Fitness and Function

I ended up finally joining a gym in May. 24 Hour fitness was my gym of choice mainly because it is close and I had heard many bad things about the second option. So far I like it. What really keeps me going is the Hip Hop Dance class. It's fun and energizing and I really feel like I can dance! lol Not that I can. The instructor is funny and just keeps you energized. I had a tough time making it through to the end of a hour long class, but now I can do it without being completely exhausted. I also attend the Zumba and Kickboxing class. I'm also happy to say I've lost a few pounds and my clothes are looser.

Getting started on an exercise program is difficult, but I can honestly say I feel considerably better since I've been exercising regularly and eating healthier. Sometimes the junk food calls my name, but for the most part I'm doing well with my new (hopefully) lifestyle.

Lazy Days

Sometimes you just need a lazy day. I spent a good half of the day sleeping on Saturday. I accomplished nearly nothing and I'm okay with that. I felt very rested and ready to take on the week after my all-out-do-nothing day. It's a rare a occasion to get one of these, so I took full advantage and enjoyed myself as much as you can while sleeping. Having lupus, your body is just tired on a regular basis. A good lazy day is great medicine!

Brief Update

I haven't posted in a while so here is a brief overview:

My lupus is definitely active now. The funny thing is sometimes when the lupus is active I feel fine for the most part. And other times when the doctors tell me it's not active I feel like a Mack truck has hit me. Go figure.

I get what I call "phantom injuries." When sores pop up on their own. I'll have people ask me "How did you do that?" and when I tell them I don't know, they look at me like I'm a clumsy idiot. Trying to explain to they I have lupus and what that means is to much trouble to do so often, so clumsy idiot it is.

I've also developed a lot of rashes all over my legs and some on my face, which really bites. The worst part about it is they itch like crazy. I'm sure I would have scratched my leg raw if it wasn't for the fact that have fake nails on right now. The one on my face doesn't itch but it looks hideous and I detest it. I try to cover it the best I can with my bangs. It's really not that bad, but I hate having to compensate or make due all the time.

I have an eye doctors appointment about a week from now. He's going to do an evaluation and decide if I'm eligible to do the surgery. Or really rather or not he will do it. I have no clue how that's going to go and I'm surprised I'm not that worried about it. I've almost made peace with the lose of my sight in my left eye. I never thought I would. My journey has not ended yet though.

Well, that was a brief update. As brief as I can be anyway. Ta-ta for now!

Things are going Better

So, from my last visit I had a scare. It was a possibilty that my kidneys were in trouble, but it turns our everything is okay. And my doctor told me at my last appt on July 21st that my lupus was not active right now. I didn't expect her to say that. So that is great news. On the other hand I'm still extremely aching and still have to take Tylenol to go to sleep most nights.

I also went to a Retina specialist and he said my retina was attached and seems to be fine. So I may be able to have another surgery on my eye and possibly see out of it again. I don't even want to get to excited about that though. We'll just see how it goes.

Never Good News

I just started going to a new doctor. I like her pretty well so far. She's young so I feel like she will be more willing to try new things and not keep me glued to the same old weight gaining steriods. Since I'm a new patient she ran every test known to man it seemed like. I had to give quite a bit of blood for all the tests she wanted. The results were not so great. My disease is definitely active. I could have told her that without the tests. But what I didn't know is my kidneys could possibly be affected. Will know more later. Have to do yet another test to confirm if this lupus is attacking my organs or not. Up until now it hadn't. Of course I always knew one day it would. You just hope that is later rather than sooner.

The new job is going okay. I would be much happier with it if it paid more. Doesn't quite cover everything. I'm used to more pay. When you make more money, you spend more money. It's not easy to downsize. I have salary bills with hourly pay. It doesn't quite add up. The only luxury I'm allowing for is driving my car instead of riding the bus. But that too may be a reality soon. There were a few teaching jobs still available. It's a long shot, but I'm still trying.

Looks like I will be substituting a few days a week to make ends meet. I don't mind doing it. I just don't know how I'm going to muster up the energy to accomplish it. Who knows. It may work out okay in the end. I'm tired of worrying about things.

Job Hunt Successful

I was finally able to snag a job. I'm to be an emergency dispatcher for an alarm company. Right now I'm in training. It's supposed to last 3-4 weeks. I actually in the last week now as I write this. There is so much to learn. All the codes and different ways to handle each call. It's a little stressful. I'm always worried that I'm going to do something wrong and cause a catastrophe. I'm a worrier if you hadn't noticed.

And my bronchitis doesn't help matters. It's getting better, but I still have trouble sleeping at night, which doesn't make for a cheerful morning person. Plus I really want to start back working out. I was doing so well before I was forced to stop due to heavy breathing and heavy pain afterwards. It has put my weight loss at a screeching holt. And I"m almost at my goal point. Bummer is the word that best describes this situation.