All posts tagged: zerotohero

A book of fiction and fun

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I am in the process of writing my first novel. It is called Matilda and her Alien. Matilda owns a bookstore. One day a man mysteriously appears in her store to say that he is an alien,  she is an alien, and they are at risk of being murdered, by men from another planet. It is fairly easy to believe him. Bertrand. Handsome. Charming. Twinkling blue eyes. Then , of course, she had met him years ago.  Their adventures span the globe as well as nearby planets. There are many colorful characters. Ahmed, Baghdad interpreter, Dr John, a South African trauma surgeon, Isabella, the Santa Fe psychic, and places like Solana, Granville, Albuquerque and Minnesota. Will they be able to save their fellow mutant BlueStone from slave labor and death? I am having a lot of fun writing this book. It is a lot more fun to write than non-fiction. I continue on the biologic, Kevzara, for my RA, plus low dose Medrol (6mg daily). I can take more of the Medrol when I have flares. …

Writing and RA

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About six months ago I fell into a writer’s block. I could not read another article on rheumatoid arthritis or write another article about living with it  I continued to read my Danial Silva novels, and as time passed I let Bob, my sourdough starter, pass into sourdough heaven. Who knows why what did happen. But I changed. Yes, I did. I watched the world series with my son. I was totally amazed at how unpredictable a game of baseball played out. It was fun. I love the Phillies. I joined my son and became a Phillies fan. We watch all the Phillies games that we can. I know all the players. Bryce Harper, first base, JT catcher, Bohm and home runs. All the players are great. Last night’s game was exciting. The Phillies were behind. Bohm finally  tied the game and Castellanos made the winning play in the tenth inning. Wow! Seven years ago I wrote a  10,000 word start to a novel. I put it away. I decided to take another look at …

The Balance of an RA Life

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Rheumatoid arthritis is unlike many diseases. RA is a disease that is chronic. It is a disease that is progressive meaning that it will get worse over time. It is debilitating meaning that it will interfere with your ability to have a normal life. There is no cure. It is a tough disease. It may start slowly. It might not even be symmetrical right out of the gate. Or it might be like mine. Acute. Severe. All the classic symptoms. And it never really stops. Mine is seronegative which means the test for certain factors is negative. Those with seropositive disease have more joint damage but those with seronegative have more systemic inflammation. I recently had a full body scan after I had surgery for melanoma. There doesn’t seem to be more melanoma lurking in my body, but my whole cardiovascular system has atherosclerosis. No wonder those with RA die of heart disease! A diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis is not a ticket to feel sorry for yourself. It doesn’t help. I was lucky to learn that as …

Ballgames and a PET scan

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We are busy watching the Phillies playing the Arizona Razorbacks. We loved the first game and then the next was 10 zip in favor of the Phillies. Fun. Now they have moved to Arizona to play three games. They lost the first two. Tonight is the third game. Instead of our movie we are watching the game. We will get takeout and hope for the best. Anyway, the games have been excellent in spite of the winner. Yesterday I had a PET body scan to see if the melanoma had metastasized. The tech injected a radioactive tracer intravenously. The tracer is attracted  to the activity of cancer cells and will cluster in them. It was a two hour process.  I had to wait an hour while the radioactive substance saturated my cells before the scan was done. Now the hard part. I could say the not knowing was no problem. It wouldn’t be correct. If I am cancer free, I will be thrilled. If I am not, I will have an uncertain future. Melanoma  can …

A Good Week

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Life has been good. I had a special treat recently. I had my youngest son all to my self for a day. Growing new memories. He has  returned  to his home in Texas. The weather has suddenly turned cooler. And I have suddenly settled into one of my worst flares of late.  It is amazing how that works. Doing fine. Then suddenly not doing  fine.  I took extra indica cannabis last night. I needed the extra help sleeping as I was on the front end of a flare. The night before I had taken extra Medrol. I still woke up this morning in total pain. My hands burned and ached. My shoulders hurt. All my joints  chirped in and I felt sick all over. I had to keep moving as I had a morning appointment with my primary. I poured water into the  coffee machine and added coffee. Next I let Francis out. The NYTimes and coffee were not enough to sort myself out. I went to the appointment holding on to my son. Audrey …

Book and cannabis report

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My new book, Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis   is available in Kindle Unlimited as well as available for purchase on Amazon. My old nursing school friend, Florence, read my book. She had so many kind words for me, I’m almost blushing as I write them. This is what she had to say:  “Just finished your amazing book. Not only are you one of the most courageous individuals I have ever known, but you are a gifted writer as well.   Your book is a valuable work of hope, courage, and very extensive information about a devastating disease; a gift to others suffering from RA.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   I appreciate her kind words. I’m sure in her practice she saw what rheumatoid arthritis can do to a person. Medicine has changed and still has not changed. RA is still devastating for many. .