Finally...an answer!

It's not a good answer, but it's still an answer! If you have been reading my blog from the beginning (congrats mom!) then you will notice a trend. A weird health trend. As in...if it's weird or unexplainable, it will happen to me. I have gone through major migraines, lady problems, cysts, bone, knee, ankle, thumb, wrist and heart problems. Well, most of it is related to... drum roll please... Rheumatoid Arthritis. Yup, that's what I said. At 29.

I had my knee surgery, and the Dr noticed "significant synovitis." Translation: lots of swelling that isn't supposed to be there. The synovial membrane is the inner membrane on the joints. It creates synovial fluid, which lubricates the joints. Therefore, synovitis is the swelling of said membrane. He drained lots of fluid off my knee, and because of all the other inflammation sent it off for biopsy.

The results came back with "indications of RA." That sent me off to the lab for another round of tests, which showed "high indication" of RA, which resulted in an appt with a rheumatologist. I went in and heard the words "I am 112% positive you have moderately advanced RA." well yippee skippy! I just looked at him and told him I wasn't 30 yet. He said it didn't matter.

RA is an autoimmune disease where the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue. This is a chronic illness, it may go into remission, but I will always have it. The research shows that early diagnosis and aggressive treatment slows the progression of joint damage. Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs help slow the progression of the disease. They are immuno-suppressants, which don't target on specific thing, but decreases the immune system overall.

They put me on a drug called methotrexate. This drug is also used in chemo. Yeah, great. I take one dose a week, but let me tell you, that one dose is a doozy! I was warned that I might get nauseous after I took it. I took it saturday night, so I could lay low on sunday. Fast forward to wed, when I FINALLY started to not feel sick. I called the Dr and asked for an anti-nausea med, but they were hesitant to give me one because most of them interact poorly with the psych meds I am on. I had my 2 Dr's talk to each other to figure out a med that would work. I am so glad we found a combo that works!

I have been on the meds for a month. Besides the methotrexate they put me on prednisone, which helped somewhat. The immediate swelling went down, which is a blessing. My hands had become VERY swollen, but I just thought I had putting on weight. Turns out it was edema! Once the steroid got in my system that abated. With the swelling down some of the pain subsided. Good!

I have a check up on Monday, and I get the results of my blood work. We'll see!

Post-op

I am doing better today! 2 days out of surgery and walking around with 1 crutch for "safety." I still don't trust my knee 100%. I made it through all day yesterday with no pain pills other than Aleve. Today I took a shower, which really knocked me flat. Half a pill, Aleve, and a 2 hour nap helped me recover from the exertion of the shower. I have to do exercises every hour that I am awake. They are just basically lifting my leg, but it takes a lot to be able to do it! I really feel like I am doing so much better though. I can now make my own food, since I don't have to hang on to 2 crutches to get around. Tonight I get to tackle the stairs! I can make it up and down the 2 steps into the house, but the actual stairs still scare me. Tomorrow I get to go out, hopefully in the Corvette, to Costco. There is something about riding around in a convertible that makes things ok.

Surgery!

Hiya! Fair warning: this post is written on drugs!

I had my knee surgery today. It went well. In the operating room for only 50 minutes. In and out of the hospital in under 6 hours. They weren't sure what they were going to do until they got in there, but they ended up just debriding the patella and meniscus, and draining fluid off my knee.

4 small "bullets hole in my knee, I am sore, but not too bad. But then again, I am on drugs. Weight bearing as tolerated. I am able to put a small amount on it, but mainly just for balance with the crutches.

Ok, nap time!

Hello, I'm Megan

Just thought I would introduce myself. Now that it's been 4 months, I think you might have forgotten who I am!

I have been so scattered lately that I haven't even thought about posting! I am lucky I remember to post on my sister Katie's Mission Blog, that I don't even think about this one!

So it's April, the month of showers. I was reveling in the beautiful sunshine of March and then it gave way to April. I hate the cold and wet now! I just want to go play in my garden!

What have I been doing in the last 4 months? Working. Trying to cram 2 job descriptions into the time allotted for 1. When I am not working, I am reading! My crazy reading kick got started by my decision to re-read the Harry Potter series again (for the 12th time.) I plowed through all 7 books in 13 days. Then I decided to go through most of the books I own and re-read them. I just started borrowing books from the library again.

I got a new roommate, her name is Shannon. She started off quiet, but I have warmed her up! :) It's nice to have a roommate who will actually spend time with me! We have started sunday night game nights, and inevitably end up sitting on the couch chatting and working in the evenings. (It probably helps that the internet access is in the living room, since I can't figure out how to get our wireless working.)

I am having knee surgery on the 23rd. They are going in to fix a tear in my meniscus. I am betting on 6 weeks on crutches, so that way if it ends up being shorter I will be pleasantly surprised! I will be taking 2 weeks off work (yay) just chilling out and resting.

Yeah, not that exciting of a life. Catch ya later!

Welcome 2013!

Well, it's a new year! Let me just say that I am hoping that this year will be better than 2012. Last year was incredibly difficult. Some of it was my own making, some of it was body chemistry, and some of it was just life circumstances. But anyway, here are some highlights (the good stuff)

Jan - Redecorated my room
Feb - Lost 20 lbs, reorganized my house
March - diagnosed Bipolar II
April - new glasses!!!!
May - Got a new to me piano (just piano-sitting her)
June - turned  29
July - promotion at work (Human Resources Dept Supervisor), started dating a GUY!! (say what?!?!?)
August - Harvested garden and THE OLYMPICS!!!
Sept - work started getting busier
Oct - Broke up with said guy, work got even busier!
Nov - Work was all I did!
Dec - had my 29.5 birthday (Agh!) and a nice quiet Christmas!

Ok, that's not much, but that's the most of it! Happy New Year everybody!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! you know, working at Toys has sometimes made me jaded. It's been hard to get into the Christmas spirit, because I deal with some many difficult people at work. It has been an interesting season, with things not working out the way I wanted them to, and people not working up to expectations. Sales seemed slow, but the store seemed just as busy. I work Christmas Eve and the day after, so I don't really get to take time off.

But, all that aside, it's Christmas!! I decided to wrap a couple presents for myself and put them under the tree. It was fun to have some presents under there. Then I put everyone else's presents under there too. I have been good and waited until tomorrow morning to open the ones from my parents. I did open one of the presents I bought and wrapped for myself cause I wanted to watch it (Dark Knight Rises) last night. Now I am in  the middle of watching the Santa Claus trilogy. So funny! Cheesy, but funny.

This is what I wish my living room looked like. Or at least one of my dream rooms. This could be my bedroom someday. You know, my dream house on Pinterest. :)

Well, Merry Christmas everyone!

16 & 23 days...

'Tis Christmas at TRU! Life in the toy store gets pretty crazy around this time. I can only say that I am grateful that Christmas is only 16 days away. That also means that season ends in 23 days. (the week after Christmas is "Return Week") But enough about work!

I spent last weekend putting up Christmas lights. It was kinda fun feeling all domestic hanging them up there. And I love looking at them!

I also got a tree from Reed and Peggy. It's just a little table top tree, about 4 feet tall. I put 4 strings of lights on this little baby.

In other news, I am wearing 2 braces. One on my right wrist, for a thing called De Quervain's tenosynovitis. "De Quervain's tenosynovitis (dih-kwer-VAINS ten-oh-sine-oh-VIE-tis) is a painful condition affecting the tendons on the thumb side of your wrist. If you have de Quervain's tenosynovitis, it will probably hurt every time you turn your wrist, grasp anything or make a fist.

Although the exact cause of de Quervain's tenosynovitis isn't known, any activity that relies on repetitive hand or wrist movement — such as working in the garden, playing golf or racket sports or lifting your baby — can make it worse." - www.mayoclinic.com

The other brace is on my left knee. Back in July I fell down a couple of stairs while house sitting for a friend. I just kind of ignored the pain that was building since then. Finally it was bad enough that it was affecting my daily life. The ortho ordered an MRI to rule out a miniscus tear, and it turns out it just a damaged MCL. Not bad enough to warrant surgery. YAY!!! So, I just have to wear a brace for a month, ice it, and do exercises. I can do that! (except the exercises are super hard! 100 leg lifts, and 3 sets of 10 30 second wall squats.)

I also celebrated my half birthday. On Dec 2, I turned 29.5. Only 6 months away from 30, yikes! It kinda just made me think for a bit. Thats about it!