Lupus whisperer

Just call me Doctor House. I can smell Lupus miles away. My dad was admitted to the hospital on Saturday night with what appeared to be a blood stream infection. He was put on antibiotics and told the infection had damaged his kidneys. Today we found out that they can not find any infection. They found nothing on a full body scan. His white blood cell count was very low as were his platelets. I told them they needed to check autoimmune. I told them I have had 2 Lupus "attacks" that were exactly like that, drop in white count, spike in fever, no infection to be found. Also, if there is no infection why does he have kidney damage. I am almost sure he had an acute Lupus flare. Then I started to wonder why now. He has been under stress but the I thought about the fact that he took up juicing and some new supplements recently. I just bet he boosted his immune system too much and it triggered a latent Lupus. Tomorrow he sees the Rheumatologist, so hopefully we get some answers!
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Nice days

Yesterday was my 34th birthday. I don't expect much out of a birthday these days just some time with my loved ones, a nice dinner, maybe a present or two. :). And it delivered. The most special part was the hundreds of birthday wishes I got on FaceBook in many different languages. It made me feel very appreciated! Today was also nice. I have been working on a Products Update Newsletter for weeks now and I finally got the Lupus version out tonight. It will make the Fibro version easy to finish up tomorrow. We also got in our new Double Ring Necklace and Ribbon Ring Earrings. They were so cute I put them on immediately! Tomorrow I have a mani/pedi appt. that's always fun. Vacation is getting really close!
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Vision

I have been having a terrible time with my vision. I have been legally blind in my left eye since I was 5. My right eye however has always been great, until about 2 years ago. I suddenly noticed trouble with my distance vision was fading. I got glasses that I never wear because I can't see up close with them. I have noticed it getting worse though to the point where I can't read the TV without my glasses. Tonight I was shopping and couldn't read the aisle signs. It's scary! I haven't been to the eye doc in over a year so I need to get there!
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Results

I learned something important about myself tonight. I am very results motivated. Ok so it's not exactly earth shattering, but putting it together in my mind that way will be helpful when I am having trouble motivating myself. A couple weeks ago I found out that I had lost 18 lbs. over the last couple months. Tonight I braved the Wii Fit scale again and I have lost another 4 lbs. Yahoo! It sure made those Girl Scout cookie cravings go away! No doubt the 1mg decrease of Prednisone is helping. I am also drinking a Slim Fast shake when I don't feel like eating to keep my metabolism going. I have also been trying to move a little more too. The stairs in our new house help that. We will also have our new baby cousin coming for "day care" soon. That is in addition to an almost 3 year old. That ought to get me moving too! I am just so excited to be losing weight! It really makes me want to work harder! I may have even done a song or three on the Just Dance video game.
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Stress

Today was a better day. I woke up feeling decent and motivated. I got several new items posted on Cure4Lupus.org and Cure4Fibromyalgia.org. I hit a wall this evening though when stress started to get to me. My brain just shut down. I am going to take an ativan and go to bed and expect to feel better in the morning. I just can't deal with stress. It's a killer.
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I have been feeling sleepy a lot lately. My doc has me reducing my Prednisone so I am guessing that is why. Two days ago I reduced another quarter milligram bringing me to 9mg and today I am very achy and tired. It is so frustrating choosing between quality of life now and quantity of life later. Prednisone is so awful but it gives me a life. Its crazy that one stupid milligram makes such a difference. I am not sure what I will do except I won't continue to reduce unless I start feeling better. I think I will give my body a chance to adjust to the 9mg though. Of course my doctor will be consulted but at this point it is mostly about how well I can tolerate it. He wants me on as low of a dose as I can tolerate. I have a big vacation coming up so I sure hope I feel stronger by then!
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New Year

We had the best New Year's Weekend. We went to the mountains of Arkansas to visit family. We unplugged from the world. We got no cell reception, no computers, nothing. We played cards, talked, napped, and enjoyed each other's company. It was great! Now our batteries are recharged and we are ready for the new year!
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