Not Ending

My joints were so bad today. I got up and got dressed to go to class. I even walked out the door, but then I turned right back around and got into bed until my third class. I called my doctor and she said to rest for the day and ice/heat my joints (but of course I couldn't, I HAD to go to work...) and call her in the morning. She said if it is not better then I will have to come see her. Problem is I don't have a car right now. So I am thinking I might just go home and have her refer me for an emergency appointment at one of the hospitals there. Or my dad said he would drive up to take me or have my aunt/uncle take me but I don't want to inconvenience them.

This is so frustrating. Everything I do hurts and I have all but lost my appetite. That is so unsual for me. I had a bagel for breakfast and I got Indian food for lunch. I at maybe half of it at best. I ate the pieces of chicken, some rice, some lentils and a little piece of naan. I just ate dinner which was a tiny bit of chilli and rice I made Monday. I did have two cookies at work because they had been handed out for free where I was eating lunch and I decided to have them there. That's it for the day. I consider myself a hearty eater so that is really weird.

Also, I have blood in my urine. I don't think this is from bleeding because it has increased over the past few weeks, which my bleeding has not. I really hope my kidneys are doing OK and that they continue to. My doctor said the results are "borderline" so a visit to the kidney doctor might be in order.

I am not on prednisone. I really want to avoid it.

That's all for now. I guess I will decide whether I am going home tomorrow and if I need to see my rheumatologist.

Where Has All the Money Gone?

This is another post about money, or my lack of it. My car insurance was cancelled today because neither me nor my dad can pay it. I am hoping to get it reinstated soon, but who knows. I rely on my car a lot. I was planning on using it today, but then I got the call. I also got prescribed two medicines today: Flovent and Albuterol for coughing fits I have been having at night. I probably will not fill them because I don't want to pay for them. I also need to renew my parking permit for the 2010-2011 school year, but it is $275 and since I don't even have enough to pay my car insurance that's not going to happen. So I will have to go back on the waiting list and wait for a spot to open up again like I did this semester.

I am thinking of applying for a third job. It is pretty simple, answering calls from home for paid advertisements and the like. It is not an extraordinary amount of money, but it would help of course.

Anyway, I have so much work to get done. I have an annotated bibliography due tomorrow for Writing as Communication so I should get back to that.

Slacking

So sorry for the lack of updates. I have been so busy with school and I have also been having some lupus-related problems. I finally got some pain medication (Mobic) on Wednesday, increased it on Friday and have to call the doctor tomorrow to tell her how I am doing. If it is not better then I have to start the dreaded prednisone, which is another post all by itself. I also have an appointment to see about this cough I have been having on Tuesday with my primary care doctor.

Well, health care reform has happened, and I am thrilled. The preexisting conditions clause does not come into effect until 2014, but it gives me hope for the future.

Tomorrow I pick my classes for the fall. I will be taking my first ever 8am class and I will have no class on Friday. I'm worried about 8am, but it is only two days a week, so I think I will be OK. Of course I will be working when I don't have class. I also registered for two online summer classes.

That's all for now. I worked my 8 hour shift today and it has taken a bigger toll on me than usual. I came to my apartment and slept for a while, but I have a lot of work to get done. So I should get started on that.

I hope everyone has a good week!

Sorry So Late!

I arrived back to school Sunday afternoon and I did not go to work. I know that when my paycheck comes around I won't be too excited, but I thought it was a good decision then. I have been having a hard time with my joints. My hips, knees and now my ankles are all tender to the touch. This is not new for my knees, but it rarely happens to my hips and this is the first time it has happened to my ankles. I called my rheumatologist and she suggested arthritis cream and hot and cold packs. I've been doing that and it hasn't helped. I was doing that before she told me to. But I said I would give it another 48 hours, so she is getting a call from me tomorrow.

I hate feeling like a burden to the doctors but its getting real tough. It hurts to sit in a chair too long, it hurts to stand too long and it hurts to put my feet back on the ground after I have been laying down.

My shoulders and wrists have been bothering me as well, but not as much. My wrist has gotten a lot better and I think is nearly back to full strength. But it still aches in a very lupus-like way.

School is going well. I did well on my communication midterm which I was nervous about and I did excellently on the paper for that class.

That's all for now!

More In Depth

I realized that I didn't mention a lot in my post last night.

On Monday I met with the endometriosis specialist about my bleeding and treatment. He took me off the Lupron injections because they have given me osteopenia, which is a precursor to osteoporosis. He said it should resolve after I stop and I hope he is right. He put me on Aygestin, which I was already on, but at a dose 3 times higher. He said that often the anesthesia during surgery can mess up the hormones and cause bleeding. I am still bleeding, so hopefully as I taper up the Aygestin dose that will stop.

My wrist is doing a lot better though it is still a little weak. I think that it will get better in time.

The weather has been phenomenal the past couple days. I was worried I would not have nice weather on my break because it started out with a terrible 3 day rain storm. I think we are still under a state of emergency because of all the flooding it caused. Luckily my area was not hit that hard. We had some minor flooding of the roads but that was it.

Cellcept

Sorry for the lack of posts. It's Spring Break and I have not been near my computer very much. I started Cellcept today. I decided I wanted to try something that would be less likely to make my hair fall out as I was getting really annoyed with the Imuran. I'm tapering up to 2000 mg over several weeks. I don't know if that is normal as I just jumped right in with the Imuran.

I have been feeling so-so recently. My fingers are swelling intermittently and my other joints are aching. But I cannot complain too much. I'm really happy to be home.

Rheumatologist Update

So I saw my rheuamtologist today. I apparently have tendonitis in my wrist which is why it is so weak. She also offered to switch me to CellCept if my insurance approves it so I will have to call them tomorrow. She also offered to have me see a kidney specialist, but since the treatment for lupus nephritis is what I am doing now, I see no need. There are no overt signs that my kidneys are in a lot of danger, just what was seen on the ultrasound. I also really don't want a biopsy.

I got my blood tests today from a couple weeks ago after I reduced the Imuran. They are pretty unremarkable. My complement levels are still normal, but they did drop off a lot. Hopefully that won't become an issue. My CBC was a lot better than it has been in a while, which was a nice surprise.

Spring break is tomorrow and my dreaded comm midterm is over!! I have a Spanish homework due tomorrow and also a small quiz. I have my "pitch" for my case study and I still really don't know what I am doing. My teacher is a TA and she is not very good at explaining stuff. I'm totally lost. I know I want to do something on the show Boy Meets World because I can quote almost every episode word for word. But I'm not sure what I want to do on that show, and I am not sure what I am supposed to do. I messaged a friend in the class who has already had her pitch. Hopefully she will get back to me and help me out.

I want to leave school around 12:30 in the afternoon so that I can get home before rush hour. Hopefully I manage to stick to that timeline!