on top of having Psoriatic/Osteo Arthritis in my back im lucky enough to have two herniated disks. l3-l4 and l4-l5, not sure how i did it but i was told its fairly common.

unfortunately i cant do my dishes. after 10 minutes i have to sit down. so wash for 10 sit for 20 wash for 10. yes this sucks. my Rheumy sent me to see a pain doc who sent me for an MRI and guess what? He said we should get an epidural. at first i was like uh… NO! i remembered my ex on October 28th 1985 in labor getting an epidural they (doctors/nurses) told me we had to hold her down, if she moves while they jab her she could become paralyzed. the scared the shit outta me. i was 19 she was 22 need i say more? fast forward to 2016. the doctors reassured me its totally different in this situation, so i finally broke down and went for it. My procedure was yesterday at 1230. i went in they gave me something in the IV that made me feel like duh…. then into the operating room and i took a small nap. i woke up looked around the anesthesiologist said hey how are you? i said good how r u? I smiled, looked around felt some pressure in the back. 2 minutes later they were done. well since i didnt have coffee in the morning i got a cup there and one to go. i arrived a the hospital at 1230 i was home at 230. had another cup of coffee at home and ate finally. i made sure i didnt go to sleep as i was supposed to goto work today. well that didnt matter i laid there until after 3am. i wasnt allowed to have any liquor and i wasnt sure about pills so ….. anyway.. i woke at 530 as usual but there was no way i could make it, i had to call out. well so far so good no pain today. right now im dropping a couple scotchs to help me make it through the night.

January flew by for me! Between looking for finding a place to live, and moving, getting in here and stuff, it breezed by. I found a nice studio apartment (in-law setup) i got the garage and a deck, there is a decent size yard, no fences and the deer come walking thru all the time. The last couple days we had some snow (not much though) and i got to watch the squirrels running around playing in the yard. When i was at my last place we had 3 big dogs that made sure there were no squirrels around, LOL, what a difference. NO animals here (pets that is) so no getting woken up at 2am because someone came home and the dogs have to alert the world. i swear its soooo quiet at night i could probably hear a squirrel fart!

all for now the keyclicks are starting to sound like thunder, LOL!  Love you all!

 

when i started this blog i promised myself i would post more often than in the past. and i have pretty much. that was until December 30th 2016 rolled around. after 13 years of being together, and living together for what would’ve been 10 years on February 1st, Nancy decided she no longer wants me in her life. at first the stress and hurt shot my blood pressure thru the roof sending me into a 48 hour massive migraine. 80% of the pain was concentrated in my neck i could feel the blood flowing thru there, not good. as i lay there trying not to think my thoughts wandered. i realized i knew this was coming.

when i first moved in i loved to cook, i still do, but somethings different now, she refuses to cook saying its MY job. i believe in a 50/50 relationship not his/hers. i loved the days we cooked together, i still miss those days. now the last year or 2 she comes home from work in nasty moods. wheres the mail? how come dinners not ready? or if the meat is a little dry, or somethings a little under-seasoned she dwells on it. why? i don’t know.

all this and more has been slowly eating away at me, so her asking me to leave? in a way its a good thing. i can come home and i dont have to rush to make her dinner. i can season it how i want. if i feel like eating raw steak i may do so, if i want it burnt i can have that too. i can sit down, i can relax, if i dont feel like cooking, i can skip dinner too, nice.

so i found a nice little studio apartment with a deck, in a very quiet little town, not far from where i was.

its so quiet here i can hear myself think, i like that. so heres to more posts.

Whatever you celebrate this holiday season i hope its the best ever, happy holidays !!

 

Its saturday morning, i would have loved to sleep but at 6am i woke up. in pain. i had to goto the bathroom, normally this would be fine but i was in pain. my knee was killing me i couldnt move. i just posted to fakebook but if anyone here has an idea, or suggestion please comment i cant take it anymore! Heres the post so you will understand:

.. My right knee hurts when i sleep on my left side without a pillow between my legs. Hurts so much i cant move in the morning. I cant move my leg at ALL. Not using my muscles not by pulling on my leg with my hands. After my Synvisc injections last year (march/april) i was ok.lately i have been putting the pillow between my legs just in case because its almost winter. This morning i woke up on my right side and i cant move my leg. Does anyone else experience this? If so what do you do?

 

It’s the last day of HAWMC! Congratulations, you completed 30 days of writing! Take this last post to reflect on your health advocacy journey and set a goal for the next year. Perhaps you want to try a new platform for your activism, attend a patient summit, or start a podcast. Remember, “Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.”

My journey got off to a slow start, is ramping up now, and will continue to get better as i learn more and goo more events etc. I see 2017 as an AWESOME year as i do know theres a few things in the works that i really cant comment on right now but i will be sharing them with you right here in my blog and on twitter. Stay tuned!

 

 

5 Challenges & 5 Small Victories. Make a list of the 5 most difficult parts of your health focus. Make another top 5 list for the little, good things (small victories) that keep you going

challenges.

1. Getting people to listen

2) getting the time and energy to post, visit etc

3) typing when your fingers are split wide open and bleeding because your due for your next shot of stelara

4)

5)

victories

1. i learned a few years ago from another advocate (before i started) how to get your doctors full undivided attention.
2. i now know that i need to be in control of every doctors visit and i know more than the doctor. and i preach this to new patients.
3. i have made MANY new friends, and i know ill met many more

would ya’ll settle for 3 and 3?

Sunday Selfie: Post your favorite picture of yourself. Don’t be shy, it’s time to shine!

its an older pic (about 2 years ago) but i like this pic.

As health activists, we are on a mission to innovate healthcare. If you could change one thing in the healthcare landscape right now, what would it be?

I would abolish Step-Therapy. This horrible practice wastes more time and energy and causes people to think they will never be better.

First the doctors must prescribe creams, after awhile when the patients complains, the doctor then moves them onto light therapy. if that fails back to creams. Now when the patient complains again. Ok thats crap. and why is it done? So the insurance companies dont have to spend the money.

A doctor should be able to say, here is (cream/light/pill/biologic) depending on severity etc.

You can read more about it here

Here in NY State we have passed the bill through and waiting for the Governor to sign it. Its been on his desk for months now, feels more like years.

You can read more here as well.

This giveaway is sponsored by Chronic Illness Bloggers.

 

You can enter HERE!!

 

The giveaway will run from Nov. 23 – Dec 3, 2016.

There are 11 Prize Packs, each with a value between $400 and $600. 2 of the Prize Packs are

available only to US-based winners only.

 

• Prizes have been donated by the following:
• Alisha Nurse – https://theinvisiblef.com/;
• Aromafloria – http://www.aromafloria.com ;
• BackPainBlogUK – https://backpainbloguk.wordpress.com/  ;
• Bridgwater Crafts – http://www.bridgwatercrafts.com/  ;
• BeingFibroMom – http://www.beingfibromom.com ;
• Broken Teepee – http://brokenteepee.com/ ;
• Chronically Content – http://www.chronicallycontent.com ;
• Chronic Mom Life – http://www.chronicmomlife.com  ;
• ColitisNinja – http://www.colitisninja.com ;
• The Fay Farm – http://www.thefayfarm.com ;
• Fed Up with Fatigue – http://www.fedupwithfatigue.com ;
• FibroCane – http://www.fibrocane.com ;
• Fresh Assist Spray – http://www.freshassistspray.com ;
• Gupta Programme – http://www.guptaprogramme.com/ ;
• HFactorWater – http://hfactorwater.com/ ;
• Kirsten Schulz – http://www.kirstenschultz.org/ ;
• Living Well Today – http://www.livingwelltoday.com ;
• Living Grace Blog – http://livinggraceblog.com/ ;
• Lupus Chick – http://LupusChick.com ;
• Megan Schartner – http://www.liveken.com
• Melissa Swanson – http://www.fibrowarriorslivinglife.com  ;
• Mini2z – http://www.mini2z.com ;
• Organic Aromas – http://www.OrganicAromas.com ;
• Oska Wellness – http://www.oskawellness.com ;
• The Pain Free Life – http://thepainfreelife.com ;
• Patient Playbook – http://patientsplaybook.com  ;
• Perfectly Ambitious Blog – http://www.perfectlyambitious.com/ ;
• Posture Pump – http://www.posturepump.com ;
• ProHealth – http://www.prohealth.com ;
• Rebuilding Wellness – http://rebuildingwellness.com ;
• Strength Flexibility Health EDS – http://www.strengthflexibilityhealtheds.com ;
• Sylk USA – http://www.sylkUSA.com ;
• Theraspecs – http://www.theraspecs.com ;
• Vital Plan – https://vitalplan.com “

 

Prizes are HERE!