My sweet cousin came over last night to be at the house this morning and keep the kids for my doctor’s appointment. My mom met me there and I was feeling pretty anxious. I see my doctor every three months and that’s a long time to not feel good. I had been having better days, but this week was pretty rough and fresh on my mind. I make notes on my symptoms, my research and all the questions I can think of so I will be prepared for my 20 minutes with her. I have been comfortable with my doctor until now, but today I really realized that she is the perfect doctor for me, and it is not a coincidence that I ended up as her patient. She came in with my labs in hand and a smile. Lots of my numbers have improved, my ana, and my dna came back negative (yeah), my white cells are still low and I am still anemic. I don’t know what all of it means yet, but my doctor was very encouraged and reassured me. She explained to me again that the medication I am on takes time to build up in my system and the hope is that I will continue to see improvements. She was not surprised that I am still having really bad days, but the goal is to have more and more good/great days. She suggested that I follow up with my primary doctor about a few pains that she does not believe are related to lupus, but should be addressed because if I my lupus (which is unpredictable) were to take a turn for the worse, they could complicate each other.
I also talked with her about changing my diet to a completely organic and half raw diet. I do okay, but there is defiantly room for improvement. She said a “clean” diet can make a huge difference in inflammation… basically lupus is inflammation of every body system. Pesticides and chemicals used to grow and process food can cause more inflammation, which is no good for lupus at all. I am also learning in my research that our food is missing vital nutrients, which makes us deficient, and causes more illness and the inability for our bodies to heal themselves. So with my doctors encouragement I told her “I am on it” meaning I will change my families diet, and she replied “I have no doubt”. :)
My mom shared with her that I have joined a local support group and how it’s been helpful to me. She told her that I have begun helping with their facebook page, and I am getting more plugged in than I planned. The doctor was very sweet and told me that she thinks it is wonderful that I am involved. She told me how awful she feels for her lupus patients especially young women/moms (because this is the population mostly effected). She was grateful for my involvement and thanked me for helping take care of “my girls” meaning her patients, and gave me a hug. I offered to bring her information about the group so she could pass it on, and she was thrilled.
I did not even bring up the study drug, I decided it wasn’t something I am willing to do right now. I am going to give my diet a complete overhaul, and allow my body to do some of its own healing along with the medication I am on right now. I gained a whole new respect for my doctor today, she is compassionate, kind, and is not pushing drugs.
So I left feeling encouraged and energetic. On my way home I ran in the store to pick up a few things for my garden and Rayne’s birthday. I came home made lunch for my family. Grabbed my kids (including my 15 year old neighbor) went to three stores, the hydroponic farm, and by my mom’s office. Got home began dinner and was exhausted (could hardly put one foot in front of the other)…. I was quickly reminded to slow down. I am not there yet, and desperately need to learn to maintain a balance. I have to continue to accept that I am still sick and according to my doctor a long way from remission, but it is still my goal. It’s ALL good!
Today I am grateful for….
Family that comes and takes care of my kids so I can focus on my health
My mom that goes to EVERY doctor’s appointment with me
A doctor that cares about her patient and understand their needs
My husband that picks up the slack when I am sick and offers to make dinner happen
A loving, physically strong 16 year old neighbor that I need her as much as she needs me
Friends that take the time to send me notes and ideas that DO help me
An amazing group of colorful women that share my disease and “get it”
Short family update-
Lexy finished her Kindergarten curriculum, and is starting first grade work. We are all going to monster jam on Saturday to kick off Rayne's 4th birthday festivities and have his airplane party planned for next weekend at grandma’s house. Life is really good!
I started this yesterday, but was too tired to finish….
