Monday 9 August 2010

Second chance...


I know even when I was more a part of this group, I was never a consistent "regular." I really struggled with dieting results, and couldn't quite put my finger on it. I could do really well and suddenly gain 10 pounds, and do poorly, I mean really POORLY, then lose 10 - almost overnight. Turns out I was really sick with an autoimmune disease. It finally came to a head last summer when I broke out in a painful rash from head to toe, then began to experience arthritic pain. This time last year I could not walk and it could take almost 2 hours to pull myself up to a sitting position. It was determined that I have psoriatic arthritis, an inflammatory autoimmune disease that attacks connective tissue like joints, tendons and the skin. After a strong dose of prednisone, I was moving and walking again. I just weened off of the prednisone in the last couple of weeks and hope that the weight will come off easier now. In November I started taking weekly doses of a chemotherapy drug to suppress my immune system and it's been working very well. I'll likely continue these treatments for the rest of my life.

My skin is clear and I only suffer a managable amount of joint and tendon pain - unless I push myself too far. Many foods make my condition worse, so I am working hard to watch what I eat. Losing weight should also help relieve the workload on my joints and tendons. My starting weight is 197.5, as of today. My goals are to continue watching what I eat and walking daily while increasing distance. Keeping it simple. :)

6 comments:

Elly said...

hello missy. not nice to be ill but good to have a diagnosis. Glad you are starting to feel better too. I am not joining in at the moment as my weight is ok but I will be watching progress iwth interest.

ChristyF said...

Hi Missy! Welcome back. Glad you are starting to feel well again. We can support one another and do this thing!

Debbie said...

Hi Missy! This is such a beautiful picture of you two!

So sorry to hear about your challenges over the past year, but I'm glad there's a diagnosis and that you're responding to the treatment. Keep us updated and I'll be sure to keep you in my prayers!

ChristyF said...

It is a gorgeous picture!

Debs said...

Missy, wow, what a time you've had. So good that you've got a diagnosis and things are on the up. I hope it stays that way (although we want the numbers to be on the down!)

Missy said...

Thanks for encouragement. :)