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.

Plaquenil the Terrible

I have been taking Plaquenil 100 mg split into two doses for a couple weeks now. I have been sick to my stomach for most of these two weeks and the past two days have been pretty awful. I knew this was going to be a problem from the beginning because I had this same reaction when I was put on it after being diagnosed. My doctor was hoping that such a small dose would be better, but so far no luck. And I am running out of patience.

I also woke up with a migraine today which has not helped my mood. I had to take my migraine medicine twice during the night and then this morning 600 mg of ibuprofen (because I am not taking the Mobic right now because of my stomach).

On Tuesday I meet with her again to talk about my lupus and the results of my kidney ultrasound. I got a letter from her today that said I have multiple stones in them. This does not really surprise me because I have a history of kidney stones.

The weather is gorgeous here (but hot) and I have not been able to enjoy it because of my stomach. I am hoping things will change around quickly. If not then I will have to stop the Plaquenil.

Sore Throats Are Not Fun

Went to the walk-in clinic today because I have had a sore throat for a few days. I got my blood tests back and my neutrophil count was the lowest it has ever been, so I scared myself into going. Everything looks fine with my throat but they did let me know I should be careful about a flu going around campus.

I am so happy it is the weekend. Everything has stressed me out this week: work, school, health, money. I'm almost considering quitting my job because it is unnescessarily stressful. But I need the money and it does relate to what I want to do. Also, I don't want to consider myself a "quitter". I can do the job. It's just one of the girls I work with is horrible, disrespectful, condescending and way too uptight. She makes working there miserable.

My migraines and joint pain have been pretty terrible lately also. Part of the reason is probably because I have had to run all over campus this week for work. I need to talk to them about that because I can't keep doing that. On Wedensday my back and knees and ankles hurt so badly I couldn't get out of bed after work. Just putting my feet on the floor hurt. I considered staying home on Thursday because they still hurt really bad.

My dad is visiting my aunt and uncle a couple towns over so I will go over there to visit tomorrow morning. I can't wait to see my dad, even though I saw him last on Monday. I am such a daddy's girl :)