The crazy mind of a radicalmamma with RA

Skinvisible: 3-Ring Tattoo Floorshow:

2009-07-15T03:48:00.001-07:00

Skinvisible: 3-Ring Tattoo Floorshow:

Shared via AddThis

I feel good!

2009-07-07T23:48:00.000-07:00

Life has been good lately! The meds are working (just started a new one) ,the kids are healthy, and life is playing out well. I don't know if I have much to say.
The kids and I had a movie night tonight. It was nice. We popped some popcorn and watched InkHeart and the new Mummy movie. Both where alright. I put the kids to bed and watched a movie for myself (The Knowing), also a good movie (weird ending though). Really nothing exiting to report. I'm sitting here trying to think of anything that would make me laugh looking back on it....but nothing. Not to say we don't laugh through out our day...we do. Just nothing standing out right now.
OK...I'm just babbling now!

Time to update this crazy thing!

2009-07-05T14:37:00.000-07:00

WOW...what a few weeks it has been!
Update on Mikah:
He went in for his MRI on the tumor and all went well. Things got interesting on the way home from the hospital. I was not supposed to get any results until Tuesday so I was a little scared when the Doctor called so soon after the test. I thought " this can not be good". Boy was I wrong! The Doctor explained to me that the tumor that had been there ( right in front of his heart) was now gone and that he had no explanation as to why. He said that it really was there before, but now it was just gone! His exact words were that it was "miraculous"! I knew why though....The power of our Lord and prayer is why it is not there! I have been on cloud nine since that moment!
Over the weekend I took the kids camping and they loved it. I forgot my camera though :( Sad, because there were so many good shots! They had a blast and it was a nice way to celebrate the good news of Mikah!

Very long day...

2009-06-23T22:53:00.000-07:00

It was a very long day with not such good news. I don't know if I'm ready to blog about it. It's not me, but my youngest son. Please pray for him. He needs it.

Mikah has had a lump in his chest that we first notice when he was about four months old. We have spent months since going to doctors trying to find out what it is. We have had many test done and no answers yet. They think they have gotten closer to one, but not one I ever wanted to face. He has to go under and have a MRI done to rule out a tumor. They say that it is not looking good. This is such a long story leading up to this moment and I just don't have it in me to get into it right now. If you are a believer, and reading this...please pray for him. If your not a believer and reading this....please pray for him.

What a weekend...

2009-06-21T23:26:00.000-07:00

So we had to cancel our camping trip this weekend due to rain :( We will try again in a few weeks when the weather gets better. It was quit the weekend anyway. No big activity's, but mentally for me it was a big one.
Just when I think I have it together in my mind and that I am satisfied with where I'm at in life, I hit the bottom again! It's not that I think I have it all figured out or anything, but that I feel at rest with myself. This weekend I didn't feel at all at rest. Maybe it was because I was so exited to go camping. I just don't feel good I guess. I miss my old life in Kauai. I miss going surfing, spending time at the beach with the kids, hanging out with my friends and the music. I worked in a great little cafe that had live music every night. I became friends with most of the bands that would play there. In the summer we would close out the cafe and then go down to the beach with some beers and instruments, build a fire and just hang out for a while before going home. I miss that. I miss the sound of the waves hitting the beach in the dark. I miss the sounds of laughter.
Since I have been back to the mainland I don't have any close friends. I don't go out because I'm not into the bars. I don't know of any places that do live music. I don't work and wish so much that I could. My mind is so ready too, my body just wont keep up with my mind. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE having this time with my kids. I just wish that I could have a life along with being a mom. I have worked all my life and cant stand sitting still. I have been thinking I can start volunteering. That would be something I could do to prep my body to go back to work. I have a few places in mind.
Life will be better in the morning. I just have to have faith.

Lets finish this all to long post...

2009-06-18T23:13:00.000-07:00

Sorry for such a long and probably boring story!

Now to finish the boring life story and move onto everyday life....

So like I said before. I have always been a bit of a health nut. I don't like taking pills and that was a big one for me to swallow. I love the doctor I have and trust him fully. So now I take about five different meds and a rash of vitamins. I'm taking: Methotrexate( preventive med ), Hydroxychlor ( for swelling ), Folic Acid (for lack of due to Methotrexate), Omeprazole ( for nausea), Prednisone ( for swelling), Embrial ( a shot I give myself for preventive once a week) and a slew of vitemins because the meds I take deplete them from my body. This is more then I EVER thought I would take. The truth is that I have tried the natural way and really wanted it to work, but it didn't due to to much time passing. I know its allot, but I feel better now then I ever have. I still struggle with being tired, and the nausea, but life is much more manageable. My kids have a bit of there mother back and I can say it is worth every pill!

So I know this all may have been really boring to some of you, but if there is anyone suffering from RA I hope that we can read story's about other people and there lives and get to lean on each other for help or just have someone to talk with who will understand what we go through.

I am still a single mother and would like to meet other people who understand. We need all the mental support we can get!

So this weekend my kids and I are going camping for the first time in over a year. We cant wait! We love to be outdoors. My son got a new fishing pole and is going to fish for his first time :) I hope that everyone has a great weekend!

In the begining... cont.

2009-06-16T23:54:00.000-07:00

Some may not know what Rheumatoid Arthritis is and think that it is something only old people get. So not true, it actually affects people between the ages of 25-50 years of age the most.
Rheumatoid Arthritis: is a auto immune decease. Your immune system is built to fight off any bad bacteria or viruses that enter your body and put a threat on your system. When you have RA your immune system no longer can tell the difference between the good cells and the bad viruses or bacteria. The immune system starts to attack your body and the good cells. This affects your joints and the lining around your bones. It eats away at them until the joints are gone and the bone is eaten away. Your immune system can also start going after your eyes and lungs in time. 80% of RA patients are anemic ( I am ). There is no cure for RA and back in the day, they called this the "crippling" decease. Most patients with RA can lead normal lives with regular medications. If treated within the first two years of showing symptoms you have a greater chance of suppressing symptoms for a longer period of time.

Now after I went home and scared the crap out of myself reading about RA on over a dozen web sites, I decided to go see a Naturalpathic Doctor to see if I could fight this thing naturally. I found a well know Doctor on the Island and she said to go on a anti-inflammatory diet added by a mixture of fresh aloe and turmeric drink. I was so happy and thought that this would be the answer to my pain. I was starting to have a real fight on my hands now with a new symptom of non-stop tiredness. My body felt weak all the time now.
So I went on for abut 8 month drinking my mix and cutting out allot of foods, including my best friend coffee. Tea is just not the same as a hot cup of joe in the early hours of the morning!
In the meantime I am trudging on trying to be a full time mom and working. I finally had to leave my job due to the swelling and pain. I was depressed and thought that I was never going to get better.
Then I got another blast of news! I was pregnant! Was so not expecting to have more kids ( so very grateful now ). My relationship of two years was failing fast due to me being sick all the time with Ra and now I was pregnant! My boyfriend at the time was so use to me being athletic and full of life and that was not me anymore. I was always in pain and had a hard time getting out of bed let lone going surfing at 6 am. I felt bad, but I didn't know how to change it. I didn't want to be that way. I missed myself too.
So I did the best thing I could and moved me and the kids back to the mainland to be closer to my family and get better medical help.
When I got home my family was there with open arms and I was lead to one of the greatest Doctors I now know.
Now when your pregnant and have RA things can go one of two ways. Ether your symptoms get worse of they actually get better. I was one of the lucky ones and mine got better. I had the greatest pregnancy with only a few major "flare-ups" ( I had a very beautiful baby boy ). My OB/GYN lead me to a colleague of his that specialized in Rheumatoligy. He has been a life saver!
Ok...I'm off for now and will sum up the very long intro to my life tomorrow.

In the begining...

2009-06-16T02:53:00.000-07:00

I'm not to sure just how to start this, so I'll just start rambling and hope it makes sense in the end.
When I was younger I was full of a active lifestyle. I was a direct action activist, loved the outdoors (still do, but on the ground now) and rock climbing, biking, swimming ect. Had the full ability to run around with my kids and do just about anything they wanted to play. I have been a single mom most of there lives and have worked two jobs at a time to make ends meet. I didn't mind this for the most part an actually strive on it. About five or six years ago I started to notice that my body would swell doing even the easiest of tasks. It started in my hands and then my wrist. I went to the Doctor about it and they told me that I had Carpal Tunnel. I wrote it off and did the exercises they gave me and went on my way. As the years went on I noticed that it was not getting any better, but only getting worse and spreading to other parts of my body. My hips then my knees. There were times that I would wake up in the middle of the night and would be in such pain that all I could do was cry. I remember having to army crawl to the bathroom because I just could not walk. So, back to the Doctor I went. They again said that it was just Carpal tunnel. At this point I knew it was more then that, but had never even heard or RA. Again, I went on my way and started to think that life was just going to be about pain.
Things never got better and I started to think I really wanted to get to the bottom of the pain because it was really starting to effect the every day life. Buttoning a shirt or picking up a cup was so painful! I would get home from work and barely be able to get out of my car and up the steps to the house. My oldest daughter had to help me with getting dressed or even getting off the toilet! I thought I was going insane form the pain.
About four years ago I moved to Kauai, Hawaii. It is a very moist climate there and that really kicked my body into high gear as far as the pain and the interruption of my life. I was a waitress and was having a very hard time at work holding plates and being on my feet for to long. I went back to the Doctors and put my foot down about not thinking this was just Carpal Tunnel. They flew me to Honolulu to see a Rheumatology Doctor. They ran some test and did a full body exam, only to come back with the diagnosis that I had RA. I still didn't know what that was. My RA factors were sky high and he told me about medications that I could take that would help and be a preventative blocker. Not knowing anything about the disease, I said no and flew back home to do some research on this thing called RA.
Now, I have always been a bit of a health nut. Always eat organic. Never take conventional meds for even the smallest of colds, natural meds all the way. So I had a real hard time excepting the meds that he had told me about.
I went home, got on line, and scared the crap out of myself reading about RA.
I hate to do this but I'm going to finish this all to long story tomorrow! Always tomorrow...lol
you will find out soon why I think this is so funny!

Let's get this started...tomorow!

2009-06-14T23:53:00.000-07:00

Ok...just leaned a valuable lesson on the blogger. ALWAYS save what you wrote, BEFORE you post. I just wrote a little something but didn't save it :( Dumb and I should have known better. Any way, I'll start at the beginning tomorrow....always tomorrow!