I wanted to give you a few positive updates since my last email, which I guess was a bit of a downer. Sorry about that. :)
- I had some follow-up blood work to check on my liver, and most of the liver function tests were back into the normal range. So, most likely my liver was just having trouble processing the sulfasalazine, and all is well now. We'll just continue to keep an eye on it, especially whenever we adjust medications. I wasn't too worried about this, but it's nice to know it's ok now.
- I went back to the podiatrist on November 8th. After seeing how bad things had gotten with my feet, he recommended doing steroid injections in both feet right away. While steroids are not a great long-term treatment option, I needed something to change, so I was happy to do this. Unfortunately, sticking giant needles into a part of your body that has a lot of active inflammation can make things worse for a bit, so I spent about five days barely able to walk. Fortunately, I seem to have turned the corner on that, and the last couple of days have been much better. I'm not sure if my feet are better than before the injections, but all it takes is a few days of worse pain to make you appreciate when things are more manageable. :) The steroids are supposed to help for as much as a month, so it may continue to get better. I'm still trying to be really careful not to be on my feet too much, but I can manage about five minutes at a time now, which is great. I'm feeling hopeful that maybe I've turned a corner on this and they'll get better over time.
- I'm making a lot of progress in making things work with my limitations. I managed to plan a children's activity for last Sunday that I could do almost entirely sitting down, and it was a lot of fun and went really well. I came home and slept for two hours afterwards, but I was really happy that I could do it. I was also able to work at the food pantry last weekend, as long as I stuck to the sitting-down job at the registration table. I bought a stool for the kitchen so I can sit while I cook at the stove, and I even swallowed my pride and got a chair for the shower, which makes getting ready in the morning much easier. I hung out with some really friendly old ladies at water aerobics yesterday, and they gave me lots of good advice and some needed perspective. :) I'm feeling less frustrated with needing to rest and better able to just work with what I can do. I'm behind on everything, but getting better at not being stressed out about it. And I'm really trying to focus on being a good wife and mother, regardless of what's going on, and I think it may actually be working. Anyway, lots of good things.
I have wonderful friends taking good care of me and my family, and I've even been able to reach out and help some friends in small ways myself. I'm seeing more and more the beauty of the Body of Christ.
As Father Javier said in his homily on Sunday - Suffering is not the opposite of happiness. I think I'm finally starting to understand that. Life is good.
Thank you for all of your love and support. I am so blessed by the wonderful people in my life.
Love,
Sara
