Some 'Splainin'

Well y'all, I guess I haven't done very well at keeping you in the loop.

Last we talked, I was about to go see a rheumatologist for some unexplainable joint pain and fatigue. I was worried he wouldn't listen or that he would jump to an "easy conclusion." In reality, he spent over an hour just talking to me. He examined every joint, looked over my lab work from the last 4 years and let me ramble about all the things that I felt may or not be related. He shared with me about his 30+ years of experience and how he didn't throw around diagnoses lightly. All very encouraging things. I sat there thinking any minute he was going to tell me to take some Motrin and wait out some virus that has parked itself in my joints. Instead, he proceeded to list all the (very believable) reasons he thinks I have Lupus. All his reasons were solid, things I couldn't argue with. I left there speechless, a bit stunned, and with several prescriptions in hand- one to fight the joint pain and one to treat this "Lupus".
In the wake of this, I decided to start the prednisone to help stop this spiral of joint pain. Hubby and I also decided to "cast a wide net" (as he put it) and get a couple other opinions. I have known several people to get false Lupus diagnoses and I want to make sure we know exactly what we are dealing with. One thing I can't ignore is the aching and throbbing in almost every joint in my body. I think the prednisone is helping. I have more energy at least. :)

So basically, that is where I stand. I have a couple other rheumatology appointments in the next few weeks. I am taking the prednisone, cutting WAY back on computer time, going to bed earlier, blah, blah, blah.... just trying to do whatever I can to start to feel better and maybe take a little better care of myself. This joint pain has gotten to an un-liveable level and I gotta do something about it (I feel like such a complainer right now! But I am also trying to be honest about this whole thing.).
And in what may seem to you to be counter-productive, I am still running. It is some of the only time I feel un-tethered. And it doesn't hurt while I am running. I pay for it a bit afterwards, but mostly I feel good that I am working my body and getting stronger. Truthfully, it hurts less to run than to walk sometimes because when I am running, I am in a different zone. That sounds so crazy to say, but is somehow true. So I am not ready to give it up, at least until I get through the 5K in 2weeks that was my original goal point. Then maybe I'll have to slow it down some.

So there you have it. Some 'splainin'. Thank you for all your calls and e-mails and prayers. I haven't been a very good friend or blog-friend lately. I haven't been reading enough about y'all. But I will get back there. I just gotta take some time to figure things out a bit. I am not really anxious about this. I am just trying to take it one day at a time. I am anxious about a lot of other things, though, and I am trying to work through that in the midst of this. So again, I am so sorry and so grateful for my friends. Love to y'all.


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