So much good happening for me right now; I thought I’d take the time to share. Many of you know that I’ve been on Methotrexate for over 10 years and I was resistant to adding more medicine. It’s been brought up to me for 4 years or so, but the reason was never quite good enough for me and I didn’t want to be taking yet another medicine that perhaps in the long run would shorten my life span. BUT when the Rheumatologist said, “Would you like to live without pain?” I said let’s give it a shot. (ha ha play on words as it is literally a shot I take every two weeks.)
The pain I had been experiencing the past four years was only getting worse and I remember at a recent “girls” weekend with my family not feeling like I could participate fully because I “hurt” all the time. The change since adding Humira is remarkable. It took away pain I was experiencing everywhere. When I think RA I see the Ulnar deviation in my hand and I think – oh the pain in my hand will go away. Yes that is happening, but the pain in my back and in my hips and in my elbows is also gone. If you were like me, hesitant to “try” a new drug because you take too many; ask “will it help my pain?” Because Humira sure did. And I don’t know if it will shorten my lifespan or not but at least I’m back to loving life because of the no pain, so it’s worth it to me.
Because my every thought of every day is no longer on pain, I have slowly begun to build up stamina again with my fitness. Since moving the office out of the home a year ago, we have been so busy that I sat from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. So if this is my new reality, than I will get up every hour and move. So goal number one is walking. When I began counting again (about 2 weeks ago) I was barely making 2000 steps a day. We made my step count 3500 for about 5 days and then 3750 for about 5 days and now 4000. Not much but more than 1800. We are seeing how my body reacts too.
I also began a new eating plan which is VERY easy for me to follow. I need a specific plan with meals and recipes laid out and this book had it. My son’s girlfriend told me about it in December. Her mom sent me the book and I took 2 months to read it and study it. I began the plan about 3 weeks ago and have dropped 13 pounds so far. This is a no coffee/no sugar plan at least for 28 days. I’m going to do a second round of 28 days after the first. I can say that I have not taken one antacid so far AND my sleep has been great.
Oh and a woman found me on Facebook and offered her services to me for free. I’ve had two Zoom calls with her and she’s set me up with an exercise plan/ breathing plan/ balance plan/ eating plan/ drinking water plan / step plan. Right now I’m focusing on the breathing exercises, the balance portion, the eating and drinking plan (see above), and the walking (aka steps). My biggest ask was I wanted her to hear me when I said I cannot (CANNOT) use my hand for exercising. No push ups, no weights, etc. She came up with a system with bands and carabiners and wrist bands that the bands will clip into. I’m setting that up this weekend. I’ll share more in another post. She can be found on Facebook under Focus Health ExRx.
AND we traded in our 2018 Toyota Tacoma for a 2023 Highlander. While I waited for the paperwork, I walked up and down the hallway where the workers were. I said, Don’t worry, I’m not anxious. I’m just getting steps. (smile)
