Into The Present Part 1

I started telling you about my past. I can continue with that, which I will in future blogs, but now I want to talk about the present. There are some things going on that I want to share and I hope some of you can relate to. Plus I am up. It is 4 in morning. I have been up since 2 and my alarm goes off at 5:30.  So I might as well do something constructive.  Anyway, I have had arthritis and fibromyalgia for years. However, I kept it pretty much under control by working out and controlling stress.   This summer I had minor surgery, which went fine because I used my factor, but then I had other complications such as my oxygen dropping, a doctor overmedicating me, I couldn’t work out because it was my Achilles tendon that I had surgery on.  So all of a sudden, I had a terrible onset of arthritis and fibro. My fingers and neck swelled to the point that my hands were numb and my rings had to be cut off.  Since what I do for a living as a professor is to teach and write (type), not being able to use my hands is a big deal. My rheumatologist, Dr. Valente is great.  He doesn’t believe in pain killers to treat chronic disease. He believes in life style change.  At first I didn’t take that well. I thought it sounded like a death sentence and I whined and moaned, but then what I realized what he was giving me was a prescription for living my life with my disease, rather than letting the disease control my life.   So I am on prednisone, which as some of you know is not fun.  But it is supposed to take down some of the inflammation. Then I have to go to the chiropractor, massage therapist, get a speech recognition program to learn to talk to my computer, go to occupational therapy and physical therapy, learn to mediate, and the list goes on.  While I can’t seem to sleep through the night and watching my Chihuahua Sasha and Boxer Joey lay beside me sleeping peacefully, I just get jealous of them. In the next blog, I will tell you how I am doing on my wellness journey. It is quite the journey for someone who taking care of themselves and putting health first has never been the first thing on her mind.