I Don't Heal

Part of one of the many 'joys' in my life is that my body heals very slowly. When you have RA or other auto-immune disease your treatment often includes a immune suppressor, such as Methotrexate. I get a weekly injection of it (courtesy of my husband). It suppresses my immune system so am very vulnerable to germs and heal slowly. A cold doesn't go away in a few days, it can take a few weeks and can result in ear infections and other 'fun' ailments.

A few examples: I have this stupid ass wart on my foot that the doctor froze off September 1. Of course it turned into a big blister but is it healed yet? No. Its only 49 days later and its not healed. It still has a scab covering an open area on the top of my foot. I was supposed to have a follow up today but I cancelled it because there is no point. 49 days, that would be 7 weeks in normal speak, and I am not healed.

I had a periodontal deep cleaning almost three weeks ago. I went for a follow up last week and it was barely healed. And I had an area that was starting to cause new problems that the dentist had to lean up.

My husband had a cold last week which he nicely shared with me. I am still sick. I have been skipping my methotrexate shots in hope that I will heal faster but it doesn't seem to have made a difference.

This also can make a difference with any 'fun' medical 'misadventure'. Recovery can be slow.

Today I feel like crap still. I really would like to go to the gym and burn off some flab after traveling and eating badly for two weeks. But I am still not sure. I feel okay for a bit and then not as well. I debate - do I stay in bed or do I pretend I am healthy and go to the gym? 

When is a cold not just a cold?

When your immune system is compromised. That is when. What did you think I would say? The flu? Well that too.

In the middle of all this moving chaos (we hope to sign lots of papers tomorrow and are staying in a hotel for 3 nights in transition), I have a cold. Not a very good cold either. I feel like crap. Last week I had the flu. Before that I thought I had an ear infection.

Chronologically its this: On Dec 11, I went to the doctor because I thought I had an ear infection. The doctor said they weren't sure it was an ear infection but because of my medical history (my favorite phrase - NOT), they gave me antibiotics. I felt better after a few days but never completely well.

Then on December 23, I woke up with the flu. The kind of flu where EVERY joint in your body hurts and you are running a temperature for two days. I stayed in bed and took my temperature and pretended I was getting better.

Finally on January 2, I developed a scratchy throat which turned into all kinds of congestion and a nose that runs like a spigot. And here it is on the 6th and I am still not better. This isn't good.

Tomorrow is buy-and-sell-a-house-day. If I could, I would stay in bed and watch bad Lifetime Movies and not go anywhere. But since we are in a hotel and I have to sign lots of things, I will pretend I am healthy.

Friday is get up at the crack of dawn, check out of the hotel, stop and grab breakfast on the way (before the sun rises at 7 am) and head to our new house. Then after the movers get there and we give them a tour of what goes where, I will drive down to our old neighborhood and pick up the cats around 9 am and come back so I can watch everyone else do lots of stuff and be decorative. I hope my husband puts our bed back together so I can sleep - after the movers leave and the cable guy does his thing).

Finally Saturday I can begin to try to take care of myself. Maybe. A normal person wouldn't be sick this long. Its just my immune system and health crap that doesn't heal up anymore.

I'm not whining. I said I wouldn't use my blog as a place to whine. I am just trying to cope. And if I go to a doctor, I am sure they are gong to tell me to do things like drink fluids, take OTC medications, and get lots of rest. Things I don't have time to do until we move.

Don't you wish you were as healthy as me?

Is this the future of cancer?

Last August, former President Carter announced he had stage IV cancer with metastases to his liver and brain. Then a short four months later, he announced he was cancer free. I was very skeptical of this news. How did he go from Stage IV to cancer free in such a short period of time? This is not what one would expect with cancer.

I don't consider myself to be scared of the word 'cancer'. I realize it has been a fatal disease which has scared humans for centuries. I don't subscribe to the stereotype that the once you are diagnosed with cancer, there is no hope for you. In fact, I don't even know how to be an adult without cancer.

But to go from stage IV to cancer free in four months? That's pretty darn amazing. And what I find most exciting is that it is not some kind of miracle.

It is part luck that President Carter's liver metastases were resectable (meaning they could be easily removed through surgery). He had surgery and they were gone. His brain metastases were easily treated with radiation. They were very small but now detectable which is how they found them before they got to be very problematic. New advancements allowed them to be detected at 2mm. (2mm is equal to 0.079" or less than 1/10th of an inch.)

He was also treated with immunotherapy and will continue to receive it. Immunotherapy is by definition: "treatment that uses your body's own immune system to help fight cancer." So this is new science. I like that. I can live with that.

Overall, I find this very exciting. Stage IV cancer used to be only a death sentence. Once cancer had spread to the brain, crossing into the Central Nervous System, there was not much that could be done. But now it seems to have been halted in its progress.

It will be interesting to see where this goes. President Carter was partly lucky and partly benefited from scientific advancements. We also have no way of knowing when and if his cancer will return. But to see such a reversal of cancer so quickly is pretty incredible. 

Wash Your Hands

What is the single most important easy thing you can do to improve your health? Wash your hands. Often.

Now that I have rheumatoid arthritis and am on immune suppressing drugs that make me much more susceptible to colds and infections, I am becoming a germaphobe. I will not alter my lifestyle and avoid crowds, malls, movie theaters, and other groups of people. Nor do I believe in those stupid hand sanitizers which help create super bugs which are resistant to treatment.

But I do believe in hand washing. When I go to the gym, I wash my hands before I work out and I wash my hands as soon as I am done with my work out. And I try to remember to wash my hands when I come home from being out. As well as when cooking, before eating, etc.

Friday at the gym I was speaking with a woman as she was washing her hands after working out. She said that since she started washing her hands regularly, she has had fewer colds herself.

It amazes me how many people do not wash their hands, even after using the bathroom. I am particularly disgusted by people who do not wash their hands after using the bathroom and then use the gym or eat in a restaurant or other places. Speaking of restaurants, menus are disgustingly germ covered.

You can try all kinds of arguments with me about washing your hands and how it might dry out your skins or any other silly reason. The real reason for washing your hands is to clean germs (and dirt) off of them so you don't carry them around with you and on to other places. You can always put lotion on your hands if you are concerned about dry skin.

I was quite pleased to read this article about hospitals do to prevent infections and the top item on the list was hand washing.

If you get home at the end of the day and can't remember washing your hands, do yourself a favor and wash them.