Lunch (heart)Break

Today I grabbed lunch and drove to the park to sit under a tree, listen to This American Life, and enjoy the fact that 89 degrees feels deliciously cool to my skin after days of 100 plus.  There is an odd little club of like minded people who sit eating in their cars, or who bring chairs to place in the tiny areas of grass.  I was under my tree and heard a really great laugh from behind me.  A couple was sitting at a picnic table talking and were very much in love.  Their legs were intertwined and they both looked so happy.  I wonder if we would have had lunches at this park if you had moved here and we worked together?  Taking our lunch breaks at the same time to go sit at a picnic table, make jokes, and steal kisses.  You would tell me I had so many cutes and I would trace the cowlick at the front of your forehead.  I don't miss you everyday anymore, but when I do it's more palpable.  It physically hurts to miss you today.

Back on the Horse

After more than a year, it's time for an update no? I started Humira injections two weeks ago today. Just a few minutes ago, I gave myself two shots. So far, no real change. I'm trying hard to harness the power of positive thinking. Humira can take anywhere from two to twelve weeks to start kicking in.

Otherwise, Minneapolis is thawing out a bit. While walking the dog, tiny patches of muddy ground are finally visable. It's not close, but it's closer than it was.

xo

CAC!

Since the awesome experience of my first colonoscopy, my symptoms have not gotten any better. I'm taking 12 pills a day and still having all the same stomach garbage as before. I called my GI today and she told me that the results of the biopsy showed Chronic Active Colitis, which I'm calling CAC. I could still have Crohns Disease, but they're not sure yet. I don't even know how you test for Crohns Diesase, but I don't want it. So, my GI put me on a steroid to get the inflammation under control ASAP. The side effects of steroid therapy all sound awful, including the dreaded weight gain. That scares me and is compounded by the fact that working out has been no fun with the bum hip. The good news is I'll be on a low dose, and decreasing that dose after 5 days. I used to get so embarrassed when my Mimi would ask me if I'd had a "BM" that day. Who knew that 15 years later I'd be keeping a journal about it.

Here we go.

I decided to start blogging about my health issues so that I can keep everyone abreast of what's going on, and track everything my doctors are telling me and how I'm feeling about it. For me lately, when it rains it pours. In late September, after a run on a treadmill during a work trip, my right hip started hurting. It wasn't that kind of soreness pain that I'm used to as an athlete, it was an "uh-oh something's wrong" kind of pain. Plus, it didn't go away. After lots of back and forth, and one super lame diagnosis, it's been determined that I have Femoral Acetabular Impingement. Also, in late fall of 2008 I started having some, ahem, digestive issues. Just like my hip, the issues never went away. Once I saw blood in early 2009 I made a doctor appointment. After lots of blood tests, some humbling stool samples, and a colonoscopy, they diagnosed me with either Ulcerative Colitis or Crohn's Disease. I'll find out what it is officially when they complete the biopsies from the samples taken during my colonoscopy. It's been quite a lot to process.