Tuesday, May 1, 2018

TMI #One


My 2003 Chevrolet has decided to bite the dust. Again.  Last time, a local dealer said it needed a motor.  I nearly wept.  With 233,000+ miles, I highly doubt that our friends @Chevy make ‘em as good as ol Bessie. This go round, she croaked on Scott on the way home from work.

He was able to nurse the old girl home in 2nd gear.  She made it, but barely.  He thinks it’s the transmission.  Our son Brandon, thinks it’s possibly solenoids in/on the transmission.  At this point, we can only hope and pray that it isn’t terminal.

Of course, she only acts up when there is another major bill due.  Like you know, tuition.  Of course last time it nearly died, it was two weeks before Christmas and 3 weeks before spring tuition was due.  When is summer tuition due, you ask?  Only in 8 days.

It is the curse of the Thorpes’ and how it normally works in racing.  If it’s gonna break down or tear up, it normally does the day before Scott leaves to go out of town.  Semantics, two days before he goes out of town.  Regardless, we are down to one wore out vehicle.

I know, go buy a new one.  Have you met me?  I’m probably one of the most frugal accountants you’ll ever meet.  I like to plan a purchase and hunt the best price.  80% of our furniture is either 2nd hand or given to us.  I don’t thrift, I just don’t like to shop.  And I especially abhor car shopping.

Note:  We did recently purchase our eldest a brand spanking new 2018 Rav4.  Her previous car was about dead and it too only broke down when Dad was out of town.  Since she is an extremely motivated student and has Zell plus other scholarships and works multiple part time gigs, we decided to go ahead and purchase new.  Plus a Toyota.  She has aspirations of grad school and to become an orthopedic physician’s assistant.  I wanted to purchase a car that she could get 10 solid years out of.

My car philosophy is buy lightly used and drive until they are dead.  Wring all the goody out of them, and then get some more.  I’ve only bought two vehicles since I graduated from college, not counting the Rav4.  Occasionally, when we are going through a breakdown, I get pissed and look.  Then I get even madder at Detroit.  Have you seen those car prices?  Outrageous.

But just in case an overly generous person is reading and feels sorry for me, I want a Tahoe, preferably with a heated steering wheel for my arthritic hands.  Heated seats are pretty standard these days and a backup camera for my achy shoulders.
What I really really, really really want.

Monday, April 23, 2018

Weather or Not?


Does the weather get your rheum all in a twist?  I must say between the psycho Georgia weather and pollen, my rheum has been majorly confused and flaring big time.  Having lived in Georgia 98% of my life, I can say without one doubt, the change in weather DOES affect my allergies and rheumatoid disease.

I’ve had doctors and other health care people tell me the weather doesn’t affect rheumatoid and flares at all. My current rheumy agrees that weather changes can cause pain and discomfort.  Per website Everyday Health, weather is one of seven triggers of a flare.

Fellow Rheum sufferer and writer, Ashley Boynes-Shuck has written several books and blog posts about rheum and noted on WebMD that she also experiences flares as the seasons change.  I follow her on twitter and she has a lot of information that is great for new rheum patients.

This past weekend, I wanted to replant vegetable seedlings.  The crazy Georgia weather report showed a slight cold front and a lot of rain starting on Sunday afternoon.  Yes, I got all of my baby vegetable plants repotted and safely stored on the front porch out of the rain.  I consider my future garden a great method of exercise.

With the rain and wind blowing in, I began to stiffen up.  I knew it was coming and spent the remainder of the day in my warm fuzzy pants and t-shirt, wrapped in a blanket.  I should have broken out with the electric blanket and probably will before the day is over.

Does the weather affect your flares?  If so, do you notice the change more from hot to cold or cold to warm?  For me, it’s basically any change from season to season. Even barometric pressure changes can cause me to flare.  Hurricane season is fun too.

What do you do for your flares?  Personally, I like heat.  I’ll use heating pads, electric blankets and sometimes put my favorite blanket in the dryer to get it warm. Even in the summer, I will use a hand warmer at work when the air condition is too cold.

The weather is going to be nasty the rest of the week.  At my rheumy’s suggestion, I’m going to add to more moderate stretching and some walking to keep my muscles limbered up. Hopefully we will have warmer weather and no rain soon.  Until then, I’m going to try my best to stay warm and get this flare under control.

Friday, April 13, 2018

Vitamins and Supplements for Autoimmune Issues


Sometimes we just never k now.  Is it an infection, it is viral, did the meds cause it? Normally I can tell when a bad day is coming.  They kind of predict themselves, ya know?

I woke up about 3:30 am with the yucks.  I had mouth sores this week and they were much worse.  Were they meds related or viral?  I tried to make the day at work, but it just wasn’t going to happen.  I spend the day in the bed alternating a cold rag, zophran and Excedrin migraine.  Gargling with warm salty water helped the mouth sores, but they are still aggravating the snot out of me.

Just another day in the rheum life, right?  If I had to guess, I’m saying viral.  With two school kids in the house, I get exposed to my fair share of germs.  I’m very diligent about hand washing but I’m not one of those sanitizer freaks.  It’s not unusual for me to catch a bug every now and then.

About a year ago, I began to take vitamins more seriously.  I take a multivitamin dosage each day.  I also alternate extra vitamin D and calcium as well as daily vitamin C.  Unfortunately my skin is to the point that sun exposure is painful, so I felt that the extra vitamin C was important.  The plus side, I’ve had noticeably less colds this year.

My rheumy is great about the vitamins and agrees that the extra D and calcium have improved my blood work.  I’ve historically had very low vitamin D as well as low iron.  I don’t like to take iron, so I try to eat scrambled eggs and spinach about twice per week cooked in an iron skillet.  That seems to be working as well. The iron is lower than the Doc would like, but not to the point of supplements.

So what do you guys do?  How do you try to keep the virus and other germ caused illnesses at bay? Do you use supplements to help keep you well?  And do you take these year round or only in the winter more germy months?

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Alot Has Changed


In the past four years a lot has gone on in the Thorpe family.  We’ve moved two more times.  The hubs resumed his NASCAR career. DD1 has graduated from high school and is a freshman in college. DD2 will be a senior this next year.  The bonus baby is a teenager.  Oh. My. Word.

Sadly, my rheumatoid disease has also continued to evolve.  It has progressed and not in a positive way. I have a GREAT rheumy doc.  He is determined to get me back to my baseline.  I have hopes that he can. 

A bad flare back in September (thanks to my friend Stress) sent me to the ER.  The Enbrel that has given me so much relief doesn’t seem to be cutting the mustard.  I still take methotrexate and Satan’s tic tacs when I have to. I religiously take vitamins and almost made it through the horrific flu season unscathed.

After enduring many sleepless nights or sleeping upright in a recliner, I finally schedule an appointment with an orthopedic shoulder specialist.  You don’t realize how much that slight inward roll of your shoulder means until you can’t do it.  Especially if you are right handed and it’s the right shoulder. Ouch!!

I got to the point that lifting my arm up and over to brush my hair was impossible.  Buttoning my pants became an Olympic jumping sport.  Yes, there should be videos.  And most possibly the most humiliating, was fastening a bra.  OK, at that point you gotta go to the doctor.

At the ripe age of 48, I need a total shoulder replacement.  Then I watched the video. Nope. Nope & no freaking way.  They cut your arm off.  Ahhhhhhh.  I’m still wigging out.

At least the doctor and I agreed that we needed to attempt to kick this can down the road.  Most TSR only last 15 years.  Which could mean I could possibly endure three of em in my life time.  I’m just not ready for all that.   Plus the healing time of 8 to 10 weeks, coming completely off ALL my meds, and the risk of infection led me to hope for other options.

The good Doctor ruled out therapy, noting that it would likely make the shoulder worse.  We opted to begin treatment with a shot into the joint.  It did provide more motion and flexibility.  But not being the brightest thing, I’ve tried to overdo it quite a bit.  Hard to make up that 6 months of slacking.

It’s been two weeks since the shot.  It is still painful to sleep on my side and I have spent a few nights in the recliner.  I revisit the good Doc in two weeks.  If this doesn’t produce enough relief, we will try to scope it next and clean it out a little bit.

I still don’t understand we can’t squirt some spray foam up in there.  That would provide some cushion and be a whole lot cheaper.