Month: January 2015

Exploring and moving

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Do you really want to spend any time walking on a treadmill or  riding a stationary bike?  Indoors? Sure, it’s great if you live in Watertown, NY and you get socked in with snow. It’s also good if you live in a bad neighborhood.  But if you live in Albuquerque( ABQ to us), there is more to be had.  Walking with your camera in the great open spaces. I am a professional photographer. I have all the big expensive cameras with the impressive lens. I also have a seriously progressing Rheumatoid Arthritis. I have been lying low with pain and inflammation. Finally, I am ready to move again.  Baby steps.  Out walking trying to get my legs again, I take an old digital Canon. Fast. Satisfying. Easy. I would never have seen these Sand hill Cranes when walking on a treadmill. I love these guys. Makes my heart happy to see these 4 foot visitors from the North. One of the oldest surviving birds, they mate for life and care for their young for a year. …

Finally, a life

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I really thought I was going to die last year.  To prepare, I filled out the final wishes form.  Next, I made an attempt to simplify my financial records. I said thank you to all the people who have been helping me the last few years. I had a garage sale. What the heck, I thought, I would be the one to get the money if I had one before I died. Just as I thought things were going to get worse, they were already terrible, I started coming out of the methotrexate fog.  I could think clearly again.  O happy days.  At least I had my mind.  Both cancers could return.  My RA could leave me immobilized.  Yet, I would be able to read.  My favorite thing to do.  Preston and Child’s Pendergast series. Baldacci’s adventures. All the fascinating medical books. I could be happy. The methotrexate injections, Plaquenil, leflunomide and the prednisone finally calmed the ever-present inflammation in my body.  This was after 2 years.  And it may not last long, but it is …

The challenge of Feet

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My rheumatologist sent me to a podiatrist, a foot doctor.                 Charming man. Once a client of mine.        X-rays were ordered, the podiatrist way. Standing. Weight bearing. Three views each.  For the third view I climbed steps  and was x-rayed  at foot level.   A  much better test than the standard foot  x-rays. Results: persistent degenerative changes with in the feet bilaterally. I admit that this was expected. What happens next?  My doc said surgery is not the answer.  As my feet get worse he feels steroid injections would be helpful. Now it is important that I wear shoes that fit  well and offer good support.  I should also wear special inserts (Motion Control performance insoles by Prothotics). I got the inserts first.  They are so much better than anything you will find at Target or Walmart. They have support for feet in areas that are thinning in RA. He suggested our New Balance store or REI.  New Balance was closer. They fitted the inserts and fitted …