Sunday, December 04, 2005
The year in review....
Wrote my annual Christmas letter to family and friends (the ones who don't read my blog, obviously). This year has pretty much been a blur, with my memory so poor that I had to read my previous blog entries to remind myself what all has happened prior to the past few weeks and then make notes so I could compose the letter. I kept the notes for this entry, heh heh.
It has been a wild ride. I can't sort it out well enough to give it any sort of rating. Like in "A Tale of Two Cities", it was the best of times and the worst of times.
I was diagnosed with two more ailments, periodic limb movement disorder and type 2 diabetes, right at the start of the year. I didn't take the diabetes news too well, being already preoccupied with Sjogren's, fibromyalgia, gastroparesis, chronic myofascial pain and celiac disease. But ironically enough, with some basic education and some medication, I was able to get my glucose levels down to non-diabetic levels pretty easily. The periodic limb movement disorder unfortunately did not respond to medicaiton and remains unchanged.
January was also the month I began contributing articles to But You Don't Look Sick. It has been difficult for me to do this with the ever-increasing cognitive dysfunction, but my brain really needed the exercise. I have written travel tips, book and product reviews, and most recently, an article about the blessings of chronic illness. Oddly enough, I have no idea what to write for December. Maybe the idea fairy will strike me with a bolt of lightning or something?
Got to go to my local comedy club a few times this year, which is always a good time. And I got to see Duran Duran for my birthday......woooooo hoooooo! I also went to as many movies as I could afford.
In February, I had a lymph node in my neck removed and biopsied as it was thought I might have non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which unfortunately is about 40 times more common in people with Sjogren's than in healthy people. The sample was non-cancerous, but had lymphocytes typical of autoimmune damage. So I will be watched over the coming years and re-tested as necessary. Fortunately, my ENT who did the surgery also does cosmetic work, so he positioned the incision in such a way that the scar is hardly noticeable.
In March, my grandmother died of Alzheimer's. She had been ill for many years and was most anxious to go home. So it was a blessing that she finally got the peace she so desperately wanted. I still miss her, though. I did a eulogy for her at her funeral.
Dan got to do some traveling in 2005, even if it was just to visit relatives. He saw his grandfather in Florida in March. He helped his parents move in South Dakota. And he will be going back to South Dakota for Christmas.
Also in March, I got introduced to the wonderful world of multiple dental procedures, thanks to excessive tooth decay due to Sjogren's. During the course of spring and into summer, I ended up with two fillings, two root canals and a crown. I have six other teeth decaying around old fillings, but so far I have not had to mess with them. My jaw muscles ache just thinking about it.
In April, my stepbrother and his wife brought their daughter into the world. So now I have TWO beautiful nieces. I'm rather awkward as an aunt, but at least they aren't my own children, right?
At the end of April, two friends came to visit, and they and Dan and I went to the local StarFest convention, which salutes sci fi, horror and fantasy. Three days of meeting celebs, checking out memorabilia, watching movie previews and presentations, mingling with Klingons and other costumed fans and attending seminars and trivia contests. I had an especially good time because I rented a wheelchair for the occasion and didn't have to exhaust myself with all the walking. Wore Dan out, though, because he got to push the wheelchair.
In July, my only sister got married. She had a very nice but not excessive wedding bash at a local Victorian style resort near the mountains. There were about 130 of us in attendance. I played the music for the ceremony (a CD of classical music from various sources I had compiled). A dj provided the dance music after the ceremony, and we boogie oogie oogied till we just couldn't boogie no more.
In August, I finally caved and acquired a foldup wheelchair of my very own to use whenever I go someplace that usually requires a lot of walking. It has so far enabled me to go to the zoo, a craft fair with Dan and his parents when they visited in September, and to a fall festival.
Also in August, I filed for disability with Social Security. I don't expect a decision from them until February. It has been a rough road, having to stop work and then realizing I could never go back. I'm in therapy to help me adjust with the inevitable depression and feelings of worthlessness that have accompanied this transistion.
I did get to take one little vacation of my own this year. In October, I visited a college friend and met with four other friends, some of whom I had not seen in 20 years. I was only gone for an extended weekend, but it took me over a month to recover from the inevitable flare that followed this excusion. It was totally worth it, though. Good times always make suffering seem insignificant.
And I think that's the lesson I learned in 2005: to find whatever good I can, no matter how great the suffering. Perhaps that's a lesson we can all use.
Happy holidays, and may 2006 be kinder and gentler.
It has been a wild ride. I can't sort it out well enough to give it any sort of rating. Like in "A Tale of Two Cities", it was the best of times and the worst of times.
I was diagnosed with two more ailments, periodic limb movement disorder and type 2 diabetes, right at the start of the year. I didn't take the diabetes news too well, being already preoccupied with Sjogren's, fibromyalgia, gastroparesis, chronic myofascial pain and celiac disease. But ironically enough, with some basic education and some medication, I was able to get my glucose levels down to non-diabetic levels pretty easily. The periodic limb movement disorder unfortunately did not respond to medicaiton and remains unchanged.
January was also the month I began contributing articles to But You Don't Look Sick. It has been difficult for me to do this with the ever-increasing cognitive dysfunction, but my brain really needed the exercise. I have written travel tips, book and product reviews, and most recently, an article about the blessings of chronic illness. Oddly enough, I have no idea what to write for December. Maybe the idea fairy will strike me with a bolt of lightning or something?
Got to go to my local comedy club a few times this year, which is always a good time. And I got to see Duran Duran for my birthday......woooooo hoooooo! I also went to as many movies as I could afford.
In February, I had a lymph node in my neck removed and biopsied as it was thought I might have non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which unfortunately is about 40 times more common in people with Sjogren's than in healthy people. The sample was non-cancerous, but had lymphocytes typical of autoimmune damage. So I will be watched over the coming years and re-tested as necessary. Fortunately, my ENT who did the surgery also does cosmetic work, so he positioned the incision in such a way that the scar is hardly noticeable.
In March, my grandmother died of Alzheimer's. She had been ill for many years and was most anxious to go home. So it was a blessing that she finally got the peace she so desperately wanted. I still miss her, though. I did a eulogy for her at her funeral.
Dan got to do some traveling in 2005, even if it was just to visit relatives. He saw his grandfather in Florida in March. He helped his parents move in South Dakota. And he will be going back to South Dakota for Christmas.
Also in March, I got introduced to the wonderful world of multiple dental procedures, thanks to excessive tooth decay due to Sjogren's. During the course of spring and into summer, I ended up with two fillings, two root canals and a crown. I have six other teeth decaying around old fillings, but so far I have not had to mess with them. My jaw muscles ache just thinking about it.
In April, my stepbrother and his wife brought their daughter into the world. So now I have TWO beautiful nieces. I'm rather awkward as an aunt, but at least they aren't my own children, right?
At the end of April, two friends came to visit, and they and Dan and I went to the local StarFest convention, which salutes sci fi, horror and fantasy. Three days of meeting celebs, checking out memorabilia, watching movie previews and presentations, mingling with Klingons and other costumed fans and attending seminars and trivia contests. I had an especially good time because I rented a wheelchair for the occasion and didn't have to exhaust myself with all the walking. Wore Dan out, though, because he got to push the wheelchair.
In July, my only sister got married. She had a very nice but not excessive wedding bash at a local Victorian style resort near the mountains. There were about 130 of us in attendance. I played the music for the ceremony (a CD of classical music from various sources I had compiled). A dj provided the dance music after the ceremony, and we boogie oogie oogied till we just couldn't boogie no more.
In August, I finally caved and acquired a foldup wheelchair of my very own to use whenever I go someplace that usually requires a lot of walking. It has so far enabled me to go to the zoo, a craft fair with Dan and his parents when they visited in September, and to a fall festival.
Also in August, I filed for disability with Social Security. I don't expect a decision from them until February. It has been a rough road, having to stop work and then realizing I could never go back. I'm in therapy to help me adjust with the inevitable depression and feelings of worthlessness that have accompanied this transistion.
I did get to take one little vacation of my own this year. In October, I visited a college friend and met with four other friends, some of whom I had not seen in 20 years. I was only gone for an extended weekend, but it took me over a month to recover from the inevitable flare that followed this excusion. It was totally worth it, though. Good times always make suffering seem insignificant.
And I think that's the lesson I learned in 2005: to find whatever good I can, no matter how great the suffering. Perhaps that's a lesson we can all use.
Happy holidays, and may 2006 be kinder and gentler.
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