Updates and Stuff

I'm still struggling with my RA. The doctor added an anti-inflammatory back to my list of meds and that's helped a lot. I haven't had to take the prednisone as much. It's something that I've for the most part learned how to live with but I don't like it and there are days when I flat out hate it and I'm ashamed to admit it but I've had my fair share of pity parties. You live, you learn and you deal. It's all about coping. When I can't knit I curl up in my chair with my iPad and throw myself into a good book. I'm just thankful that I have libraries with eBook lending and Amazon Unlimited has really came in handy for me. I read more then 2-3 books a month. Actually I go through 2-3 in a week and on really bad RA days I can read 2-3 books in a day.

Things have been crazy here. Shawn finally figured out some of his issues with heartburn and indigestion all tie in with gluten so we've been trying to cut gluten out of his diet completely. Let me just say that its damn difficult. There is gluten in crap you'd never thing about it being in.....sheesh. Thanksgiving dinner is going to be a bit of a bitch but I'll get it all figured out.

Shawn was let go from his job earlier this month. After almost 2 years the HR Director called him into the office and said "it's just not working out". The flippin joys of working in "at will" state....ugh! Of course Shawn being Shawn he dusted his ass off and found a job within a matter of hours. Its a temp job that will end before June but he has a couple of final interviews lined up for a permanent job. We'll be OK. What the "nice" lady who let him go doesn't understand is we're use to being kicked in the nuts....we're a flipping military family. Most military have to deal with the proverbial kick to the nuts at least once in their career. We had more then one so we're well versed in the what can go wrong will go wrong. Few things we've learned, Stressing and worrying doesn't change things just makes you miserable, never spend more then what you make, have a healthy savings account and at least one free credit card for emergencies, and laugh. Laughing is one of the most important things. You always always need to find the humor in things. We're laughing because I guess the person who let him go has been getting a lot of flak for firing him and the ones left behind are scrabbling to pick up and figure out the crap that he has been handling for almost 2 years. Wished I was a fly on the wall to watch them struggle....gottta be a funny sight.

Now on to knitting.

I did knit Bree her Ducky she's been pestering me about.

The yarn is Knit Picks Swish DK and the pattern is Baby Duckling. She's been sleeping with it every night. It's become her favorite thing to carry around. She thinks the duck needs some grapes so I may humor her. It's all because of a group of videos on YouTube. I'm not sure why the kids think it's hilarious but I laughed so hard when I watched her and my nephew watch the videos. They made the funniest faces and laughed so much. They are her favorite YouTube videos, thus the request for a ducky of her own.

I just couldn't resist casting on a skirt for Bree.

I fell in love with this skirt pattern the moment I saw it. The pattern is Balletto and the yarn that I'm using is Knit Picks Stroll Tonal sock yarn. I am however regretting picking the pattern because of what has turned into never ending ruffles from hell. I'm never going to finish the ruffles. I'm surprised I'm not having nightmares about ruffles.


Finished my Porch Swing Cardi.

I can't begin to say how much I love love love this cardi. It's so comfy and warm. I've already worn it several times this winter. The yarn is Dream in Color Classy and the color is Chinatown Apple. There were 3 distinct shades of this yarn so I ended up swapping out the yarn with each row I knit. A bit of a pain in the butt but I think its turning out rather nicely. This cardi has very minimal finishing. It's pretty much seamless. There just a little grafting under each arm and thats it.

Kaity's on a scarf kick so I knit her an April Scarf.

The pattern is pretty simple so I worked on it while watching TV. I'm using a skien of Knit Picks Chroma Fingering weight in the Lollipop color way. It's been in my stash for some time now and Kaity adores the color.

I'm making another Ripple Afghan.

What good Boise State Broncos fan doesn't have a blue and orange blanket on their couch! JoAnn had the yarn on sale so I nabbed it up and got to work on it while watching the game. One more game to go against Utah State next weekend. We win that one and we're going to the host the championship game and could be looking at a New Years Day bowl game. Gonna be watching and yelling at my tv next Saturday. Wished I could afford game tickets. Le Sigh....maybe next year.

I have another cardi and some fingerless mitts for myself and a few small things for my mom. I'm going to start kicking in to gear on the Christmas knitting. My only project is making some Christmas ornaments and lots and lots of Candy Cane Ponies. I also have a few sewing projects I'll be swapping with my knitting to give my hands a break. The tiny joints are what are giving me fits. I've had to many days where my hands and feet hurt.

Till next time Happy Crafting!

Living With RA or What I Call The You're Body's Kicking Your Ass Daily

I hate having Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). I try not to whine about it but there are days when all I want to do is whine because it's not fair. I didn't always have this so I remember what things were like for me before RA became part of my life. I sure as hell didn't ask for this and I wouldn't wish this on even my worst enemy. Not that I have any or anything. 

It's a miserable damn disease that causes your body to kick it's own ass. Imagine waking up every morning feeling like someone smashed all your joints while you slept. If you're really lucky in an hour of being up and moving the pain lessens and you can go about your day. If you're unlucky you're joints feel like they're on fire and it hurts so bad to move that you curl up in bed and sleep because you're so exhausted from the flare and in so much pain it's the only thing you can do to keep from crying like a baby. Most of us look fine from the outside. Unless the damage is long term and severe you don't see a lot of outward effects of this disease. I'm luckier then some because mine was caught early and doesn't seem to be as aggressive. 

Life was going great for me until a little over a year ago when my meds stopped working. Sadly I learned the hard way that people with RA have to change their meds every few years because their body gets use to the meds and they stop working. For two wonderful years Enbrel was my miracle drug. It worked so well I forgot about life and pain before it. It had very few bad days and mostly they were do to signification changes in pressure normally like when thunderstorms rolled in. I'm now on medication number 3. Enbrel worked great for 2 years and I tried 6 months of Humira to make my insurance company happy. Lets just say that was a miserable 6 months filled with Prednisone, a lot of weight gain, and pain. Lots of pain and signification weight gain do not go well with each other.  I can't begin to relate just how much I hate low dose Prednisone twice a day. It doesn't hurt my stomach but it it causes weight gain and drowsiness for me.

During this last year I've had a lot of ups and downs. Living with me had to be a nightmare for Shawn and the girls at times. There were days it took everything I had to just to get out of my PJs. I haven't done a lot of knitting either. I blew off friends because I just couldn't muster up enough care to even tell people what was going on with me. When I had good days it was awesome but it just made it even harder to deal with the bad days specially when the bad outweighed the good. Depression and anxiety took over my life for over a year. I was able to push it off for days at a time.

I'm doing better now. I'm still not 100% but I'm trying Cimzia now and hoping this one works for me.  The doctor wants to see me in another 12 weeks to give the meds the chance to do it's thing. If not I'm going to be moved to a different type of biologic med since this is my 3rd anti-TNF. I want to knit more again. I really miss being able to knit every day. I had to finally admit defeat a few months back and slow down because the long knitting sessions were causing my problems.

I'll probably be blogging more about my RA and sewing. I'm getting back into sewing since it hurts my hands and other joints a lot less. 

So if you were one of those friends that I ignore I would love to offer you a heartfelt apology. I should have made more of an effort to stay in contact. If you have RA or have someone you love that RA and want to talk let me know.