September 4, 2014
6:10 p.m.

I'm...back at the keyboard again! Finally!

After resolving to post more frequently, I recently went through a very bad patch with my arthritis. I could barely click on the mouse, let alone type. (This did NOT stop my obsessive playing of Farmville, however. Depressing, huh? All you have to do is click.)

To be honest, typing is still hard for me today, but the old hands are finally starting to feel a bit better, and I figure--use it or lose it, baby!

I tried to post night before last, typed up a whole bunch of nonsense, tried to save, and lost the internet!!! Bleepity bleep!

So here I am again--look out world.

I guess I should go back a bit.

I had two of my grandchildren here for a few days near the end of July, and it was wonderful. I went totally "Nana". I roasted a turkey and made all the fixings. We played, we drew, we made jewelry. We watched movies and just had a good old time.

But somewhere in the middle of it all, I was cleaning up the kitchen and putting away leftovers. I bent into the fridge to put away some salad, and I heard this "pop" in my hip and immediately felt a hot, sharp pain. I didn't want to have the kids leave, so I just limped along through the next couple of days and hoped it would feel better soon.

Well, time passed and it did seem to get better--at first. Then the pain started to increase over time, and began to wonder if I might have cracked the iliac crest or somewhere in the region of the sacroiliac joint. I finally called and made a doctor appointment. I wanted to see my own physician, so I had to wait a few days.

Over those few days, suddenly all my joints began to be increasingly painful and swollen. If it was meant to bend, it hurt. I developed a red rash across my cheeks and forehead. I felt exhausted even when I managed to sleep (this is me, you know).

Now, I have had this happen before, including the rash. I have treated it like an acne outbreak in the past, but the time has come for me to admit that this is not acne. It's an inflamed, red and bumpy rash, sometimes quite bad, sometimes almost gone.

This time, it was quite red and felt painful and hot. I rubbed virgin coconut oil into my skin and hoped for the best. I hobbled when I walked because my ankles and feet and toes were so stiff and sore. My knees were swollen and stiff. My hip sang forlorn songs to me, and my back sang back-up. My fingers quit singing and started to sob.

I was one very unhappy camper by the time I went to see the doctor.

So...hip ex-ray: "Paula, you have arthritis in your hip. It's pretty ugly."

Knew that.

"There's some bone deformity, and bone from your hip and bone from your spine that shouldn't even be friends are getting too close together and in danger of fusing."

Didn't know that. Sounds...scary.

Blood panels done, and negative for rheumatoid arthritis. Blood sugar improved by a whopping tenth of a point. Bad cholesterol still in the high-normal-but-lets-get-this-lower range.

Okay.

I've been on an anti-inflammatory for two weeks now, and my feet and ankles feel better, and the swelling in my knees is much improved. My toes are still pretty painful. My hip and back do not like me yet. My hands hurt like hell but are less swollen and I can type--sort of. Lots of typos going on here, because my left hand is slower than usual.

Tomorrow I start physical therapy to try to increase the mobility in my hip and move those ill-matched bones apart so they don't fuse. I find that I am looking forward to it, although I'm pretty sure I will be an unhappy camper by the end of the appointment.

That's fine, though. Like I said before: move it or lose it.

Then next week it will be back to the doctor for more tests. The possible issue: Lupus.

Lupus is one of those lovely diseases that they have no specific test for. It's more a matter of testing for everything else and ruling those things out before saying, "Yep. Lupus."

Doesn't that sound like fun?

Yeah, that's what I thought, too. Whee!

So that's what I've been up to lately. Maybe I will post tomorrow about the joys of physical therapy!

What's going on in your world?
_________________________________________________________________________________

Sadly, we have lost yet another. Rest in Peace, Joan Rivers.
_________________________________________________________________________________

Robin Williams said:
'When I'm awake, I don't want to go to sleep. I don't want the hassle of turning the light off, putting my head down and then all the thoughts. I don't want all those thoughts'
 I think he was reading my mind. This is why I have the t.v. on in my room, against all the expert advise. If I listen to the t.v., it drowns out all the thoughts that go racing around in my head keeping me awake all night. Did I lock the door? What do I have to do tomorrow? I should have said this or that to the rude guy on the bus. Do I smell smoke? Are the kids okay? I should call my mother in the morning. Blah blah blah.

I've tried listening to music, but music doesn't work so well, because I want to stay awake and listen to it! I want to sing along. I tried instrumentals, but I want to conduct the orchestra and identify the instruments.

So, the television plays just loud enough for me to hear the droning voices of the "Law and Order" characters. If I don't fall asleep before 3:00 a.m. when "Smallville" comes on I'm probably done trying for the night. I worked nights when that show originally ran, so I haven't seen most of the episodes. If it comes on before I fall asleep, I often sit up and watch, hoping I might catch a nap afterward. You know, during "Charmed". Because "Charmed". *yawn*
_________________________________________________________________________________

Okay, my last thought for now. I am really grateful for the Kindle my sons got me as a gift awhile back. My hands have been so painful, I know I would not be able to hold a regular book for any length of time right now. I've had trouble even with the Kindle, but when I lose my grip, none of the pages go fluttering and make me lose my place! Ha ha!

Good night!