Just stuff

Just a few things to update those who might be interested about what's been going on.

• Thursday was my 2nd appointment with the Rheumatologist. She looked at the x-rays of my hands and was very happy with how they looked. Apparently there is no joint damaged yet. So, now we can start treatment. I'll be starting Methotrexate, a DMARD (disease-modifying antirheumatic drug) at the end of next week. Methotrexate is considered an aggressive treatment for RA, so I'm happy with her decision and the information she gave me. I'll go back to her in 7 weeks and we'll see how things are progressing. Until then I'll continue to take Prednasone and sometimes the Mobic (for pain mostly) along with the Methotrexate and folic acid.
  
• For someone who has never been good at taking lots of medicine for an extended period of time, on a schedule, this is going to be harder then it seems.
  
• My new sweater is coming along, have about 10 cm of the back done, need 30 before I start the next section. Right now I can work on it without a pattern, love that kind of pattern.
• Went yesterday with DF Melody to the local ANG meeting. I enjoyed myself. Even worked on the canvas piece I've had a few years. I managed to finish up 2 of the squares on it. I'll have to get a picture this week and post it. I thought I might start my FSU Santa canvas, but I didn't. I did get some wonderful help on ideas for stitches. I think it's going to look great. When I start I'll take pictures.
• Today's ReGenesis service was great! Or at least I thought it was. We had somewhere between 91 and 97 people in attendence. I'm so excited that the service is growing.
  
• The coming week looks busy. I'm wondering what I'll manage to do, and what I'll have to leave undone. Only time will tell.

Hope everyone had a great weekend and has a wonderful week. I promise some pictures of what I worked on yesterday and the framed "Little Green Acorns" later this week.

Finally

Today finally came. The day I went to see the rheumatologist for the first time. Had to be there at 8:30 AM and it took a good hour to drive over to that part of town. Not that I had to cross the river or anything, just traffic. I was smart enough to bypass NAS JAX, since at that time of the morning it can be a little busy around there.

First off, I like Dr. B so far. She was friendly and nice without being cloying or too perky. She also took her time with me and asked a lot of questions and told me why she was asking them. She also examined me, which mostly comprised of her pressing on joint areas and down my spine. Some were more uncomfortable then others. Not much to report though. She confirmed that my tests do indicate RA and not Lupus. That the inflammation levels weren't too high, so that may be a good sign. However, she wants to do one more set of blood tests to make sure there is no sign of Sjogrens and that my liver is functioning properly. I also have to go for some X-rays so she can see if there is any damaget o the joints. I go back March 19th when we'll discuss what type of treatment she wants to put me on. Until then I'm to cut in half the dosage of Mobic I'm taking. (It helps to treat the swelling and stiffness from arthitis.)

That's all. I also dropped off "Little Green Acorns" at the frame shop. It will be ready in a couple of weeks. Of course I haven't put the other one I picked up on the wall yet, so I should probably get that done some time soon.

Thanks everyone for the good, positive thoughts and prayers that have been sent my way. I do appreciate them and am blessed to have such great people around me. I am truely blessed.

A funny thing happened...

in front of the church tonight. Let me set the scene. I had just finished a fairly uneventful meeting of our church's Staff Parish Relations committee. I like uneventful meetings as I'm currently the chair and uneventful means things aren't all that bad. But, back to the story.

Our church sits on Main Street. Of course in our town Main Street is no longer the main thoroughfare, that has long since moved to the 4 lane state road about a block away from where our 184 year old church sits. However, Main Street leads to the public boat ramp, and in these parts and in this kind of weather that means Main Street gets a fair amount of traffic. Like all good Methodists there's always a few folks who want to chat after a meeting. I'm fairly sure this is true of other denominations as well, but I could be wrong. Tonight it was just myself, our Pastor and another lovely lady we'll call Brenda, mainly because that's her name and I'm not good at making names up for people. Brenda and I were standing on the sidewalk talking about something when this nice large pickup truck, a Chevy I believe, went by with a nice boat attached. As he pulled up next to where we were I heard what almost sounded like a cat-call, you know a whistle, like construction workers are accused of making only this wasn't human, it was electronic. That's right, it was a horn of some sort on this guy's truck. I was speechless for about 2 seconds and then turned to Brenda and said, "That must have been for you." To which she replied, "I think not!" I love Brenda, I've known her since I was in high school. She's a lovely woman and by no means "elderly", but she's seen the half century mark and moved past it I'm sure since she has kids a few years younger then me. We both laughed and finished our chat and got in respective vehicles to go home.

Why am I telling you this? Mainly because as I was driving off I realized that only in small town America could something like that happen. Plus it put me in mind of the famous phrase made popular by Jeff Foxworthy. You know..."You might be a redneck if..." you toot your cat-call horn at a girl standing in front of the Methodist church after you've been fishing on the creek.

Yep, only in small town USA!