Has It Really Been Seven Years?

Though musings, anecdotes, photos and the like have been shared on the Book of Face as some may call it, I've sadly neglected to return to blogging as MaNmoiselle88 since 2011.

As a twelve year old, I began journaling when I was home with the flu. Nothing seems to have changed blogging as a forty seven year old blogging while home because of a chronic gout condition. Gout is a very painful form of arthritis I've lived with since my diagnosis in 1996 thanks to my dear friend Raquel who at that time worked in the medical field. "It's gout I tell you!" she used to insist (without the English pirate accent & growl one may typically associate with this line). At the height of pain during a flareup that year, I begged the nurse for a needle into the affected joint so they can draw and assess the fluid to confirm my then suspicions of gout. From that day on, it's been my personal proactive crusade to learn, befriend, manage, and hopefully beat this. Since then, as of 2015, I could add a diagnosis of Psoriatic Arthritis, much like the golfer Phil Mickelson since joint pains that typically were in the ankle have grown to involve my knees, fingers & elbows in various flareups.

Please don't get me wrong. Outside of this condition I am an otherwise active, happy, and extremely busy individual like everyone you see in those TV commercials for Humira, Anakinra, Orencia, and the like. However, I've opted to exhaust more traditional and holistic treatments under the care of my current and attentive rheumatologist, keeping these Biologic medications as a last resort. And I mean very last. While the commercials portray people happily throwing a ball, baking a cake, or dancing with wild abandon, there's a very soothing voice over to gently and lovingly remind you that this can cause diarrhea,  or even cancer, amongst other detrimental effects, including a slightly irreversible damage called death. (Oh that). I realize Biologics have their proven positive effects, but also hearken back to two coworkers who gave unsolicited reviews of one drug that were diametrically opposed. One sang its praises calling it life changing, whereas the other called it life ending as evidenced by the loss of a loved one. So while I can receive positive effects from Biologic injections let's say for a few years, I'd hate to meet an irreversibly negative side effect at year-X. It boils down to my level of comfort with the risks that these drugs present. A personal decision of every patient as far as I'm concerned.

It's between this scenario and these disclaimers that I've decided on my current path to wellness. To exploring holistic approaches of Eastern medicine, acupuncture, monitoring stress factors such as grief at the loss of my loving parent, and reevaluating my diet.