Thought I was gone, huh?

Nope, I'm still here!  I have been very busy the last few months, so I've been missing in action.  I've been doing a lot of work with  Arthritis Introspective.  We had our first annual online auction and raised over $2,000.00!  It was a lot of work, but it was well worth it.  We had a few glitches, but we learn as we go...  I believe next year it will be bigger and better!

My sister and I also had a fundraiser at Smashburger.  It went pretty well.  Not as big of a turnout as we had hoped.  Of all the days to have it, a day with thunderstorms, and voting day!  Duh.  More research must be done before having another one!  LOL!  We did have a raffle at the fundraiser so that helped.  At the fundraiser, friends came out, we made some new friends too.  Cathy came down all the way from Huntsville and was a tremendous help.  She's a fun person to hang out with too!  She and her daughter have great personalities!!  I just have to say the management and staff at Smashburger were great also.  I recommend their burgers, fries, and shakes too!  Very good!  Soooo, all of this has taken up most of my time over the last two months or so.

In my personal life, things have been up and down.  As far as my RA goes, I am not on any treatment from a rheumatologist right now.  I was on Actemra but the funding from my Healthwell  grant ran out and I cannot afford to pay 30% of the price of the medication.  (over $500/month)  So I am back to no meds...  I decided to try a different approach for now.  I researched supplements to help with inflammation, and ones that are recommended for people with RA.  I started about 2 weeks ago with this plan.  I am going to implement exercise, and a healthy diet also.  So far, things have been pretty bad.  Yes, I said "bad."  Lots of pain, red swollen joints, inflammation, fatigue, etc.  I've had days when I can't get out of bed.  I've had to use my cane again to get around the house, and I've had many nights where I cry myself to sleep because of the pain.

Sunday was the first day that I felt a little better.  I still had pain, but not so extreme.  It's kind of odd with my symptoms.  Most of the time, I wake up with some pain, but it is tolerable.  I can get things done around the house, run errands, and do some fun things too.  The terrible pain seems to take over late afternoon and into the night.  My hands and fingers will swell up like sausages.  The pain in my shoulders is unreal, and my knees and feet will swell and are painful too.  Then the next morning it's the same cycle all over again.  There are exceptions like today.  My right shoulder is in so much pain, I can barely stand it.  I think it may be partly do to the weather.  Thunderstorms today.  It was raining cats and dogs just a bit ago.  Seriously, my cat came flying out of the bushes when I was out on the patio!  I was just waiting for a dog to drop out of the sky too!  LOL!

I'm looking forward to going out for Thanksgiving dinner with my family.  It's been quite awhile since we've spent a holiday together.  It will be nice to dress up, (I'm getting a haircut on Wednesday too!), go out to a nice restaurant and enjoy a nice dinner.  I'm staying positive that my shoulders won't be hurting, or it will be hell doing my makeup and hair!  I just hope our family can all remain civil towards each other and not have a public argument or food fight at the restaurant!  Heck, it took my sister being in the hospital last week for our family to talk with each other again.  Yes, we have our issues...  My sister is doing much better, thank goodness!  She had me scared and worried.

Thanks to all that have been supportive, caring, and thoughtful over the last week or so.  I appreciate it, and I know Sherry does too!  The RaRa sisterhood has been great!!

I plan on updating my blog weekly about my progress with the more natural approach to treating my RA!  So check back and see how my ol' body is doing!