Today is a good day!

For those of you that don't know I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease back in Jan. It was a long 2 years of tests, different doctors, and lots of frustration from feeling crappy and not knowing why.

Inflammation has taken over my body mostly in my hands, knees, and the lining of my lungs. Some days it'll take an hour before I can fully bend some of my joints when I get up in the morning. Fatigue is a familiar friend. I only work 4 days a week, 6 hours a day, and as soon as my shift is done I am so exhausted I go home and take a 2 hour nap so I can be awake enough for Joe and Julia when they get home. Fluid accumulates in my knee so I have to go for knee aspirations and cortisone shots. Which is painful and I get my self so worked up I pass out. The stress on me and my body was causing my blood pressure to go way high. At one point I was rushed to the hospital because it was 160/116. Not much higher then normal for me. Now I have it under control with medicine, 123/70 was my last reading. Can't get more perfect than that!

Back in January my doctor, Christine McCrary (she is amazing and soooo good to me), put me on a medication for this disease and told me I should feel a whole lot better. The catch...the meds take 4 months to work. I felt like I sprinted forward and hit a wall at 50 mph. She wrote me a bunch of scripts and I felt like an 80 year old with the amount of pills I take every morning.

This has been a struggle. I miss my family. I have not been able to be the wife or the mother I was meant to be. Joe is amazing and I thank God for him everyday. He picked right up cooking, cleaning, getting bills paid, being both parents to Julia, sometimes not getting home and sitting down to dinner until 10 at night. Julia wants nothing more than to have a brother or sister and asks me every day when that's going to happen. It breaks my heart when I see how she adores her baby cousins Annie and Katie. She is so lonely and I can tell. The doctors told us awhile ago to hold off on expanding our family and that was very hard. But I would rather be around another 50 years for Julia and Joe than leave a family of 5 behind.

I want to say thank you to those that have been so supportive sending over dinner, taking Julia, prayers, and encouraging me when I felt there was no light at the end of the tunnel. You know who you are but just to name a few. Joe, the love of my life. Julia, for going with the flow because she can be very set in her routine. My mom, for not blinking when I took my frustration out on her. Kara, my wonderful sister who calls up every week to take Julia and over does it in the Auntie spoiling the niece department. And my mother in law, who treats me as one of her own and never hesitates to help us in a any way we need.

Now back to the title of this blog. Today is a good day because for the first time in years I woke up with energy. My joints aren't that swollen and I feel good. Great actually. As I am ending the third month on this medication I have seen changes in the last week. I only took 1 nap all week! It was easy to get up and going and Julia was on time to school every day. I worked every day this week putting in some extra hours. Took Julia to the park twice and even took her for a walk.

I'm getting my life back and I am blessed.