Happy New Year

As I write this, December has just four hours left, and then we’ll be on to a brand new year.  2012 looks like it will start off well – that means no doctor appointments scheduled in January.  Don’t get me wrong, I have great doctors.  I’m just tired of needing to see them.

From a medical standpoint, 2011 was discouraging.  Despite the fact that I blog about living with an autoimmune disease, I really don’t want “patient” to be my full-time job.  I don’t even want it to be a part-time job.  Given that I have to deal with an incurable disease, I’d love to be well-controlled so that I could pop in for a quick check-up with my rheumatologist every six months and forget about it the rest of the time.  What a contrast when compared to 2011′s reality!

Adding up my office visits over this past year, I had many more than two simple rheumy appointments:

• 6 Rheumatologist
• 9 Family Physician
• 3 Podiatrist
• 1 ENT (I did not go for testing, and cancelled the follow-up appointment)
• 4 GI
• 3 Surgeon

Add in:

• 1 outpatient x-ray
• 1 outpatient CT
• 1 outpatient ultrasound
• 3 outpatient trips to the OR
• 10 physical therapy session
• 5 days inpatient (numerous tests and doctor consultations while in the hospital)

That’s twenty-six office visits to see physicians and sixteen other appointments, for a total of forty-two medical appointment in 2011 – plus five days in the hospital.  No wonder I felt like I was always seeing someone for medical care.

It’s exhausting.  I sincerely hope that 2012 is better, because I am D.O.N.E!

***

Believe it or not, I have a life apart from obtaining medical care.  On a happy note, our first calves of the season arrived on Christmas day.  Twins!

Unfortunately, the mother did not feed them.  For two days we took a bottle to the pasture to feed, but when it turned rainy and the calves were looking in sad shape, my son showed up in my kitchen with a calf in his arms and asked me to get some towels to warm and dry the calf.  While I rubbed the first one down, he went after the second calf.

One of the calves was strong enough to take a bottle, but we had to feed the other one with a stomach tube.

Unfortunately, the weaker calf didn’t make it, but the other is doing quite well.  She loved to get to her feet in the middle of the night and tap-dance so we’d know she was recovering nicely.

In my book, if a calf is healthy enough to take a bottle and clomp about at-will, it’s healthy enough to move outdoors.  Lest you worry that we tossed her back out in the pasture, never fear.  She’s warm and dry, out of the wind and rain.

It’s nice to have my kitchen back.  It’s nice to know that the calf is okay.

And I’m hopeful that 2012 will have many such happy outcomes.

Wishing you a Happy New Year 

Never Make Assumptions

Now that I’m (probably) done ranting about Children’s facilities fee…

DMARDs can have some weird side effects, and not all of them are printed on the medication’s package insert.  It’s probably a good idea to mention those side effects to your doctor sooner, rather than later, just to make sure that whatever is going on really is a side effect and not something to be concerned about.

A month or so ago I read one of those Symptoms You Shouldn’t Ignore articles and thought to myself, “Hmmm… I have a couple of those symptoms.  Maybe I should discuss this with my doctor, seeing as I’ve only spent $2507.25 on medical expenses this year, significantly down from the $4189.74 I spent last year.”

I wasn’t surprised when the doctor ordered tests and more tests, the results of which determine whether or not more tests are needed.  Weary, but not surprised.

It was very nice to have him be candid and not beat around the bush:  “This could just be from all the medications, but we need to see what’s going on to make sure it isn’t cancer.”

Now I’m waiting for test results, and trying to avoid searching for information on the internet.  That means I’ve not used my computer for much other than checking in with family and friends on Facebook.  It’s been good to just push things to the back of my mind and try to ignore them.

Meanwhile, the world still spins and life goes on.  We’ve started a new school term and it looks to be a very challenging year.  Up til now I’ve been able to handle helping my kids with their schoolwork without too much difficulty.  This year the older kids’ classes include biology, chemistry, and advanced physics, and I can’t just answer questions about those things off the top of my head.  I’ve done okay up through algebra 2 and geometry, but suspect I’ll have to review my trig to help my son with his pre-calc course.  I really don’t have time to have my life disrupted by even more medical appointments.

Life is pretty full and time-consuming right now.  I’m swamped, but loving it.  Recent events have emphasized how important it is that I make the most of my time with my kids.

If you notice weird symptoms, don’t spend twenty-one months assuming they’re due to your meds.  Talk to your doctor to make sure.

Quick Update

Having realized that I’m probably never going to feel “normal” again, I decided that it’s time to quit waiting around  to do stuff when I feel better.  I’m definitely better than without treatment, and this might be as good as it gets.  That’s a pretty depressing thought, but one I’m trying to come to grips with.

That being the case, I have all sorts of things that I’ve been using feeling crummy as an excuse to not do.  No more.  There’s work to be done and I need to do it whether I feel up to it or not.

Cherries are ripe (a month late, due to our strange weather). We’ve been picking for a week and the trees still look full.

Gardens = weeding.  That makes my hands swell enough that I can’t open the gate when I’m done, but at least the weeds are pulled, which leads to healthier plants.  I’ve been thinking of an analogy with mulch & ways to make RA better, so that will be a future post.

I discovered that the database I built for keeping track of my medical appointments/expenses needs quite a few modifications if I’m going to share it with anyone else.  When I’m the only one using the database, it’s easy enough to make little changes whenever I want.  If someone else uses it, I have to disable that option so someone doesn’t accidentally break the program.  I’m working on those changes, now.  My brother took a look at my program one day when he was visiting, and said that my records are probably more complete than my doctors!  He’s mistaken, but they’re more complete than before I started keeping notes

We sold two of the kids’ horses.  That should keep the hay bill down this winter.  I also bought a horse for myself.  He promptly ran through the neighbor’s barbed-wire fence and got all cut up.  Vet bill was $365 and I get to medicate the horse twice a day for a couple weeks.

Our textbooks for the coming school year started arriving.  The younger boys grabbed their math books and asked if it would be okay to start now instead of waiting.  Too bad they don’t feel the same way about composition!

We’ve been to a few baseball games, and that’s been a nice break.  People give my husband tickets, so we’ve had great seats.  Last time, my feet were killing me.  The lounge was up on the top level, and our seats were down near the field.  My husband recognized my waddling (which is what I call it when you’re limping on both sides) and let me sit there while he did all the running up and down for snacks.

I made it all the way through June with no doctor’s appointments!  Three in July, and no more scheduled until November!  It astonishes me that a few months between appointments has become such an event.

Life has been busy, and I don’t see it slowing down any time soon.  I’ll try to get one post a week up.

Thanks for checking in.  Hope life is treating you well.