These are NOT my feet, but you get the drift.
Prednisone, the miracle drug. Besides the pain being back, there are more side-effects than bone-thinning. I saw my primary on Friday (more about that later) and I had gained eleven pounds since last visit. What? Whatty what what??? I don’t eat a lot, I’ve been losing weight, and my jeans have started falling off when I walk. LOL But my legs were and are swollen and it turns out that I gained eleven pounds of retained-water. And bruising. Side-effects of prednisone. My feet were so swollen my toes were in pain from my shoes. Which I’m lucky I could get on, I guess. I don’t wear shoes unless I am going out. Taking the new drug from the rheumatologist, which has issues of its own, but it will allow me to get off the prednisone by cutting back 2 and 1/2 mg every two weeks. Meanwhile, I am back to not being able to Get Things Done, which is not making me happy at all. Walking hurts.
I googled and could find no solution to the swelling except getting off the med, which has to take time or it can kill you. Oh, joy. Working on my own solution, I sometimes like to read in bed with my feet and legs up against the wall. Hey, it’s comfortable. But the pain means I can’t really lie flat comfortably, so I propped myself up on four pillows and then put my huge green exercise ball on the bed and put my feet up on it. Oh, wow, am I brilliant or what? So comfortable, and I can roll the ball back and forth with my legs and Gertrude got over being scared to death after the first half hour and now will sit right next to that big green thing on the bed. “Like where did that come from, and what the heck is it? Oh, well. She’s not freaking, so I guess it’s okay.” She’s shedding…again. Cat hair everywhere.
So my visit to my primary was the last. He was only filling in til the other doctor comes back from maternity leave. Too bad, cause I really like him. He’s done more for me in a handful of visits than my last doctor did in four years. I’m almost a real person again, thanks to him. I was so going to keep him, and I told him so, which made him laugh. I used to have a friend whose mother kept a list of all the people who had ‘wronged’ her, and how. I have a list in my head of people I am keeping. The UPS guy is on it (I get a lot of stuff from Amazon), because he’s friendly and funny, among others. It’s a good thing. 
So that’s the latest on the saga of Jean’s strangely peculiar life. Does anyone actually read this? Does no one have anything to say or are you unable to comment? Inquiring minds and all. You know.
I think that if we had brains, we wouldn’t allow these things to happen anyway. As a species, we are sadly lacking in common sense.
Yesterday it all came back. The pain, the difficult breathing, all of it. Even my feet hurt. Took three aspirin and that helped, but not much. Awake til 5am because I just could not sleep. Much better today, however. Good, because today I saw the rheumatologist. Two hours. Part of that was the nurse asking me ten thousand questions, then waiting while the doctor read my files from my primary care doctor, then more than an hour of the doctor checking me over and asking me ten thousand more questions. Good doctor. Very good doctor. Turns out I do have pleursy, I might not have fibromyalgia, even though I’ve been tested several times and had all the tender points every time, but prednisone does not work on fibro, and I do not have any fibro pain since I’ve been on it. Weird. Of course, this means I could actually have one of the things they supposedly eliminated when I was first diagnosed fourteen years ago. Whatever. I feel better than I have felt in years. No pain, except the pleursy thing that is fine today, I can walk better, I can do things, I can pick up a chair and carry it instead of dragging it to where I want it. But, I now have more blood tests…they took five tubes today, and I am having an ultrasound of my heart. Back to the primary care Friday, back to the rheumatologist in a month. Also got a new med, because he wants me off the prednisone, since it causes bone thinning and other unpleasant side effects. But man, I want to stay pain-free. I want to keep feeling human. It’s been too long. Wait and see, don’t anticipate, take it as it comes. Works for me.
s, got an ice cream and sat outside and enjoyed the gloriously beautiful day while we ate it, came back here and played a game on the pc. I walked more yesterday than I’ve walked in a long time. Usually I’m in so much pain after just going to one store that I’m done for the day. No pain yesterday. Energy. Did not get tired until the very end. I am seriously like a different person. Like a real human being. Like I used to be before I got sick. I am not wasting it. Not worrying about if/when it will end. Just taking it as it comes and Getting Things Done and being hyper with the excitement of actually feeling good.
