I really am blogging again so soon! I had a few things I wanted to get out, and made myself sit down and do it!
I was just thinking about how much I love my church, and all of the people in it. Tonight we were so blessed that Justin got to come to church with us. As we were leaving, he said "wow, you really know everyone. I think everybody we saw said hi to you!" It just made me stop and thinking. Ya know, he's right. I walk through the halls, and so many people take the time to say hi, give a smile, handshake, or even a hug. I am so fortunate to have all of these amazing people in my life. I missed mops today, b/c I am a disorganized mess, and everyone I saw that goes to mops either asked where I was or said they missed me. How awesome is that? These people, who haven't even known me that long, and have no obligation to me, care enough to take the time to let me know I was missed. I know, for a fact, that God picked this particular church for me to belong to. So many times, and so many people in my life have made me feel worthless. But here, I never feel that way. I honestly believe now that the best way to bring people to a relationship with God is to show his love through actions. I would not have continued to come back, and bring my family back, to this church if I hadn't felt his love there. And if I hadn't continued to come, I wouldn't be growing in my relationship with him right now.
As I said before, I missed MOPs b/c I had a Dr appointment scheduled for today and didn't even realize what I had done until it was too late to reschedule! I had a lot of things I needed to discuss with him, so I really needed to go. By the way, this Dr is my rheumatologist, who I see about every 3 months unless something goes wrong. I absolutely love this Dr. He was actually the first "rheumy" (what we lupus people call our rheumatologist) I saw after I was diagnosed by a general practice Dr. Since Justin was deployed shortly after my diagnosis, having a kind and caring Dr. meant the world to me. Of course when we lived in TN, I had to find new ones, and as much as I liked the Dr's at Vanderbilt, I always missed Dr. Branum! So one of the first things I did when we moved home was get in touch with his office and get back in to see him. He remembered me well, and it was like we picked up right where we left off! He never fails to take any issue I have seriously. Today, I wanted to talk to him about this really painful bump in my left thumb. It sits right on the joint, and gets very sore and swollen throughout the day. He told me it was a nodule on the tendon there, and that it is very common in people with arthritis. But he also said that if not taken care of, it could get worse and more painful. So, we decided for now to just try a cortisone shot in it, and he said most of the time that works. If not, we'll be looking at surgery on my hand to remove the bump, ugh. The shot was very painful! He gave me a shot to numb it first, but it still hurt quite a bit! My whole hand and lower part of my arm have been pretty sore the rest of the day. But I'm praying this will work and we won't have to do anything else.
Other than that, after getting my lab tests back, he said my inflammation levels are high right now, which in other words means my lupus is showing some activity. But, thankfully the only way it's affecting me right now is my general fatigue and soreness. Isn't it funny the things we learn to cope with? That I'm actually thankful to be in pain? It sounds so strange I know. But when I think about the pain I'm in, I remind myself that it won't kill me. I'd rather have the pain, the fatigue, and the forgetfulness, than damaged kidneys, liver, heart, or lungs. He told me to try and take it easy. Hah! I told him I would, that all I needed was a maid, a nanny, a chef, and a job for Justin that paid about twice as much ;) But, he is right, I have to be careful. The scary season for me is coming up. Since lupus essentially means that your immune system attacks your own healthy cells, the best way to control it is by taking medications that reduce your immune system. But, then of course that makes you more susceptible to every little bug that goes around! And now that I'm working with little ones, I'm going to be exposed to all kinds of things I'm sure. But I will be praying that I stay healthy and can continue to do everything I need to do. I am just to thankful to be able to have a good Dr. To have health insurance, and to live in a time when there is enough knowledge about my illness to be able to treat it.
OK, enough of my rambling :) Have a good rest of the week everyone!
Love-Jasmin
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