Quick Update, Disability Hearing

Still alive.  Been really sick on and off multiple times with flairups, including falls and passing out. Started as soon as the temperatures began to get warmer outside.  Been borderline heat stroke every day since. Can't get anything done because I overheat too easy, even inside with the AC running full blast. The little energy I have has been totally devoted to preparing for my Disability Hearing at the end of August.  I haven't really been online on FB or anywhere else at all since April or May, so if I missed anything major, I apologize.  Thank you all for the birthday wishes back in May, they helped cheer me up while I was sick. Hoping it cools off outside soon. I hope all is well for all of you. If I missed anything you want me to know about, please share.  I will catch up as I am able to, but probably won't be real active till after my Disability Hearing on August 31st.  Positive thoughts and prayers for a positive outcome are appreciated. Wish me luck!

Stress Flair, Reef Scare, Art Share

Stress Flair

Having an autoimmune attack relapse thanks to some unnecessary stress regarding being out of $500 from my service dog/medical fund, but we'll talk about that in detail later if the money doesn't magically appear by this Friday.  My body is having an absolute fit. Face is swollen again from angry glands and blocked draining.


Reef Scare

Woke up from pain early AM to discover to my horror that my reef tank temperature had dropped to 73F.  It's supposed to be 80F.  I just replaced the old heater with a brand new one with a gift card from Petsmart, because it was showing signs it would go soon.  So here I go deliriously flailing through pain and medicated stupor, thanking the gods I hadn't thrown the old one out yet, digging out the other old one I use for water change heatups to try and bump the temperature back up before anything died off.

Unfortunately it looks like one of my SPS propagates is toast.  Half it already slothed off and bleached out, the other half tissue necrosis and slothing starting.  I fought with this species since I first got the frag from father in law's tank as a rescue. If the tissue bed isn't thick enough it self destructs at slightest change. That's how I realized the old heater was starting to go, the temp wasn't holding stable and it showed signs of distress from it.  Thankfully I still have a thick patch growing nearby and it looks okay. Sometimes the colony will recede into the structure and might come back with time, and a lot of luck.  Otherwise I will try and transplant some onto the coral bone and hope it takes hold.  Because, science!


Art Share

I have gotten used to the new medication enough to where I think I can get back to detailed art work without making a total foobar of it.  I have a few long overdue pieces I will be sharing for winners of contest ages ago, and I will be working on the happy dog painting, streaming more of the progress with it, probably starting some tonight if I can get this swelling to go down a tad more so I can see out both eyes clearly.  I will post the stream link once it is set up and live when I do work on it, though may just randomly work since I can't predict how angry my body will get.

Hoping everyone else is having a better kickoff into 2017.

Physical Therapy, Autoimmune Flair Stuff

I have been pretty sick since last time I updated. I started physical therapy again the week before it hit really bad. It's a flairup caused from over exerting myself, and amplified by the weird changes in the weather here.  Haven't been sleeping well to begin with, so getting up to tend to puppy stuff wasn't as much an issue.  It got bad enough that I almost had a full syncope attack during my physical therapy, and probably fully would have if Ember hadn't alerted me in time so I could stop what I was doing and get to a safe position and warn the staff just in case.

To make matters worse I ended up falling during some hardcore pre-syncope roller coaster rides at home. Bruised myself up pretty good and was sore as hell.  Only to have to go right to the radiology appointments and be asked to contort myself in weird ways and get poked and prodded so they could do the scans, which further pushed my pain threshold.

Poor Ember has been hyper vigilant like she always gets when I get a flairup this bad. Unfortunately she has gotten to a point where it is increasingly difficult for her to do anything for me anymore. There have been several times where she lost her footing while counter balancing me and I almost fell down or into something. I haven't been using her for the balance and bracing assist as much because I don't want to hurt her or myself, and that has only made the flairup that much worse because of the added strain on my body.

I am getting to where I can use my hands again, now that the random painful skin splitting,bleeding, and other pleasantries that come with these flairs is calming some. One tiny scratch I got on my pinky morphed into a huge gash and kept refusing to stay closed and heal even with bandaids, ointments, and finally going as far as using liquid bandage to hold it together. It was very painful. A similar split formed on the corner of my thumb and has been almost as challenging to convince to stop splitting open and start healing.

Even still, I have managed to get 15 ceramic bowl dishes formed and drying as greenware, to be bisqued, glazed and fired to finish, a commission intended for office holiday gifts.  I also have full intentions to work on that dog portrait painting, even if I have to fully bandage my hands to do so.  I will stream while working on it, aiming for this Friday 16th around 8pm CST for anyone interested.

Moar Flares

Well, seems like I got my wish for cooler weather.  But along with the sudden change came a flareup of astronomical proportions. Everything is ANGRY. Migraine triggers with aura and halos, ocular distortion and blurred vision. I moved wrong and my lower back and hips aggroed and went out aaaand the icing on it all, my De Quervain's Tenosynovitis has flared up so bad I will probably need to get another corticosteroid injection.  But at least it's a little cooler out.  It's nice. But it would be nicer if my body didn't behave like it was the end of the world every time the weather changes.  Trying to be extra careful about how I move, but I refuse to let it slow me down again after I was just starting to recover from the last flare. Lots of Gaba and pain creams all over. I shall smell of menthol!  Excuse me while I go electrocute myself with my TENS.

Autoimmune Flairs Suck

I have been dragging through the past two months or so with a Sjögren's flair up. I get them regularly and stress and weather conditions, alongside complications from my Ehlers-Danlos and other conditions, can make them worse.

Been having a horrible time with my tooth and jaw issues.  The nerve pain has gotten so bad I have had to increase the amount of Gabapentin I am taking and taking it to near maximum daily allowances just to get relief. It's gotten so bad I have had to blender things I eat and stick to eating soft stuff. It's insanely frustrating because the pain is so bad at points between it and the Gaba I can't think straight or get anything done. I have a whole mess of updates and things to share for Chakotay that are back logged, among other things.

This is one of the first days the Gaba has been able to control the pain enough for me to sit and type some.  I also have some medical updates but that will come in a different post and may wait till Monday since I have an appointment with my Rheumatologist.  Hope everyone else is fairing better and doing well.

Back In Louisiana

Apologies for the delay updating this past month. I ended up staying in NJ longer than expected because I went to meet with a service dog organization for a client interview for a new dog.  I was sick while I was there with a flareup, and came home sick with a sinus infection turned into bronchitis and upper respiratory infection. Went to the doctor and got antibiotics and an inhaler. It's been pretty miserable but I am starting to feel a little better.  That said, I am getting back to work on the projects I left off with and will be sharing progress along the way on Patreon.

Christmas / Yule cards are also on the way, for those who asked or sent them last year, since my whole plot of silly "Christmas in July" sort of got botched, they are actually on time for this year's holiday haha.  I think I'll send another batch randomly at some point too just to make up for it. Because we all need cheer year round!  Hope everyone is doing well.

Girlie ( Ash ) Cat Needs Prayers

Please send your love, positive thoughts, prayers, and healing energy to one of my sweet cats, and her mom Jen. Girlie ( formerly Ash ) was just diagnosed with cancer of the mammary gland (like breast cancer in cats). She will have x-rays and ultrasound done to see if the cancer has spread. Then we'll know what sort of surgery options and other treatments like chemo are available. We'll likely be setting up crowdfunding and accepting donations to help cover costs of surgery and treatments.  I will post an update when I know more.  So much love for our little floof. Bast keep her safe.

Body, behave

Having a real snarky flareup since last month that won't stop. Starts off like a sinus infection with migraines and feeling fatigued like having a constant flu, but it's not bacterial or viral in nature ( at least to the point of being contagious to others ). Sore throat, "raw" feeling tongue and inner mouth with ulcerations. One moment nasal drip choking me, the next so stuffy I can't breath except through mouth and my Sjögren's makes it worse because I dry out so easy. Weak body and balance disturbances leave me running into walls/door frames and random objects and bumping things because I feel detached from my body when its this bad. Riding my personal roller coaster dizzily swaying about. Everything hurts, esp lower back/hips. Swelling in legs and puffy small joints, sore glands. So bad the other day I had to resort to using cane and I *hate* doing that. It starts to let up a little for a few days so I try to get things done that I couldn't do while I was worse off and being mindful not to overdo. I thought I had kicked it, but then it comes back strong. Body can't decide if insomnia or hypersomnia is better. This is the worst I have ever been since I got Journey and he is beside himself, not sure how to respond. He's been extra pushy and bothersome, acting out repeatedly. Still trying to fine tune his responses and how fast he moves ( normal, he's still learning ), he gets a little carried away when he is particularly worried or senses I am not doing well, which has been worse the past week or so. Haven't gotten as much done as I have wanted on account of being sick and lacking the coherency and energy to do most of it. Don't mind me while I blob about.