A Health Update

My doc had ordered some labs that were done yesterday and I just so happened to have an appointment with my rheumatologist today. They were very telling. There was a lot of good news. In fact, I'd say they were the best darn labs I'd had drawn in over two years. As someone with a chronic illness that means a lot. All my CBC and other numbers look really good. However, there were two numbers that were concerning, but made sense. See, the last labs drawn at Carswell actually showed my inflammatory markers as nearly normal for the first time since I'd gotten sick. The sed rate and c-reactive proteins are very important markers for how active my illness is. Since they were low, I had been experiencing less pain and had all that energy and workouts were great. However, lately, my workouts (same ones) have been tougher, my pain has increased, my fatigue has increased, and I've noticed that I just can't do as much. Well, the blood work showed that my inflammatory markers are twice what they were in May and are well above normal ranges. Ah, that explains it!! The doc is raising the dosage of one of my meds and seeing how it goes. She also told me something I didn't know - sometimes flair ups are seasonal and asked if I'd noticed it... Well, it was in September two years ago that my health went really out of control so maybe summer/fall is my bad season. I'll have to track it. In the meanwhile, though, my job is to live with my chronic illness, not let my chronic illness live my life. I'm going to keep working out and adjust as needed and accept that sometimes I just have bigger limitations than other times.

In other news, Freckles is officially out of Carswell and at a halfway house. I'm so happy for her. Like me, not everything went according to her plan, but now she has her own room (I believe), access to a personal phone and vehicle, the ability to see her husband, the ability to work and earn real money (she already has a job), and a chance to move forward with her life. I think since she did RDAP, she will be at the halfway house 4-6 months, but her sentence is cut like a full year and she will be able to do some of her RDAP after care on home confinement. I think Freckles will be good with all the rules. She really isn't a troublemaker. I'm just so glad she is out of that place and able to start picking up the pieces of her life! I'm not sure how I would've gotten through Carswell, especially those last 5 or so months, without Freckles!!

Tonight I watched the DVD of the movie, "Divergent," which is a book series I loved. The movie was pretty good, but I'm glad I read the books first (isn't that usually the case). I hate to admit that I have yet to read a full book since I've been home. I also haven't finished my blanket. I have books to read. I have everything I need to finish the blanket. I have no excuses. I can't even tell you what I'm doing that's taking up so much of my time. I do feel a bit unstructured since I've been home. I never thought I'd enjoy knowing that I'd have 45 minutes at 4pm every day to relax and read or again at 9pm. I certainly don't want a regimented schedule again, plus I have errands and real responsibilities now, but I need to build in some time for reading and hobbies. I really do miss it! Plus, since I can't be working out as hard due to my current state of health, I mind as well be working out my brain and creativity!