DJ's rheumatology appt.

I almost forgot, my little guy had his rheumatology appt. recently. I was a little shocked to hear the doctor say that since he does not have an elevated ANA then he doesn't have Lupus. I thought we were beyond that myth. My mother did not have an elevated ANA in the early years, nor did I. To this day, my ANA has jumped less than a handful of times but there is no doubt about my diagnosis. I told her this, she said our family is a (strange soup) of autoimmune activity and that with that in mind, she wasn't completely ruling it out. She said she just wasn't concerned at this time. But she did say she felt he should definately continue his follow up with his GI doctor. We will continue our photo journal of his symptoms as well, because it always seems to be that (like with the auto mechanic) his body is not doing what we made the appt for by the time we get to the appt. LOL. He seems a bit better lately with not throwing up at the smell of food etc. We eliminated artificial sweeteners from his diet, and fast food. (At least I did.) He's eating healthy at the Mama's house :) I am hating this (salmonella) issue with the chicken of the world lately!! I have had to turn to turkey lately because I am not willing to take the chance with the chicken! Ugh! It's hard to be healthy sometimes. Anyway....have a great day and we will talk at you again soon.

Peace, love and gentle hugs,
~Heidi & DJ

Seems run of the mill lately....

Good afternoon friends. I have been quite busy lately trying to prepare for the Lupus Walk and raise money for the cause, so I apologize for not posting in a while. Things are for the most part, the same. I live everyday with chronic pain in my right shoulder and right hip. The recent issue that has started up again is the back pain and this morning, I woke up with painful blisters all over the roof of my mouth again. It's been quite a while since I've had that symptom. I have had some stress lately which I know for a fact has a lot to do with the severity of my symptoms, so I've been trying to turn off the TV for hours a day and just soak in the peace and quiet (while the kids are a school.) Minimizing the stimuli in the room seems to help a little. It doesn't do anything for the shoulder and hip pain though. I have plantar fasciitis also and that causes even more difficulty walking. I can bear weight for maybe 20-25 minutes at a time without severe pain. But when the pain starts, there's no working up to it, it's bad from the get go! My shoulder pain seems to stretch down to my inner elbow bend now, and it also seems to radiate through my collar bone. Not cool....that's just all I need. I am a bit worried that I may not make the the entire walk this year. I am considering renting a wheelchair for that day. I will push it until I cannot walk anymore and then I will be pushed in it from there. These problems have dictated my activities for a while. I have missed out on the Halloween Haunts and the ghost houses and such with the kids this year. I don't believe I will be Trick-or-Treating this year either :(  It sucks because I still have a young child (7 yrs) who's life revolves around these activities. I have not been able to be a part of his life more often than not. I guess that's all for now, I will try and keep up the posting more often.

Gentle hugs,
~Heidi