Good But Could Be Better

You know those moments when you say to yourself, "I should go to the gym/clean the house/do laundry/run my errands/etc." but you never do? Yeah, that's me in a nutshell 90% of the time.

I had one very productive day on Tuesday. Four loads of laundry: Done. Dishes in the sink: Cleaned. Stuff in the car that I bought the other day but was too lazy to bring in: Out. It was the most productive day off ever.

Today . . . not so much. I know it's only 7:45 and perhaps when my medicine kicks into high gear I'll have a little more power on my side, but I can just foresee the rest of the day being pretty simple. Yeah, I should make the bed, but oh man the kitties are playing and it's just TOO CUTE!

Ahem, anyway. . .

It's not just the little chores around the house that I need to do, it's a lot of things that are really stressing me out. I'm an emotional person. There, I said it! And I stress easily, which does not help with joint pain, let me tell you. I had the realization that when I'm stressed I avoid taking care of the things that stress me out, and therefore I stress even more in the long run because I have those things looming over my head. Whew!

Because so much is going on in my little world, I find myself achey a majority of the time because I've been stressing. Ick. I hate stress.

I was just reading a little article on Glamour.com about a nifty little trick to help combat stress. There are a million out there, but this I realized works.  

 So many worries. 

They say if you are feeling stressed lately, give yourself a chunk of time in the day to let yourself worry. Apparently people who let themselves have worry time for 30 minutes every day handle their stress better and seem to have less of it the rest of their 24 hours.

And it hit me: usually when Mitch gets home from work he and I have our little "check-in time" where we talk about our day, what we've been up to, how work went, and most importantly, what has been stressing us out. I know for a fact that talking to him about my worries almost always helps me get them under control and stress about them less.

Go ahead baby, tell Mitch all about it.

But when he's away on business, I don't get that as much. We're left with phone conversations that are never as good as the situations where he gives me a hug because I'm freaking out and it immediately takes away the crazy. (Well, not completely . . . I think I'm always a bit crazy.)

I decided that I'm going to try to limit myself to only a small chunk of my day to freak out about these out of control situations. Talk to Mitch, think to myself, share stories of drama with little Nick. Then I'm done. It's on to getting things in order!

And right now getting things in order means inventorying my things! Right after Tesla is done snuggling.

Can You Say Similar?

Today I'm introducing you to Cathy, who surprisingly seems so similar to me. When I met Cathy she'd been commenting on my posts, supplying me with delicious banana bread recipes, support and encouragement. Then I started getting to know her and realized that we have a lot of things in common: paleo diet, time off from medicine, going back on Enbrel, being totally awesome. 

I love what she has to say about diet, keeping active and staying positive. It sounds like she has an amazing family that anyone would be lucky to be apart of. 

. . . Can I come hang out with your fam? They seem awesome.

Cathy has her own blog at http://thelifeandadventuresofcatepoo.blogspot.com. if you want to see what she has to say! But first . . . 

Name: Cathy Kramer

Age (Or age-range): 43

Location (general area is fine): Naperville, Il

How long have you had arthritis? January 2004

What treatments are you on now/have been on in the past?  I was put on Prednisone, Methotrexate and Plaquenil when I was first diagnosed.  After this mixture only brought me further into inflammation, I started seeing a naturopath who looked at any and all reasons for the inflammation.  She also started me on an elimination diet. 

My naturopath's help over the years has been tremendous. Each month I would go back thinking it was time to add back foods, but it wasn't until she saw improvement in my inflammation that we added back foods. My body needed almost a year without these foods before it was strong enough to realize what they were doing to my body. Permanently removing gluten and dairy helped put me in remission the first time.

In 2008, I chose to go off all medications. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to handle the inflammation without the medications. In 2010, I started Enbrel and Methotrexate as well as started eating a paleo diet.  Diet and meds seem to be the best combination for me. This last year has been an amazing year for me! 

Have you noticed any changes with food? Oh yes.  Gluten and dairy are definite “no-no's” for me.  I can feel the inflammation within 24 hours of eating either one. Now that I have eliminated grains, I can feel their effects with my stomach issues as well as joint inflammation.  I went from following a mostly gluten/dairy free and low sugar diet for over six years to following a paleo diet.  Eliminating grains helped reduce cravings for sweet foods and gluten foods which is important for me because sugar in any form plays a big part in how I feel.  This was the biggest surprise of going on an elimination diet.  When I added sugar back, I could strongly feel the effects.  Unfortunately, I occasionally just don't care and give in to the wonderful tastes of sugar.  A girl can't always resist the sweet tooth.

(Um, yes Cathy, I agree with that last statement!)

What keeps you positive on your worst days?  Visualizing myself on my best days doing the things I love to do: bike riding with my family, walking with my border collie, running up and down the stairs with a laundry basket, sliding in and out of the car with ease.  Visualizing where I want to be and where I have been always reminds me that it is still there to come back to.  Hope is always there and something to strive for. 

What are your favorite hobbies? Bike riding, walks/hikes with my border collie Izzy, communicating with others online, homeschooling, adult education, reading, health, alternative choices to life.

 

Have they changed since you were diagnosed?  Although some of my hobbies have been put on hold for a while due to RA, they haven't changed.  In fact, many have become more of an interest to me. I think having RA has helped bring out the “alternative” side of me.  I am not willing to settle for the “norm” in any part of my life.  I follow the paths that work best for my family and me and ignore all the others, even if they go against the mainstream.  

Lookin' good Cathy!

Have you traveled much since you were diagnosed? I am not a big traveler.  If so, how's traveling for you?  When we have traveled I seem to do okay.  I don't know if it is the excitement of being somewhere different that gives me that extra boost of energy, but generally trips are good for me.  Also, my husband and two kids always keep a watchful eye out for me which helps a lot. 

How about work? What do you do for a living and how does your arthritis affect it? I teach adult English as a Second Language.  I love my job.  During a flare it can be a challenge due to lifting my arm frequently and having to be on my feet a lot.  Since I work with adults, they watch out for me and if I look like I am in pain, they are up and helping me with whatever I need.  I have had nights where I had to lift my arm up to the board with my other arm because my shoulder was frozen and had to take a deep breath to hold back the tears (well, a few times they didn't stay in and I had to keep writing so my students wouldn't see the tears.)  During my worst flares, I did consider the fact that a day may come when I would have to stop working.  Luckily for me, my new combo is working well and that day seems to be further in the future now. 

What a handsome couple!

Have you reached out to others with RA? Any interesting connections? Through my blog, http://thelifeandadventuresofcatepoo.blogspot.com/ I have met wonderful people that have become close cyber friends over the years.  They have seen me through some rough days.  I have enjoyed not only sharing the ups and down of disease with these friends, but also other aspects of their lives.  As an introvert, online connections have been great for me!  It is like a little support group in the comfort of my own home.   

I am also a contributor at MyRACentral http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/311516 where I can share my RA stories with others.  I love receiving feedback from both sources.  .  

How do your friends and family handle dealing with your health? My family is super supportive.  My husband continues to love me as if rheumatoid arthritis never entered our lives.  I can still see in his eyes that he finds me beautiful and that means so much to me.  

My 15 year old son is my “protector”.  He keeps a watchful eye out for me.  He goes grocery shopping with me so he can grab the bags and put them in the car, he picks up our lunch bags before I can even think about it, and he is there to give me a gentle hug as needed.  I think a lot of people haven't realized the full scale of my RA because Alexander makes sure I am taken care of and don't have to be obvious about what I can't do.  

Sophia, my 13 year old is my “positive thinker”.  On my worst days she has me think about my best days.  She encourages me to always think about myself being well. She lies with me and shares her life with me when I need her most. 

My extended family has been wonderful in preparing meals for me that are gluten/dairy free when I visit Kansas.  They choose restaurants that have foods I can eat when they visit Illinois.  Most importantly, they support my alternative choices in caring for my body.  They realize that I know my body best and if I am choosing to go down a certain path, it must be right for me even if they would have made different choices themselves.  

Who is the number 1 person in your life that helps you the most?

I can't say there is one person because there are definitely three.  My husband, my son, and my daughter are my support team.  Without them I could never have made it this far with my diagnosis.  They fill me with love and support that it greater than anything I could have ever imagined.    

 

How cute is this family? Don't they just look like they'd be a fun group?

Share something fun about yourself!

Early in my 20's I went to watch my younger sister sky dive.  When I got there and saw her getting buckled up for a tandem dive, I couldn't resist.  I signed myself up to do it too.  I called my husband so he could watch me.  He ended up doing it too.  I think this is what I like about my personality.  I wouldn't have gone out searching for a sky diving experience, but when the experience presented itself, I wasn't afraid to take it. Rheumatoid arthritis has been that way for me too.  I obviously didn't go out searching for it, but now that it has presented itself, I am not afraid to take it on and explore all potential paths I can follow.  Everything has its good; it is just a matter of looking for it. In many ways rheumatoid arthritis has brought me to a good place in life and I am thankful for these experiences.   

Talk about motivating! Thanks for sharing with us Cathy. I love reading your blog. See you around the comments section! 

If you want to be involved in our new RA Friends segment, send me an email at lydaclark.blog@gmail.com  

Intuition

I'm going to make you people laugh . . . . Yesterday I bought myself Oprah Magazine because the cover caught my eye. Ha. Good work Oprah people.

"Let your intuition be your guide . . . " yadda yadda yadda. I was first just curious if the magazine could really uncover the answers to my "deepest questions". But I did get kind of stuck on this article about human intuition - how our brain works before we consciously realize what it's doing. That gut feeling you get when you just know.

It makes me think more about how "in-tune" we need to be with our bodies, especially if you have any sort of disease/disorder/health issue at all. Your body always knows what it needs, the question is are you listening to it?

I know I've talked about it a million times before, but my decision a year and a half ago to go off all my medicine was after my body told me I needed a break. It was just a feeling I had. That feeling when things just aren't right. I can't pinpoint it exactly, but it was like a red flag. I needed to make a change because my gut was telling me I was going in the wrong direction for far too long.

So I did. And even though that year was a crazy one, that decision was the best I ever made.

I went from blindly taking a medicine I didn't care for, not knowing the full depth of my disease, to really getting to know my body and what it needs. Yes, I had an awful time after the effects of the drugs wore off, and I was struggling with the worst bout of arthritis I've ever had, but it got me back into the mindset that I have an autoimmune disease and I need to remember that. It's important to not forget who you are and how your body works. You can trick yourself into thinking it's nothing, but that will get you nowhere.

When talking to others with arthritis, whenever there is a problem with their treatment, their doctors, anything in their lives, they always know something is wrong. They have that feeling, but they ask for others' opinions or they continue to live with that ick in their gut without doing anything about it. You know when something is not right, so do something about it. If you're at an appointment with your rheumatologist and you get that feeling in your gut that things aren't going the way they should, listen. Nine times out of ten people ignore those feelings when it comes to their health because they assume their doctor knows what's best. YOU are the one that knows what is best for your body.

The article went on to talk about all forms of intuition, including animal intuition which I found particularly entertaining. How animals seem to know when an earthquake or tsunami is going to hit, so they run for safety. How great service animals are in knowing when their person is going to have a seizure or a meltdown.

My old dog MJ used to just know when I was upset, and he would curl up next to me and give me kisses and snuggles until I felt better. My cats always seem to sense when they are going to the vet. So they run. Damn those little buggers.

And then I lighten things up by thinking how Niki had the gut instinct to jump from shelf to shelf in order to get to the highest point in our closet.

And without being able to communicate to each other, he just knew that his time on the top shelf was up.

Have I rambled on enough for you to not understand a word I'm talking about yet? Good, that's what I was going for. The moral of this story is: listen to your gut. Take some time to think about your treatment, or any issue you're having in your life, and really think about which way your mind is telling you to lean. And then the next time you're with your doc, do something about it.


RA Friends tomorrow! Last week we missed it due to travel, but this week will be a good one! If you are interested in being involved, send an email to me at lydaclark.blog@gmail.com!

BFF

This weekend was the first time it hit me that my best girl friend, Melissa, will be moving and leaving me soon. Boo. Sad face.

I have never been the type of person to always have a "BFF" outside of my family. I've had great friends. True friends. But never really someone that I said, "I can trust this person with my life."

Ok, sorry Mitch, I feel that way about you. You're my BFF, don't worry! ;-)

But Melissa is my girl. She is my closest girlfriend. We are so similar in so many ways, and we love each other's differences. Perfect match!

Mel and I on her birthday this last December.

Melissa and I met in college at Western. I was casting my first little directing project (a 10 minute, student written play), and cast her as the lead female. It was also her first show to act in. Oh how cute! Not long after, I was casting my first large production (using the word "large" graciously), and remembered her from before, so I hunted her down and cast her again. Funny enough, through the audition process I ended up casting her boyfriend, Adam, in the show as well, so I got to know the both of them really well in that time. (It turned out to be an amazing show, by the way!)

Melissa, me, Mitch, and Melissa's man Adam.

Blondes and Brunettes. HA!

As time went on in school she and I stayed acquaintances, but it wasn't until the two of us were cast in the same touring theatre, MOTley (Western's Multicultural Outreach Tour program), that we really began to connect.

 Mid-MOTley performance at an elementary school.

Right after Mitch and I got married and he moved to Utah, Melissa and I started to spend a lot of time together. We became amazing friends, and I am so glad that I had her to help me get through what could have been a very lonely situation.

On the day of my graduation, I decided not to walk. My family couldn't be there because they all had plans to come up to Bellingham for our wedding reception the week after, and my husband couldn't be there because of work, so I chose to spend the day with my friend instead! I've never been one for normalcy, so I will always look back on my graduation day and remember how I spent it laying by the pool at my best friend's apartment complex!

When I moved with Mitch to Utah I lost touch with a lot of friends. But in that year, every time I came back to visit it was as if no time had passed with Melissa. When we moved back to Bellingham, Melissa and I were closer than ever, and it's been the funnest year being able to spend as much time as I can with my girl!

Nope, I don't know what we're doing in this photo.

It wouldn't be fair if I didn't post an embarrassing picture of us.

In the next month she'll be leaving me to move to Indiana with her man. It breaks my heart to think that I won't be able to see her whenever I want. But no matter what happens or how far away we are, Melissa will always be my girl!

Love you so much, Mel!


Do you have any close friends who live far away? How have you stayed in touch over the years? Let's hear about your BFF!

Workin' For The Weekend?

Ok, I've had the entire week off and it's been lovely. I've vacationed, I've played with kitties, I've eaten the many left overs from vacationing.

I even spent the day yesterday with my girlfriend Maura, pampering ourselves with mimosas and pedicures!

Pay no attention to the dying herbs in the background.

But now it's back to reality. Back to the real world. Paying bills. (Ick)

And taking the kitties to the vet. Luckily my wonderful husband has volunteered to do the vet part since I have to work. Hopefully he will be able to handle dealing with this little monster. . . 

She's a scrappy one. Did I mention that at the vet's office they have a special note in her file that she's feisty?

*Note to vet techs: wear long sleeves when handling this cat. She's vicious. She will tear your f'ing face off if you get too close. 

Ok, maybe it doesn't say that on there, but let's just say the vet and the assistant learned their lesson the last time they tried to do the thermometer up the butt thing to Tesla.

Don't mess with me.

And then there's going back to work. I love my job, yes I do, but there's something very weird about working on the weekend. Especially when your significant other has weekends off. Oh well! You make it work!

I am also dying, DYING, to tell you some important news but I can't yet. GAH! It's driving me crazy. I don't like keeping secrets from my loyal readers. I'm counting down the days until I can share the good news for you and we can all bust out the champagne!

In the meantime, I will wish you all a wonderful weekend, full of pain-free happy times. And know that I will be here, a big dork, trying to make you laugh Monday thru Friday. 

Peace!

Beach Fun

Yesterday was a traveling day for us, so RA Friends will be postponed until next week.

Today it's raining. Again. Ick

So I'm going to reminisce about the last few days at the beach. Ahh . . .

Let's fast forward and give the highlights.

There was lots of time spent with the girls. Oh how I love them. Even if they are crazy.

There was an argument. Followed by a battle.

I saw two bald eagles and an otter at Copalis Rock.

Did push ups on the beach.

And some high jumps for fun.

Took a walk to visit the property that my family owns.

Got lost on the corner of Marylin Ln and Marylin Ln.

Stepped on a rock, so had to go into town to buy the fixin's to clean it up.

Requested an axe to chop wood, and was given a rusty, old machete that looked like it had just washed up on shore a couple days ago.

Had BBQ, roasted marshmallows, hunted for seashells, and caught up on some R&R.

The weekend ended with a dinner out, compliments of yours truly. (Proud of myself for that one!)

All in all, it was a fabulous vacation that I was sad to see end. Now it's back to the real world!

Lyda Fire

How much fire wood does it take for Lyda to keep a fire going?

I'm not sure I was the best choice to stay and tend to the fire. It keeps going out. No matter what I do to try to keep it ablaze.

But whenever I do get it going I enjoy those couple minutes with a warm, crackling fire. So toasty. So comfy. A glass of wine. A good book. And a little bit of silence.

Ahh . . . vacation.