I've been silent for a long time.
At first I was getting ready for Christmas and getting to know my new great granddaughter. Then between Christmas and New Year's Day, I went into respiratory distress and was rushed into the hospital where I began a serious battle with pneumonia, which almost won. I could only breathe with the help of machines and while propped up on my left elbow.
This was followed by a serious bone marrow depression and I became so ill that I literally saw God. Fortunately, I do not remember much about this time. I do remember looking at my hand and seeing a pale, waxy yellow color with no veins showing. After multiple transfusions and discontinuing all the medications I had been taking, my bone marrow began to grow again slowly. They determined thatI had a reaction to Humira that caused my bone marrow problems and stopping all meds allowed my bone marrow to start to regrow. So slowly they added back the meds I need to survive. The key word here is survive. I am allergic to all the meds known for treatment of arthritis and I have 5 or 6 different types of arthritis. I am surviving but in a great deal of pain. The only things I can take are steroids and Vicodin. This frightens my family because of all the news stories. They say they are afraid I will become addicted. I'm not worried about it. In order to get addicted, you have to take medication beyond what you need for the pain. I never get rid of the pain, so as long as I watch the clock carefully, I will be okay. I also have a few days with minimal pain and I go through them without medication and without withdrawal symptoms.
I also had another admission in February for the flu but that only lasted 3 days. Not the best 3 days of my life, however......LOL
I have lost my ability to walk and now can only take 7 or 8 steps doing the old age shuffle. I don't know if I can learn to walk again. This would be the 8th time I have had to retrain to get upright and I'm not sure it is worth it any more.
I also had a couple of compression fractures in my spine, so no wonder it hurts all the time. There was more going on in there than simple arthritis. It has been 2 months now and the pain is lessening, but I tire so fast. I can only sit an hour or two and can only stand a few minutes.
For the good news, the tremors in my hands are so much less that I can knit again. I haven't been able to do so for over 9 months, but I've managed 4 hats and a pair of mitts since I was discharged. Perhaps now I can knit something for the new babe. She is such a pretty little thing.
At first I was getting ready for Christmas and getting to know my new great granddaughter. Then between Christmas and New Year's Day, I went into respiratory distress and was rushed into the hospital where I began a serious battle with pneumonia, which almost won. I could only breathe with the help of machines and while propped up on my left elbow.
This was followed by a serious bone marrow depression and I became so ill that I literally saw God. Fortunately, I do not remember much about this time. I do remember looking at my hand and seeing a pale, waxy yellow color with no veins showing. After multiple transfusions and discontinuing all the medications I had been taking, my bone marrow began to grow again slowly. They determined thatI had a reaction to Humira that caused my bone marrow problems and stopping all meds allowed my bone marrow to start to regrow. So slowly they added back the meds I need to survive. The key word here is survive. I am allergic to all the meds known for treatment of arthritis and I have 5 or 6 different types of arthritis. I am surviving but in a great deal of pain. The only things I can take are steroids and Vicodin. This frightens my family because of all the news stories. They say they are afraid I will become addicted. I'm not worried about it. In order to get addicted, you have to take medication beyond what you need for the pain. I never get rid of the pain, so as long as I watch the clock carefully, I will be okay. I also have a few days with minimal pain and I go through them without medication and without withdrawal symptoms.
I also had another admission in February for the flu but that only lasted 3 days. Not the best 3 days of my life, however......LOL
I have lost my ability to walk and now can only take 7 or 8 steps doing the old age shuffle. I don't know if I can learn to walk again. This would be the 8th time I have had to retrain to get upright and I'm not sure it is worth it any more.
I also had a couple of compression fractures in my spine, so no wonder it hurts all the time. There was more going on in there than simple arthritis. It has been 2 months now and the pain is lessening, but I tire so fast. I can only sit an hour or two and can only stand a few minutes.
For the good news, the tremors in my hands are so much less that I can knit again. I haven't been able to do so for over 9 months, but I've managed 4 hats and a pair of mitts since I was discharged. Perhaps now I can knit something for the new babe. She is such a pretty little thing.
posted by fran | 7:34 PM
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