Damage Done?

25 Monday Nov 2013

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Apologies on the hiatus. Because of the delay in my medications I started feeling worse and worse and completely uninspired..and a little pissed off.

A) I will sit for my infusion on Wednesday! (the day before US Thanksgiving!) so I will be down for the holidays.

B) I have not built up the medication enough so the week after the holidays I will probably feel awful as well.

Merp. (Aka the sound for how I feel right now)

Even though I do not feel well and I am experiencing a flare, I still push myself to work and exercise.

Here’s my question:

 

A flare = some amount of inflammation.

Some amount of inflammation = my immune system is going after the cartilage around my joints

My immunity attacking itself = damage?

 

I know the Methotrexate and Orencia protect my joints from damage and the Prednisone keeps the inflammation down, but….if I push myself even through a flare am I creating more damage? or am I just exacerbating the pain symptoms?

It is so difficult to see if I am causing damage since there are no visible symptoms…

I have decided that I am going to continue to push myself through my normal activities but rest hard…if that makes sense.

Thoughts? Should I just take a step back or should I just continue on?

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Flashback Friday: One Too Many

22 Friday Nov 2013

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Imagine nap time at the zoo…

 

I am sleeping on my side of the bed. Sunsilk and Marmalade are on the other side, one at my head and the other at my feet. Saachi is asleep on the floor beneath them.

Affie feels left out.

She jumps up between the cats and tries to lay down. Sunsilk will have no such thing.

::SMACK::

Poor Affie flies and lands on Marmalade, who is asleep. Marmalade, startled out of her skin, leaps in the air, hits the wall and lands on Saachi.

Saachi wakes up and throws Marmalade off then chases her out of the room.

Affie watches curiously from the safety of the pillow, curls up, and goes to sleep.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

A Silver Lining

22 Friday Nov 2013

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One of the silver linings of having RA is….::Drum roll::

Grocery shopping!

 

I love shopping for food because I am always hungry.  I eat less, more frequently because my medicine-induced ulcers destroyed my stomach a year ago. I am okay with that! I love to snack!

I have never been able to eat large meals without feeling sick anyways so when my gastroenterologist told me I needed to make these meals even smaller, I was thrilled.

I always have snacks around, in my purse, in my car, in multiple drawers in my house. (Healthy snacks, usually – fruits, veggies, nuts, etc.)

 

This, however, is the downfall. I tend to go overboard while grocery shopping, buying more food than I probably will eat in the week. Though, I never ever let food go to waste!

My flares are accompanied by major nausea which is unfortunate because since I am not moving too much I am always hungry. On the days when I still have to go out and buy dog food I am lucky I am nauseous because it keeps me from buying too many groceries!

Oh the silver lining! …Just like when my ankles and knees are swollen and they make shaving just a bit easier 🙂

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Nail Art: Snowstorm

22 Friday Nov 2013

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And for your reading pleasure…Dumb Sh*t Monica Thinks: I walked into Trader Joe’s to buy dog food late last week and wondered why there were so many turkeys for sale….In my haste to get to the winter holidays I totally forgot about the fall ones!

 

Everyone in DC drives like they are bracing a snowstorm…even when there are barely any flakes.

By the way, it has not snowed yet but everyone thought it would!

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I like the blurrier pictures because they lend more to the effect of snow flurries!

 

I used 2 coats of Sally Hansen Triple Shine “Slick Black”. I am not a huge fan of Sally Hansen polishes but the color on this was too amazing to pass up. I needed two thick coats to reach full opacity. The polish is a lot more sheer than it appears in the bottle.

I stamped with Essie “No Place Like Chrome” and Bundle Monster plate “BM 323”.

I love marbling each color separately. Marbles are messy so they should look messy! Well, not all the time, but I like the look of a “messy marble”.

I marbled with Orly “Bonder” and Sephora by OPI “Go My Own Way”.

I then marbled with Orly and Slick Black. I love how it cancelled out the colors underneath. 

I stamped snowflakes with Julie G “White Orchid” and Bundle Monster plate “BM 319”.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

The Infusion, Part Two

22 Friday Nov 2013

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Apologies on the hiatus, I flared up from playing with my dog and I felt too tired and uninspired to write let alone paint my nails.

Speaking of which, I am sitting late for my infusion this month…again!

 

I love Orencia. While I do not feel 100% at any given point of time, I feel close most days. However, I am very sensitive to medications and being pumped full of 500mg of immuno-suppresant takes it out of me.

I am more or less down for a day or two.

 

Last month, when I got home, my dogs came running to see me – tails wagging, eyes bright, jumping up and down…

Within 5 seconds, their ears went flat against their heads, tails went in between their legs, and their head and shoulders went low.

I was nervous. I did not feel too bad. A little tired but that was all.

 

Saachi and Affie crawled into bed with me and slept on top of me. The cats joined us five minutes later and added themselves to the pile.

We looked like a family of ferrets.

 

Animals are extremely intuitive. They catch on to emotions and feelings we may not know about ourselves.

But even during a bad flare my pets never act this way.

 

Honestly, I was afraid to go to sleep.

Were they acting like this because I had a reaction I did not even know about? Was it safe to close my eyes?

I held out as long as I could but eventually I was too tired to care. I wanted to sleep.

Needless to say, I did wake up…five hours later…

And none of my pets had moved.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Nail Art: Infusion

19 Tuesday Nov 2013

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To see the accompanying post click on the image below.

Not sure why I went with bubbles…or blue…Bubbles in any IV are bad news and the infusion is clear! But, these were the first things that came to mind!

For my next “Infusion” nail art I will try something more realistic….eh, who am I kidding…no I won’t! 🙂

 

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I used 2 coats of Julie G “White Orchid” for the accents and 2 coats of Essie “Naughty Nautical” for the others.

I then dotted with Zoya “Crystal”, butter London “Knackered” and “Hen Party”, and Revlon Parfumerie “Fresh Linen”.

Initially I wanted to marble the accents but I was very curious how Nfu Oh Opal “Nfu 51” looked over white so I added two sheer coats. I was pleasantly surprised by how bright it was! The flakies shifted between orange and green but were not very noticeable, even in person.

I finished the accents with 1 coat of Sephora by OPI Jewelry Top Coat “Lights, Glammer-a, Action!” and 2 coats Serum No5 “Happy Special Day!”. 

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Dumb Sh*t People Say: RA Edition – Series Four, Part Two

19 Tuesday Nov 2013

Posted by in Dumb Sh*t People Say Series, Rheumatoid Arthritis

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“Don’t you feel lazy when you have to sleep most of the day or rest?”

 

It is so not okay to say this to anyone. Ever.

I do not need the reminder of how crippling RA is.

This is not for fun and games or to play hooky from work (Though, I have been lucky in I have not missed work because of it).

Sometimes it is the only way to take down a flare!

 

If I cannot get out of bed, brush my hair, climb the stairs, and I am already on the highest, safest dose of medication, how else do you expect me to take down a flare?

Why is this different from when you are sick with the flu?

It’s not.

 

I think people are incredulous because sleeping all day it is for “sh*ts and giggles” and laziness. To them, it is a choice.

Not for me.

For me, it is a necessity.

I cannot think of anything less fun than feeling more dwarfed by my auto-immune on the days I am chained to my bed.

 

When I bow out of plans I only say I am not feeling well. I no longer mention anything about rest.

People cannot imagine that it takes this much sleep to recover from a flare, so the first thing most people think is I am faking or trying to get out of something.

 

No. 

 

I need to do this to be functional.

And no.

 

I am not lazy.

 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA. (And in order to manage it, I take “sleep” days.)

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