to PANIC either.

So, here are a couple of links from "trusted" sources" I Hope! bThe CDC, WHO, NIH, & some of the Pharma Companies trying to get medications out that work!


https://www.biospace.com/article/biopharma-industry-news-update-on-the-novel-coronavirus/


https://www.biospace.com/article/regeneron-and-sanofi-aim-a-rheumatoid-arthritis-drug-at-coronavirus/?TrackID=15&fbclid=IwAR1VaNxLYNv1kO4b3hbUermWDFnHlVrhWEui17_E6Du5ZfHlJMAHz96qjcs

Insanity with Chronic Pain Dr., MORE Crazy w/Rheumy's NP & TRAFFIC Beyond NUTS in Dallas!!!!

NEVER again will I allowANY of the Dr's I see in Dallas,  talk me into driving LATE afternoon RUSH HOUR in the POURING "Cats and DOGS"RAIN! Not when just about EVERY DRIVER DOES not CARE if they RUN OVER You OR not!!!!

PLUS I have been going to the couple of"specialists" up there for 10 years & they ALL knowI have to make a 40 plus  mile commune one-way and then back!!! Then when  they  "delay"you because they make a mistake, that you have to go BACK into the office, & "question" the doctor, (by the way good thing I did" I was CORRECT! Had I NOT "checked" I would have been in a world of severe pain till at least this coming Monday, and this way LAST Wednesday!  Plus they also knew I was on a Schedule" due to trying to get two doctors visits done on that day. I DID NOT want to have to drive home, then GO BACK again in a few days! The driving on dry pavement is bad enough, but having to be in the car in stop & go rainy, wrecks, & road construction, at 5:00PM in Dallas on I-35 and I-45, just is enough to make you hurt for days.... 

To top it off, my Rheumy's NP is nuts.. she wanted me to walk over to another building (this is at like almost 5PM) to get my hands X-rayed & Labs done, which I have done here in town usually...plus NO WAY was I saying till Lord knows when in the pitch dark, that I don't drive well in due to the headlights anyway... I tried to TELL her but she is too busy "typing" on her computer to even LISTEN to me, sitting 10 feet away in the room! She will NOT speak up, I cannot understand her & I kept asking her to "speak up" and sh jut "mumbles"....

So, then I finally get out of the "pits of hell in Dallas Traffic" have to stop & get myself & the pups some dinner... & by the way I got home (which I did NOT expect" to be gone over 10 hours or so.. I still had to  change clothes, put stuff away & try to settle all 3 of us down, so we could eat...

NOW I still think my doctor (Pain Doctor) is mistaken, but the way I need to explain it will be difficult on the phone, so I HOPE the email address I have for his Business Office & Patient Manager (who is awesome) works... MOST Dr's now days have "portals" & out of all  them he does not.

Thens the NP at my Rheumy's Office wanted me to see a "Dermatologist" cause this is probably Psoriatic Arthritis - the BAD thing is when I showed her the places, she asked me "Do you have Psoriatic Arthritis?" I was like WHAT!!!???That is what I am ASKING YOU?!! I wanted to shake her... that chart of mine and ALL of the updates.. by now SHE should have KNOWN I was asking about a NEW SYMPTOM and ILLNESS!? Not having to tell her what I had.... I asked her since it is a form of Arthritis, why do I have to see a Dermatologist? Of courseI have the plaque's & trouble with my scalp, BUT I did not know that the RHEUMY would not handle it all! Which I'll be darned if I find one in Dallas..like she wanted.. We have one right here I found, that I believe tales my insurance, had his "bio"  etc... he shows to be extremely good.

So here we go again, with a new doctor, like I did not have enough.. and I am NOT going back to Dallas for Labs & X-rays on my hands when they can do that here!

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope pain stays at bay & illness..so you can all enjoy it!

Happy Valentine's Day to all of my friends!

A Very Happy Valentine Day to each of my Dear Friends! I hope joy, laughter, love & LOTS of Cakes, Chocolates, Covered Strawberries, and a beautiful also fort all with sweethearts, may romance fill your days ahead! 

After my Mom making many many "heart shaped red velvet cakes each year for my b'day tomorrow...of course she can't any longer..so yesterday when I went to get groceries, there was these tiny heart shaped cakes for Valentine
day.. When I went to loo at them the did have a"red velvet one" -- so I now after missing a couple of years I have one! LOL!!! not as good as Mom's but is a remembrance of MOM & HER MAKING
IT ESPECIALLY FOR ME.. JUST ONE OF MANY

THIS WEATHER REMINDS ME OF THE DAY I WAS BORN... Dad said he went at lunch time home to check on Mom because I was due at any time.. he said he went in & she was still in bed? He asked her if she isn't feeling well.. and she turned and looked at him, sayingI HURT! Dad was a bit hasty in telling her you have to get up, you are in labor! She said she couldn't& he told her YES YOU CAN, the baby is coming!!! So he got her in the car , they had to stop & pick up my Granny Svehlak ... then Dad saw he needed gas, since he had to go to Corsicana..and back then cars didn't run as fast and the speed limit was MUCH lower... so by the time he finally got to the hospital about 25 miles away, I think I was almost there!...I was born I think around 3 or 4i n the afternoon, and the weather was icy, snowy & very cold! Anyway at the time the waiting room for the Dad's Had a "pink" light on one side & a blue light on the opposite side. Dad did not know, so he was getting nervous & the nurse came out to tell him then"pink" light was on & he had a healthy baby girl!!!! I can recall Dad telling that story so many times and it always was too cute to hear him tell it!

May all of you enjoy a day filled with happiness and joy... and may pain stay at bay.. and illness give you a break!

Thinking of my friends & Wishing everyone Love in your life today and all the days to come!!!!

To My Beloved Dad.. Happy Birthday on Groundhog Day Dad!

This was the last photo and last time I got to see him in 2004... I came down from Seattle for my daughters wedding to Corpus.... and then drove for a few hours trip all the way to Ennis to see my parents before going back to San Antonio to fly back to Seattle...

I was glad I made that trip. He passed away 2005 on Easter Sunday after a knee replacement got severely infected...
He would be 97 years old tomorrow....