It's been four years since my last post. My world has changed so much. Some things remain the same. I still have the best husband in the world who I adore and love more than I ever thought possible. Especially now.
My body has decided it doesn't like me very much. I guess I can start with my "known diagnosis", and backtrack to the beginning of this medical insanity, September of 2016.
- Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). RA is an autoimmune disorder, which means your body attacks itself. If you have RA, your body interprets the soft lining around your joints as a threat, similar to a virus or bacteria, and attacks it. RA is a systemic disease, which means it can affect your entire body — lungs, heart, eyes — and not just your joints.
- Fibromyalgia. A condition that causes pain all over the body (also referred to as widespread pain), sleep problems, fatigue, and often emotional and mental distress. People with fibromyalgia may be more sensitive to pain than people without fibromyalgia.
- Peripheral Neuropathy. A result of damage to your peripheral nerves, often causes weakness, numbness and pain, usually in your hands and feet. It can also affect other areas of your body.
- Sjogren's Syndrome. An autoimmune disease, your immune system attacks parts of your own body by mistake. In Sjogren's syndrome, it attacks the glands that make tears and saliva. This causes a dry mouth and dry eyes. ... It is sometimes linked to other diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.
After two and a half years of more tests than I'd like to count (or remember), two regular doctors, a rheumatologist, hematologist, neurologist and orthopedic surgeon (to treat injuries from a catastrophic fall down the stairs), I'm better in some aspects than when I originally had the rapid onset of symptoms, but far worse to the point of often not being able to simply walk from one room to the next without being able to breathe and having zero energy to walk the short distance back to my recliner or bed.
Looking back, I was struggling for a few years before the rapid onset of the extreme pain that facilitated the start of the testing and specialists. My feet would hurt after short periods of walking or standing. I had a bit less energy than I once had. I blamed most of it on old age. It wasn't debilitating enough to cause anything other than annoyance. I have moved way past annoyance. Even now, I struggle to sit in the computer chair and type. I do have a laptop, which I guess I should learn to use, but I just prefer the PC. That being said, I do believe I'll rap up this post and try and revisit in the next few days with more of my whining. I'm actually hoping this process will be, at the very least, therapeutic, and will motivate me to start writing again (God knows I have the time).
