Moving forward...

That's what I'm trying to do now. No since in rehashing past hurts and focusing only on the past. One must learn how to see what the lesson was, learn from it and move on or else everything will get stagnant. That's what I keep telling myself over the past few days. It seems to be a never-ending series of misadventures or bumps in the road, so to speak. I'm hopeful that I've managed to get through the latest set of bumps and the road crew has already repaved the rest of the way! Okay, I know that's not how life really works but you have to hold onto faith or something in this life. Otherwise, what's the whole point of it? With all that's happened over the course of the last few months, I've really begun to question some things that I had always held onto. I am still believing that things will work themselves out in the end. They always seem to no matter how hard I try to find my own way around problems or take the course I think will work faster, it all just works itself out.

So many of my friends, both online and offline, are having rough times with illnesses or someone in their families are. I keep all of them in my thoughts and prayers every day that they will have good health. If you, my dear sweet readers, could take a moment and say a prayer for them, I'm very grateful. Speaking of health, things here are a bit on the up side of things. Good news first. My brother is doing much better than he has in months past. He had to have a semi-permenant port put into his chest so that he could receive dialysis for the past month. His kidneys had shut down although the doctors aren't sure exactly why. I do know that they confirmed he has sensitive kidneys. No that doesn't mean they cry at chick flicks. It means that even if he is a little dehydrated, he runs the risk of going into kidney failure. There's a partial consensus that the years of using certain medications to help keep his Lupus under control played the major part in the kidneys shutting down. So far, I'm happy to report that the dialysis seems to have worked and his kidneys have started to filter everything they're supposed to so that his body stays free of toxins. I'm praying that it continues to stay that way. Chris is doing okay. He is still cancer free (yay) and doing well in that department. The only bad thing we're having to deal with is the fact that he's gotten no major relief for his back. There's the small bit of relief that comes with the fact he's taking medications but it's not fixing the problem. It's merely treating the symptoms. Because we had to go back to square one with the back and hands problem, Chris had to go back to work. He made it a lot longer than I thought he would his first day back. He worked more than half of his shift before the pain became too intense. He tried using a backbrace and other supports to help his back but nothing helped for a long amount of time. So I called the family doctor the next day and got him into the office. They decided to run an MRI to see if we are dealing with a herniated disk. He had the MRI this morning so we should have the results Monday morning (my family doctor leaves the office at lunch of Fridays - must be nice lol). It will determine what way we need to go for now. He may have to be off work longer to help the problem. But then again, he may not because he has the opportunity to become a coordinator (supervisor) over his particular area. That would mean less time on the line and more time doing paperwork. So I'll keep my fingers crossed - well, not when I'm typing, of course.

As for me, well, it could be better. The past two weeks, I've been fighting against pain and inflammation to just sit at the computer and answer a couple of emails at a time. See, because of the blood clot I had back in Jan/Feb of this year, I can't take many arthritis drugs due to the fact they interact with the blood thinner I now have to take (and will probably have to take the rest of my life). Since we're not sure just how long that clot had been sitting in my lung (and by we, I mean the rheumy and I), there is a possibility that Enbrel may have played a part in it being there. But with my family history and other factors, it could also have been at the wrong place at the wrong time. Lol, either way the rheumy doesn't feel safe letting me take it until he can get a clearer picture of its involvement. The other bad thing is that I can't take Celebrex any longer - not because it doesn't work for me because it really does help. But because it interacts with my blood pressure medication causing me to swell to the point I think my legs are going to explode. So I'm stuck. The rheumy did give me an older Arthritis medication called Salsalate and so far it does help but it's definitely not working on the psoriasis. I have found three new spots besides my scalp that the psoriasis is making itself known. I have several small spots on my chest and a good medium sized spot on my neck. In a way it looks like a birthmark but I know it's not. I hate this side of the Arthritis. It makes me feel like a monster most of the time and I don't want to go out in public. Even with friends that I've known for years, I am worried about what they think when they see those spots. But I guess it's just another bump in this road that I'm walking.

For I'm just concentrating on getting things done around the house and making sure Chris gets healthy. I haven't been doing much on the crafty side of things. I have kept up the writing though it seems I'm starting a lot of things instead of finishing and/or editing the things I've already written. The journey toward the reading goal is coming along fine. I'm working on book #40 now. There were a few books that had less than 200 pages that I read through within a couple of hours. So I'm marching my way toward that magic goal number! For now, I'm off to update a few other things and work on getting through some of the emails before my hands give out completely for the night. I hope everyone out there knows they are loved and to my wonderful friends who are going through some rough patches, I'm still here and keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers. Take care!

Love and blessings,
Kim