When You Wish Upon A Star...

As you probably know by now (and if not, you will now), I have this bucket list that I regularly work on to keep my dreams alive.  Just less then a year ago I was working on a trip abroad with my daughter.  Unfortunately that isn't going to happen exactly as I had hoped but you know me....I NEVER give up my dreams.

OK, I may not get to the Eiffel Tower as hoped or even Italy to feast on their yummy looking foods. But dog gone it, I am going somewhere! We have modified our trip and are now trying to make our way south to Disney World.  We have been there before and loved it so much, we decided that if we couldn't do France we would do Epcot and take a trip around the world instead!

The reservations are booked (haven't figured out whether I will rent a wheelchair or buy one and bring it with me this time) and I am in the throws of trying to figure out how to pay for this trip. It is like 1/6 of what a European vacation would have cost us and thus the change in plans. Yes, the economy is tight here in my home too but we have already been putting away for our dream trip (see how to earn a little extra cash), so we have a good chunk of the Disney Trip saved already.

Slow and steady will win this race! The target date for this trip is December.

Since Spring is officially here and we have had rain for the past 7 weekends in a row, I am now officially ready for our bi-yearly yard sale. Slow and steady....slow and steady (ABC'S of an RA Yardsale). In the past I would have had our sale only in the garage but since my daughter now has a newer car and needs to park Bee-Bee (the car's name) safely away at night...I now only having two days to set this one up. This should be interesting is all I can say. My new strategy is to label/price items inside my home and pile them all over my living room until the two day set up which starts tomorrow.  At which point I plan on calling in my elfs...I mean family members. Just thinking about this is making me tuckered out. Wish me luck! I am going to need it!

But when I get tired, when I get fed up, when I think I just can't do it anymore...I will wish upon a star and remember...

Dreams really can come true!

We just have to believe!

In The Joint...Part III

Onward and upward on the joint travels!  So far I have covered all my finger joints and today I will be debuting my wrist, elbow, and shoulder joints.

My wrists are probably the worst joints impacted with ra.  And for me they cause quite a few problems in regards to doing anything at all.  Between the swelling, tendon issues, and often pain, I have alot of problems doing everyday things such as lifting anything except maybe a coffee cup. Well having that limit pretty much puts me dependent on everyone and anyone who might be kind enough to vacuum, carry groceries, clean the bathtub, etc. Yup, I have to admit...I HATE my wrists and their lack of fortitude in fending off the attack of ra.

And because of their whimpiness, I am often forced to wear such horrid gear as the "wrist splint". Still no improvement out there on fashion forward sox splints (if you are wondering what in the world I am referring to....check out my blog post entitled RA Junk Art.

Traveling just a bit up the road to the next joint...technically speaking the elbow joint, we find this means that the humerus is connected to the ulna and the radius. Humerus...I wonder if that is what adults were referring to when I was a kid. I was told it was my funny bone that would hurt so much when I banged it the wrong way. I found no humor in that at all!

The Southern Orthodpedic Institute's above diagram illustrates this rather nicely. Their website is packed with different problems we autoimmuner's might expect to encounter when inflammation and elbow joints are involved.

Once again the ra monster has been nibbling away regularly on both my elbows. Right from the onset, my right elbow was completely hit with the ra. It was hit early and to this day suffers from permanent joint damage with limited range of motion. No ra medication has slowed this joint damage for me personally.

I remember when I first went into an elbow orthopedic doctor for a cortisone injection into my right elbow. At that time it was giving me such a sharp pain that I would almost drop to my knees.  After xrays, he explained that the ligament was getting hung up on a jagged joint and that was causing the intense pain when I tried to move it a certain way. He gave me the injection (which by the way helped immensely) and offered me several surgeries to try and not only correct that problem but my elbow extension problem as well.  He did also say that the surgery would not stop further joint deterioration. I opted not to do the surgeries at that time as I was dealing with throat problems which took precedent in my book.

In regards to my shoulder joints, I have not had them xrayed...ever.  But I have noticed I am lopsided lately and their appears to be inflammation in particular on my left side. I am wondering, in my case, which came first, the chicken or the egg.  Or rather, the tendon or the shoulder problem. I am guessing here, but I strongly suspect I have alot of tendon and possibly muscle damage going on and believe it is my tendons that might be causing the lopsided tilt.  During our picture taking, my daughter kept asking me to lower my right shoulder as she said it was sticking up. Ummmmm...well...that isn't possible, that is just my stance with ra.

For all of these joints, the only help I have found to date has been the wrist splint or cortisone injections. However, it is my understanding that these types of injections should be limited to three over your life time per joint.  Based on that information from my old orthopedic doctor, I have been holding off on these injections for as long as possible. If I do the math, that gives me one injection about every ten years per joint based on hitting the 85 year mark or there abouts.  Geezzz...talk about endurance!

But as with so many things we raers deal with...even that number is about as clear as mud. If you want to go in for a mud bath to wash off any doubts, I suggest you further read up on this subject.

I would love to hear from any of you out there that have come up with an easy way to clean a tub. I have yet to figure out a way to do this without having to suffer for days afterwards. Calling all Heloise's helpful hints!

And once again my beloved Moomee just had to get in on the take...

"Lookz Gamz Gamz...Iz canz doz thatz tooz! Movez overz, youz blockingz thez cameraz!"

"Andz herez myz elbowz jointz. Aint'z itz prettyz?"

Further readings on In The Joint:

In The Joint

In The Joint....Part II

Fear!

Fear is defined as:

fear/fi(ə)r/

Noun:	An unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.
Verb:	Be afraid of (someone or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening: "farmers fear that they will lose business".
Synonyms	noun.  dread - fright - apprehension - funk - awe - alarm verb.  be afraid - dread - apprehend - funk - be afraid of I have probably experienced more fear in the last 14 years of my life then in my entire lifetime pre ra.  When I was first diagnosed I was fearful of losing my job, being too sick to take care of my children, taking the medications that go along with treating ra, becoming too much of a burden on my husband and least I not forget, I was most fearful of the pain associated with my ra. I am not sure why fear goes hand in hand with a chronic illness diagnoses but it does. And although it is something that becomes manageable right along with the illness, it can take a long, long time to manage. I am proud to report that I have conquered one more fear recently and this particular one has not a thing to do with ra. I have always had this fear….. yup…the fear of heights.  I am not sure exactly when this fear snuck into my life but I really believe that after battling so many health fears over the years, conquering this one was the next natural step. I was actually surprised at just how easy it was to get onto The Sky Wheel and take the height challenging ride. And yes, my heart still was pounding, my blood pressure probably went up a tad bit but I chalk all that up to excitement of the best kind.  It was awesome!  And if by chance (betting you do have some) you have any fears over being diagnosed with a chronic condition like ra or life threatening condition, here are a few tricks (well rather steps) I did along the way to overcome my fears: Realize that it is normal to be fearful at times. Become a pro-active patient. Submerse yourself in knowledge about your disease(s). Don't worry if you have to fire a doctor here and there…it goes with the territory. Medications are a part of the plan but do know the possible side effects so you know what to expect if they happen to you. Surround yourself with support including online, face to face (friends and family that believe in you). And last, if it all becomes to much…don't forget their are professionals out there to help you overcome your fears. Did I mention, what a view…. So....do tell...what do you fear (or feared) and have you been able to overcome that fear?