We live in Albuquerque. Sunny day. Tomato plants outgrowing their nursery. Pantry is stocked as usual, and our internet is dependable. Doctor appointments are via phone. Trips to the grocery store are carefully planned. There is no bread flour or other baking supplies on the grocery shelves. Eggs can be hard to get. There is no food in Amazon’s Pantry.  We are on lockdown. Yet we still count ourselves as lucky people.

We do not have the virus. No one in our family has the virus. Francis, our little cockapoo, is healthy. Our pantry shelves are stocked. Our income, at this moment, is as it should be. Our home is safe. We are lucky.

I have rheumatoid arthritis. Recently I had to stop taking my RA meds, methotrexate and hydroxychloroquine as two of my cancer docs said to stop. I had developed necrotic, infected tissue from breast cancer radiation treatment. This infection started in October. I had a partial mastectomy in December followed by a severe cellulitis. Now after months of treatment at the wound clinic, there is great progress. I am now injecting honey by syringe and blunt nosed needle into what is left of the wound, and it is gradually healing. My nurse said healing is quicker than she thought it would be.

A few weeks ago, I developed a severe RA flare. Many of my joints are affected by RA. In a flare it feels as though my whole body is inflamed. I was quickly becoming incapacitated. I could hardly walk down to the kitchen. My RA doc is always saying treatment is a balance with quality of life.

I restarted my methotrexate but only at 12.5 mg subq. This was half my normal dose. I also restarted the hydroxychloroquine. I started a Medrol dose pack. Now a few weeks out I am stable. I have always had a running level of inflammation in my body. So, it is still there but tolerable. I am no longer on the edge of not functioning. Lucky again.

My biggest worry right now is figuring out how to keep my growing tomato plants happy in the house until the nights are warm enough to keep them outdoors. It won’t be long. I miss going to Lowe’s nursery. Since I can’t go to the nursery, I decided to start growing marigolds from seeds too.

Hope my writing finds you well.