Life with a Flare

Remember that time when I used to blog? Well I am going to attempt to do that again. Lots has happened since my last post and I am not sure how to fit it all in but I will do my best to try. On the POTS/IV fluid front I finally got a port! This was very exciting since it was taking multiple tries to get IVs in me more often than not. I am also able to get IV fluids 3 times a week at home now and if I need an extra one I can do it myself with no ER needed. The port probably deserves it's own post, but in short I love it. My Port is a Pretty Purple! Unfortunately after over a year of pretty calm joints a cold triggered a major flare. My joints are currently worse than they have been since high school. My rheumy was hoping a burst of Prednisone would calm everything down, and it did till I stopped taking it. So her office managed to fit me in for yesterday and she put me back on Prednisone and prescribed Enbrel. Enbrel in a biologic medicine that is taken by injection once a...

Ever wonder how to really confuse a radiology department? All you have to do is show up for a hip x-ray then come back an hour later for a hand ultrasound. Now about the hip and everything. The appointment went really well. We went back over the fact the hip was worse than expected, with the added information that there was a bone spur. Even though it was bad I am doing really well with recovery. I got the ok to ditch the brace. In a week I get to stop using the CPM machine(I am going to have so much free time!) and in a week I also get to wean off crutches! I was done with the OS before 8:30, even though my appointment wasn't even till 8:45! Even though my ultrasound appointment wasn't supposed to be till 11 we decided to go radiology to see if they could fit me in sooner, and they usually are pretty flexible so I got in pretty quickly. However since I was there an hour earlier, getting another type of imaging on another body part ordered by another doctor, there was a bi...

Friday night my fingers on my right hand started swelling and became painful. I ate dinner and brushed my teeth with me left hand. It only got worse Saturday morning, and I had a debate tournament. Not willing to let myself or my partner down I still went. I took my NSAIDs as usual and added in some extra strength Tylenol. Determined to make it through I threw my roll-on thing of IcyHot in my bag. When I got there and was given the topic and had to start writing my case I could barely grip my pen. The swelling and pain in my pointer and middle finger were horrible so in a final attempt to be able to write I whipped out the IcyHot. A year ago I would have laughed if someone told me I would be using IcyHot on my hands, after-all the reason I have the roll-on kind is so it won't get on my hands! Desperate times call for desperate measures! It took a lot of application to kick in, which wasn't till half way through round 2. To mak...