All posts tagged: RA

Look Good Feel Better

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There is one good thing about chemotherapy. It is the Look Good Feel Better program. Fun. A time to share. Like Christmas. It is a two-hour appointment with a cosmetologist in a small group of women who have cancer. I had participated in a program five years ago when I was in radiation treatment for breast cancer. That appointment was at MD Anderson on Indian School near Kaseman. This session was at the Rust Cancer Center and was equally as good as the one five years ago. We are each given a cosmetic bag full of cosmetics that matches our skin tones. The bags come sealed and ready for us. At our places we each have a mirror and cosmetic wipes. Opening the bag is like Christmas. My bag had Chanel powder, lipstick and blush. Clinique foundation, Estee Lauder face cream and eye makeup, IT brow powder and a set of brushes, body lotion and sun screen. Pure joy. Our instructor walks us through the steps of taking care of our face during cancer treatment. …

the joy of roses

Cancer Number Three and RA

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  It is almost a month since I had a robotic radical hysterectomy and it has been four days since I had my first chemo. I feel pretty good all things considered. Additionally, a minor surgical procedure placed a power injectable SMART PORT under my skin connected to a catheter that was threaded into my jugular vein and down to my superior vena cava creating fast access to my body’s circulation.  It is not as bad as it sounds. Sloan Kettering has a PDF that explains the procedure. My skin has been tender, but the lidocaine ointment works and relieves the discomfort. My RA is complaining with all joints hurting morning and again evening time. Walking hurts my feet even though I have custom shoes and custom triple layer inserts.  I am glad I take methotrexate injections, Plaquenil and meloxicam. I take 6 mg Medrol and can boost the dose into a dose pack if needed. So far, I am holding steady. With RA I think it is important to move. Aerobics are nice but …

My RA and CA and me

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If it weren’t for the third cancer hanging over my head, I would be a very happy soul. As it is I am just a happy soul. My roses are blooming. This is their big month and they are not disappointing.  Gardening and puttering through the various chores of my household reminds me of my housewife days. Good days. I aspire to the Hobbit life. Mellow and satisfying. Life in my home. I attend warm water pool classes at the Presbyterian Healthcare facility on Eubank. It is a long drive, but the classes are worth it. A comprehensive and aerobic workout that is manageable in the pool but not on land. Yesterday, I suddenly had a severe pain in my pelvic area that ran down the inside of my leg. Something new. Scared me. I thought about getting out but decided to lower my exercise level and see if it would pass. It did. I am no stranger to pain, back pain, joint pain and now this. Johnny Cash’s Peace in the Valley is sounding …

RA and Another Biopsy

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Back to the hospital for another round with the medical community. When I had learned that I would need an endometrial biopsy for uterine changes due to the breast cancer drug Tamoxifen and a D&C due to polyps, all I could think of was here we go again. I am six months out from a difficult hip replacement recovery. I am still recovering, stiff and sore. But I am in much better shape than I had been. I am in warm water therapy classes several times a week. My garden is a joy. Beautiful, productive and satisfying. My yard is home to rabbits, a squirrel, quail, roadrunner and a happy assortment of birds. By the end of the year I hope to be certified as a wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. My brain is finally working, and I am starting to write again. Then this. I had previously written a blog on getting more bad news. This really isn’t bad yet. I won’t know for another 10 days or so. Those with RA …

RA and the Bread Machine

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In December I had the urge to make bread. It was the same urge that I had several years ago to start knitting. I knitted everyone a beanie, or a wrap or a special heart to say I cared.  I am still knitting. I am working on a blanket project that is over half done, a wrap for my Watertown, NY sister-in-law and a fluffy, bright red beanie for a friend. Now I am adding breadmaking to my list of activities. I researched bread machines on the internet. Found the one I liked, a two-pound Oster and added it to my wish list. Eventually, Amazon made me an offer that I couldn’t refuse. In December during my hip replacement recovery, I became the happy owner of an Oster bread machine. The bread is made in loaf form, has nine plus settings and produces perfect bread mostly by itself in a little over three hours. Along with the machine, I ordered The Bread Machine Cookbook by Donna Rathmell German. It was her first book and I …

RA, Movement and the Slippery Slope

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I need to give you some heartfelt advice that is as close to a warning as I can get. My horrific experience this last year with a hip that was totally worn out put me in a dangerous situation that was as close as I had come to spiraling down the slippery slope to forever. I have rheumatoid arthritis. Those of us who have an autoimmune disorder understand what I mean when I say I have an overwhelming, incapacitating fatigue when I have a flare. Over the last five years I have learned to slow down when the flare signs start to blossom. To take care. So, this last year as the RA pain plus the pain in my hip increased, I did just that. I slowed down. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a flare that passed with additional Medrol and rest. It was a bone on bone raw joint pain that worsened with each passing day. I became debilitated. I was weak. I was living in pain. My doc provided OxyContin and tried very hard to …

RA flare warning signs

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Many of us who have RA have premonitions before the onset of a flare. For me, I start feeling chilled. Occasionally, I will check my temperature to see if I am coming down with something and my temperature will be 100.4 F. or maybe 99.6 F. It is a Rheumatoid Arthritis temperature. Additionally, my skin becomes itchy over joints. They are not always the same joints. Sometimes it is the knuckles and sometimes it is the wrists. I am also energetic and have several irons in the fire at the same time. As a flare draws nearer, I start losing my energy reserve. I feel like my battery is draining to a very low level. I knit more, and my baking becomes less creative. I feel duller. I would rather spend more time watching the Great British Bake Off and less time working on research for my current book. I am sinking. For me, it is time to start a Medrol dose pack and let myself slow down. I will still need to go to …

Too old to have RA

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Thank God for my rheumatologist. She has been supportive through thick or thin.  Originally, she said she thought I had Polymyalgia Rheumatica because of my age and shoulder involvement. I didn’t have it. I have elderly onset rheumatoid arthritis (EORA) which occurs in those over 60, frequently has an acute onset and includes shoulder involvement. My inflammatory markers at the time were sky high. That was me. I proceeded to become symmetrical and have  followed the classic RA pattern. I am also RF negative. My RA seems to confuse the other doctors that I have seen recently.  Some think I am just too old to have RA. Some think because my inflammatory markers are not elevated that my RA is under control. Some think I can’t have RA because I am RF negative. Many otherwise well informed doctors do  have outdated information about Rheumatoid Arthritis. I have sero-negative RA. My RA has never been under control although since my hip replacement I do feel better. My RA is under 5 years old. My feet are …

Back from my hip replacement

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My hip replacement didn’t turn out to be as smooth as I would have expected but my hip joint is fine and all the severe pain I had before the surgery is gone. It is a relief and makes the experience I had well worth the effort. The surgeon said my hip was warn out so I’m very glad he decided to do the surgery. During Thanksgiving week I overdid walking with the cane and sitting too long. So yesterday during my physical  therapy appointment, my therapist and I decided I needed to stay with the walker when I went out and use the cane for practice only at home. My pain had increased and I wasn’t doing as well. Back to the drawing board. Time to let the inflammation in the hip heal and to follow the rules.  And to rest more. I enjoy doing my assigned exercises. Resting more is hard. I have had two RA flares since surgery. One was in the Rehab center as they had skipped my methotrexate dose. Why? …