A Ridiculously Overdue Update

Sorry for the lack of posting!! Life has been crazy busy with full-time work, full-time school and trying to get a side project I have built up into an actual business. Right now I am enrolled in Anatomy & Physiology I, Statistics and Organic Chemistry. It has been real difficult trying to balance both work and school. I submitted my first completed grad school application today so wish me luck!

The most important medical update comes from the orthopedic surgeon. Basically, my legs are a mess. It is going to require extensive surgery and rehabilitation to fix them, but I really do not have another option right now. My hips and knees are being damaged by the rotation of my legs and all the soft tissue abnormalities that go with it, so it is time to fix it before it gets worse.

My orthopedic surgeon is consulting with a specialist to see how the surgery would go. I'm not sure if it is just my tibias that need derotaion, or if the femurs need it as well. Hopefully I will get some answers soon.

Gearing Up For the 4th

The 4th of July is definitely one of my favorite holidays. All the cookouts and seeing family and friends is so much fun. I have three cookouts in three days to go to. I have realized that I can't go to all three, so I am opting out of the one today.

My lupus and exposure to the sun are very linked. It takes all of two minutes outside for me to get a sun rash. I usually get it on my legs, regardless of whether I am wearing shorts or long pants, and more recently on my neck and the underside of my chin. The rash is painful/itchy. I think in reality it is more painful, but my first instinct is to scratch it for some reason.

I also have a really hard time with sunscreen. I hate the stuff. No matter what it feels oily and gross when I put it on. Even when the bottle says "oil-free" or whatever, I can tell I am wearing it. So I tend to forgo it. This is bad. I need to get better about this especially since I just started a new job and I don't have any personal/sick/vacation time yet. I can't afford to have a lupus flare right now. So I guess this weekend will be filled with lots of food, family, friends...and sunscreen.

Summer Break!

I made it through the first two weeks of training at the new job. It was a lot of work and a lot of hours. I'm looking forward to the paycheck :) Now the kids are on a week long break for Independence Day. I NEEDED this break. The first week of training I just observed the interactions between teachers and students and the second week I took one student by myself. Next week I will have my whole group (3-4 students) along with staff support and the fourth week I am on my own! A little bit nervous. The kids have some very challenging behaviors including extreme aggressiveness. I had to learn how to protect myself from physical attacks while not harming the students. Also, many of the kids are non-verbal, anxiety ridden, have obsessive tendencies and panic attacks/tantrums. I can't wait until I see that I have made a difference in the lives of these kids.

I have an appointment with a new primary care doctor next Friday and made an appointment to see an orthopedic surgeon in early August. I need to schedule appointments with my rheumatologist and endometriosis doctors tomorrow. I'm interested to see what the orthopedic surgeon says. All the Internet based literature I have read just leaves me dreading the visit.

I am still taking Chemistry I and I am actually doing well in it. That's a surprise. However, I should also say that the professor is horrible and has told us blatantly wrong information at times in lab which has kept us there longer because we had to fix HER mistakes. I start Human Growth & Development next month, but I am not worried about the class. Next semester I am taking Chemistry II and Anatomy & Physiology I. I think I will really like A&P.

That's it for now and I hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far!

Bad Blogger

Hi everyone!

It has been another long time between updates. Sorry about that. Here is what has been going on in my life the past few weeks.

1. As I mentioned before I FINALLY graduated from college! I was looking for a job and I finally got hired at one that I think I will really enjoy and will allow me to do my nursing prerequisites. I will be working t a residential school for children with autism. It will be a lot of challenging work but I think I am up for it. I also think that the rewards I get from the job will outweigh the stress. I start tomorrow!

2. I started my chemistry class. I'm not really a fan of the professor. The requirements for the class have been very unclear and she assigns homework which she says she will go over and then does not. I have made friends with a couple people in the class and we have basically been teaching ourselves.

3. I'm all moved in back home. It is a little weird moving back home since I have not lived here full time in five years. A lot has changed in my neighborhood and I am still trying to get used to it. Also, I am not used to living at home. My dad and I get along fine, but sometimes I wonder if I have any more options. I know nursing school is going to be really expensive, so I do think it is a good idea for me to be saving that money I would be spending on rent.

My health has been up and down as well. It is becoming more and more apparent to me that the congenital abnormalities in my legs are causing problems. I am looking into having surgery to correct them but it is scary. Recovery will be long and hard and I can't think of a good time to have it. However, I think it may need to be done now so that it is not even harder when I am older. I plan on seeing an orthopedist as soon as I can. The health insurance that I am getting through my new job does not require referrals, so hopefully I can get in as soon as possible.

Those are my updates for now. Hopefully you will get another soon :)

I. AM. DONE.

So the "college" chapter of my life has officially come to a close. I checked my final grades this morning and was pleased with what I saw. So, now what?

I have signed up for two classes this summer. One starts on May 31 and is at 8 a.m. for 10 weeks through the summer. It is general chemistry and hopefully since I will have a little bit more time to focus on it, it will not be as stressful. The second starts on July 11 and is called Human Growth and Development. It is online so hopefully it will not be too bad. It is a psychology class, and since I just got an entire bachelor's degree in psychology, I do not expect it to be too hard.

I have had a few job interviews and I am keeping my options open. I am writing this from vacation in San Francisco and I will have to evaluate the pros and cons of each job when I return. I basically have an offer for one job, but I do not know if it is something I want.

Speaking of San Francisco, I love it here! I fell in love with Oakland yesterday. It is exactly the type of city I want for my 20s. I texted my dad last night to tell him I will be relocating and he said "you want to be in earthquake central". Ah yes. I love California (now that I have been to both north and south) but those pesky earthquakes.

Graduating from college is so interesting. I'm inundated with so many different feelings about it. Nervous, excited, happy, scared. My FUTURE is ahead of me. It's really interesting.

My lupus is pretty stable. There was some evidence of increased activity in my last blood tests, but I'm not that worried. I also was diagnosed with TMJ so I need to see a dentist to help me deal with that.

Well, hopefully I will have some more time to update the blog. I think I know what to rename it since I am no longer a college student and I will be playing around with formats and what not.

Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Stressful Times

A lot has been going on in my world the past few weeks. One is that graduation is rapidly approaching and I have nothing lined up for after it! I have not been able to even get a job interview and it is stressing me out completely. I am totally broke right now and I am not sure how I am going to pay student loans, nursing school prerequisites, car insurance, medical copays, etc. without a job.

Speaking of nursing school, I am planning on signing up for microbiology, chemistry and human growth and development this summer. I had to drop chemistry this semester because it was too much to focus on and I was not doing as well as I wanted. Now to pay for them...

Another big issue is health insurance. Since I am in MA, I am required to have it. While I really like this, most of the providers I have now will not accept the state health insurance. So I will have to start fresh with a new set, which is always fun (extreme sarcasm).

On the lupus front, however, there is much better news. I am doing and feeling great. My rheumatologist said this is the healthiest she has seen me in the 2.5 years I have been seeing her. Pretty nice to hear, especially since I feel the same way also.

The semester is wining down, which of course means a lot of work. Oof. I just wish I had a crystal ball to look to the future so I can see if everything will be OK or not.

Hey Spring Break!

Well I am on spring break and couldn't be happier about it. A week to relax. Well, kind of relax because I still need to study for both a chemistry and nutrition exam and I need to study for the GREs which I need to hurry up and take.

I saw the endocrinologist last week and they said they did not think I need one of my parathyroids removed at that time and that the other scary thing they were thinking about is probably not what is going on. I am going to have some specialized tests done on my kidneys to try to figure out why they are so calcified, however. In 6 months I have to repeat the blood tests to check on my levels of calcium and keep doing that every 6 months for a while. If they detect the high calcium again then we have to revisit the surgery issue.

I am really happy about this because I was envisioning ridiculous scars on my neck. And of course surgery just throws everything off and I am tried of having it. While my kidneys still remain a bit of a mystery, and this is scary with lupus, I can deal with it. I have been dealing with the stones in them for many years and while the number of stones keeps increasing, as long as I am not in any acute pain I normally don't think about it.

I am only a couple months away from being a college graduate. My dad keeps asking me how I want to celebrate and I don't really know. It is a little surreal to me. I have not found a job yet and that is making me nervous. I have been in school for so long and being done with it is a little scary.

Well, I am actually nowhere near being done. I plan on going to nursing school in the fall of 2012. But I haven't had an extended period of time not being in school in about 18 years.

I hope everyone is staying well!

Geez, Where Have I Been?

So sorry about the lack of updates. Things this semester have been just as crazy as last semester, if not more so because I am also looking for a job. I haven't had much luck yet but I am hopeful. I am definitely taking at least a year off between undergrad and nursing school so I need something to occupy my time. Also taking up a lot of my time is chemistry. I do not like chemistry.

I am on a slow prednisone taper again to reduce it from when I had my last pleuritis flare up and so far so good. Last time it flared when I got to 5mg which will happen again in a couple of weeks so we will see how that goes. Overall, though, I am feeling pretty good. Just the occasional problem with my joints, especially my knees.

I also joined Weight Watchers! Friday will be the end of my fourth week and I have been losing weight every week except my first. I highly recommend, as I am almost done to my pre-prednisone weight wayyy back in the summer.

I have been thinking a lot about what to call this blog after I graduate. Any suggestions?

First Day of Class...Kind Of

Today was the first day of class for my last semester as an undergraduate. We ended up having a snow day. Or half of a snow day because they did not cancel classes until the afternoon. So I had my nutrition class this morning and stayed and watched the snow fall in the afternoon. I actually kind of wanted to go to my afternoon class because it is called Performance Ethnography and I am not sure what it is about.

Anyway, I was also glad classes were cancelled today because I am fighting a horrible cold which I fear might be turning into an ear infection. Not cool. I have been drinking a lot of tea and taking a lot of Dayquil.

I have seen the syllabi for 5/6 classes and this is getting ready to be another difficult semester. I did not get into the developmental psychology class at the other school like I wanted so I added another class called health communication that I think will look good on nursing school applications.

Stay warm!

Happy New Year

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday season! I know I sure did. I am also looking forward to this new year. I have not made any real resolutions this year, but I want to continue with my health and weight loss goals.

What does this year have in store for me? The biggest thing is that I will (finally) graduate from college. Five years is enough - I am so ready to be done! I have pretty much decided against going to grad school right away, so not the job hunt begins in earnest.

Health wise, I still have not gotten any answers about my calcium levels. Hopefully this will get sorted out soon.

Once again, happy new year!

Stuffed and Content

Yesterday I tried dim sum for the first time. Here is a wikipedia article about it. It was quite interesting. I'm not sure how much I actually liked, but I am willing to give it another chance. It certainly helped that I was with someone who spoke fluent Cantonese so that I could have some idea about what it was eating. There were a lot of mushrooms involved, which I do not like (it's a fungus!!!!) and I think that contributed to why I did not enjoy it that much. It also could be just the restaurant because I have nothing else to compare it to.

Later, I went out to eat with my dad and some of his friends. We went to a really nice Italian restaurant and the food was really good. I got a dish called chicken Mediterranean which was chicken, pasta, feta cheese, tomatoes and spinach in a lemon sauce. It was so good. The only thing I did not like was that there was no sangria on the menu ;-).

All this eating out stands pretty much against the way I am trying to change my eating habits. I'm all about the home cooked meals, especially as I wage war against prednisone and it's weight-gaining ways. It is so much easier to control what you are eating when you know you prepared it yourself. For example, there is an Au Bon Pain at the hospital that I use. I spent most of the morning and afternoon there on Tuesday and did not feel like paying for parking so my dad went with me to the first appointment and then came back to pick me up after the second. While I was waiting I got some lunch at Au Bon Pain and decided to get their southwestern cornbread for me and my dad. When I got home I looked up the nutritional information of the cornbread and found that it contains 560 calories and 30 grams of fat (!!!). This is over half, and almost all, of the fat that try to eat in one day.

I'm fairly certain that I can make my own cornbread without all the fat and calories. Since I really, really enjoy cooking, I don't mind trying to remake recipes. I'm very happy that restaurants have started to post the caloric content of their menu items because it makes it so much easier when you are eating out. But it also dissuades me from eating out a lot because I can see exactly what I am eating.

Anyway, Merry Christmas Eve to all those who celebrate it!

No Answers, But What Else Is Knew?

I had my appointment with the endocrinologist today and while something being off was definitely noted, what that something may be was not. As I have said before, my calcium levels are high and I have a problem with kidney stones. I currently have a about 4-6 sitting in each kidney and every once in a while it goes acute and causes me a lot of pain. I have never been able to have one of these stones analyzed to find out what they are made of, but with my calcium issues it has always been assumed they are made out of calcium.

The endocrinologists seemed to want to get a better handle on what the stones are made of. Usually when calcium is high, another hormone called the parathyroid hormone will also be abnormal. In my case, the doctor called it "inappropriately normal". This confused them and opens up other possibilities for why my calcium is high. None of which are that good, and none of which I really want to get into right now mainly because it's kind of scary.

The plan for now is to redo the calcium, parathyroid and all of those tests. I'm getting more kidney function tests and some other hormone tests. Then we can make a decision as to whether imaging needs to be done of the parathyroid gland to check for masses and if the doctors need to actually retrieve the stones from my kidneys to verify the stone's composition. Just hearing how the stones would be retrieved made me cringe.

I also saw my endometriosis specialist today and I am reducing my Aygestin. He basically said anytime my prednisone doses are changed around it will interact with my Aygestin and cause the problems I have been having. But since my lungs like to swell up so much, getting off the prednisone is proving kind of difficult.

I'm pretty discouraged. I just want my body to work. There were other alternatives mentioned that are too hard to really think about right now, and my mind is spinning a little bit. It just seems like every time something starts to do right, I fall back into another medical quagmire. And I am getting very sick of it.

Well, That's Done

The semester from HELL is over. I finished my last final at 2:30 Friday and went straight home. It took me three hours to get home because I left just in time for rush hour traffic, but it was good to be home nevertheless.

By my last final, my brain was off. It was for my history of film class and I could barely remember any of the movies we had seen over the semester. Hopefully I did not bomb it too badly.

Now I have a whole month off to do NOTHING and it is so wonderful. I do not really have any plans, but that is fine with me. We got our Christmas tree yesterday so I can finally start getting into the Christmas spirit.

I have a couple of upcoming appointments next week. One with an endocrinologist to see about the issues I have with regulating my calcium and one with my endometriosis specialist for some issues I have been having with it. I also got a call saying that I was scheduled to see surgeon in the endometriosis specialist's office, but no one talked to me about that. I really DO NOT feel like having another surgery for it.

I hope everyone has a good holiday

Belated Thanks and Another ER Trip

Thanksgiving was pretty awesome in my house this year. It was the first time in many years that a we had more family members show up than not. We had some amazing food (I made mac and cheese) in large quantities. My aunt made this pumpkin spice cake that was absolutely divine. I also got to see one of my aunts for the first time in almost two years.

There was only one little problem. I realized, just after the halfway point between home and school, that I had forgotten all my medicines at school. I was so far into my trip home, and just wanted to go home, that I did not turn around. I just hoped that the people at the pharmacy could help me out since I am quite friendly with them. Unfortunately, due to some insurance crap or whatever, I was only able to get some of my medicine. Only 1/3 of my lupus medicines. But I made it through Thanksgiving pretty well with only a few bouts of pain.

Things changed when I got back to school with a horrendous bout of chest pain. I knew what was going on. Over the summer I had inflammation on my pleural membrane, and this felt the exact same way. I called my rheumatologist, who was not in, and spoke to her assistant. The assistant told me to call my primary care doctor, which I did. They told me to go to the ER. UGH. So my roommate and I went and after spending hours there so they could run all sorts of tests I was put back on 25mg of prednisone.

I hate prednisone, as I am sure you know. I have spent many months trying to come off it and then to get put back on the same dose I was on over the summer was so disheartening. Luckily, I am now only on 20mg and will keep reducing rapidly. My cheeks were swollen by the third day.

I have definitely learned my lesson about taking my medicine.

Also that night, I managed to lock myself out of my apartment at 1am, bleed all over the place from a cut in my arm, have a pukingly bad migraine and get a $1500 medical bill. It was very unpleasant.

Anyway, I am two weeks away from the end of the semester. Only 8 exams, two papers, 1 lab report and several smaller assignments to go before I am on a blissful one month break.

Oy

It's been almost two weeks since my last post. Sorry about that. I guess there is nothing really to say except that I am still drowning in homework and doing a prednisone taper. It almost seems like I am never getting off of it. For the next two weeks I will be alternating 5mg with 6mg.

Speaking of drowning in work, I registered for five classes next semester so far. The total amount of credits is 17. Since I seemingly love to torture myself, I also am applying for a course overload so I can take 21 credits next semester (limit is 19). I am trying to get as many prerequisites for nursing school out of the way that I can because I am still getting financial aid. I also found a seminar lat minute that I really wanted to take because I am a nerd. So for next semester I have general chemistry plus its three hour lab, nutrition, an online class about public relations, a class called performance ethnography (unless I can get into the documentary seminar) and a psychology seminar about clinical psychology. I hope to be able to register for developmental psychology at the school down the street from mine which costs $40,000+ a year but I can take any class there for my tuition rates. This goes the same for any of the other 4 ridiculously expensive schools around me. All I have to do is be registered for 3 credits and my home institution.

Anyway, my joint pain has been increasing and I have had to supplement my prescription pain meds almost everyday with over-the-counter ones. This is not encouraging, but I do not see my rheumatologist again for a few more weeks and do not really feel like going to see her anytime sooner. Unless, of course, it gets real bad.

Hope everyone's November is going well so far!

Endocrinology

Ever since taking neuroendocrinology a couple of semesters ago I have been really interested in the field. I guess I will have some first hand knowledge now that I am scheduled to see an endocrinologist later this month. My calcium levels are wacky, my Vitamin D levels are out of sorts and I have low citrate (whatever that is) which is making me crank out kidney stones at an alarming pace. I did one round of Googling about what this all could mean and then I stopped. No use getting ahead of myself because I will probably come out of the appointment with them telling me to drink more water and that's it.

Midterms are over, thank God. Now I can get back to my normal crazy instead of extra, extra crazy. Also, the class listings went up today so I was able to make a tentative schedule while sitting around bored at work. It looks like I will be able to take two nursing school prerequisites (Anatomy & Physiology 1 and Nutrition) next semester. I still need to take another semester of A&P, microbiology with lab, two semesters of chemistry and human growth and development, but it's a start. This will also make me more attractive to the one nursing school I am applying for now because while you can take the prerequisites the summer before the nursing classes start, the website says doing this will make you "less competitive".

I'm down to 6mg of prednisone and everyone says it looks like I am losing weight, which is not true it is just my face is not swollen from the prednisone anymore. But if they think that, why not? I gained 10lbs on the stuff and I want them off now.

Anyway, happy November!

I'm So Sorry Blog, I Haven't Forgotten You

Unfortunately, things have not slowed down for me. Just this week I have 4 exams and a paper. And all my classes are pretty difficult. I'm doing everything I can to balance school and work and keep my GPA. Which leads me to another problem: work. I'm not having enough time to do both school and work. My family has realized this and been EXTREMELY generous and supportive over the last few days and asked me to quit one of my jobs. Which I would love to do, but it would leave my employers in a tough situation. So I'm not sure what to do about that.

Which leads me to my family. They have shown me just how truly blessed I am over the past few days. I don't know what I would do without them.

Anyway, lupus-wise I am so-so. Today I am dealing with a very swollen and painful ankle which is disappointing because I normally don't have problems with my ankles. My rheumatologist has also mentioned starting physical therapy again for my knees because the arthritis is in my ligaments and tendons and I can't extend my knees out at all. I also had a bunch of endocrine tests done because my calcium levels tend to be high, my vitamin D levels tend to be low and I'm getting kidney stones a lot more than a person my age should get.

Complain and Whine

Well, this post is really nothing but a big complaint. I do have posts about actual topics formulating, but the brain power and time required to write them is more then I can expend right now. Today has been one of the worst pain days I have had in a while. I was supposed to go apple picking, but guess it is a blessing in disguise that it got cancelled.

It is mostly the lower part of my body that is having the most trouble. My legs are all sorts of sore and my naproxen and Tylenol are just not cutting it. I have spent a good portion of today trying to sleep it off, but that's not really helping either.

Sigh. I guess this is all rearing its head because I am not on 7.5mg of prednisone, which is the lowest dose I have been on in...well, a long time. Hopefully things get better.

Hello Long Weekend!

Columbus Day is tomorrow which means no school! And furthermore, Tuesday runs on a Monday schedule and Mondays are my easy day! I will be spending most of tomorrow catching up on school work, but at least I will have the time to catch up.

I recently had a conversation with my dad and he told me I should cut back my hours from about 20 a week to 12-15 hours a week. Easier said than done since I am still broke working all these hours. He said he would help me out, but of course I feel bad about that.

I am also stressing myself out way too much about After Graduation. I did not make TFA, and I am disappointed, but not devastated. Everything happens for a reason and I am sure I will find something to do that will make me equally as happy. Whether that be in medicine or education or music business I do not know and that is what is stressing me out the most.

On the medical front, I started 7.5mg of prednisone today. I have been more tired and achy since reducing, but I hope I can continue. Honestly, pain is a reality in my life. Unless it is excruciating, then I can deal with it. I almost expect it. I can't tell if this is good or bad thing yet...

That is all for now. I hope everyone has a great upcoming week!

Stress, Lupus and a Prednisone Taper

I'm about ready to shut my brain off for a while. This semester has been really taking a toll on me. Even though I was taking six classes and working both jobs last semester, it was not nearly this bad. I am completely lacking enough time to get my work done and take care of myself. Throw in a rapid taper from 25mg of prednisone to 10mg, and you have a pretty bad combination. I didn't quite realize how much good the prednisone was doing until now. I came home from work on Sunday and my joints were screaming at me.

I had a talk with my dad this afternoon and he told me that he would help me financially if I reduced my work hours. That is very nice of him but I don't want that to happen. He helps me out now and I know its a lot for him.

I think my schedule even for a person who is not sick is a lot. I don't want to reduce my hours or slow my prednisone taper so I need to figure out something.