A huge apology for being absent for three weeks – in the blogosphere, that is an eternity! To my faithful followers, I promise to try my best to post more regularly J Trust me I would have much rather been posting to my blog than memorizing physics’ formulas & chemistry equations! My semester is in full swing and can you believe it is already time for mid-terms?!?! While I will be extremely happy to put this semester behind me (taking physics & chemistry in the same semester wasn’t the brightest idea), I find myself so overwhelmed, and I just wish things would slow down JUST a bit. Although it has been endless days of studying, it has been worth it on the grade front. So far I have managed to get a B on my Physics exam (which was no small feet) and an A+ on my Chemistry exam. Coming up in a week, I’ll do it all over again with a Physics exam on Friday, Chemistry exam on the following Tuesday and my Medical Terminology midterm on Wednesday! It seems to be never ending but I just keep telling myself it will all be worth it! Ed’s semester has also been going well and he seems to be enjoying his classes.
I have managed to work some fun in though – I mean it’s not every day that three sports teams in Wisconsin (Packers, Brewers & Badgers) are on a roll in their prospective sports and making us fan’s proud! While I have mostly been in “Beast Mode,” my blood will always run Green & Gold! I will say that I’m hoping the Brewers can turn things around because right now things are not looking good for them reaching the World Series. We’ve attended a couple games this season & I was able to attend the second NLDS game at Miller Park, unfortunately the Brewers were shellacked 12-3. Again, hoping they can turn things around… Ed & I have also seen a few of the new movies that have come to theaters. We’ve seen The Lion King (not new but we LOVE Disney movies), The Ides of March and Reel Steel. All were very good although I highly recommend Reel Steel! Now that October is upon us we will be attending a haunted house at some point (not my idea…). I am in the process of trying to find a pumpkin farm since we’d like to carve pumpkins this year – if anyone has any recommendations (in WI of course J) please let me know!
I also welcomed a new niece into the world this week! Quinn Emery Hogan was born on Tuesday, October 11th, 2011. She entered the world at 9:31am weighing in at 7lbs 11oz & 20 inches long with a full head of dark hair. Quinn joins big sister Shea who will be two in December – my brother will definitely have his hands full with two girls but he is just as happy as can be!
Through all of this I have been managing my pain and discomfort pretty well. I’m trying to get as much sleep as possible but it has been difficult getting a full night’s rest lately. I have noticed that my Yoga practice has become more difficult and sometimes painful so that has been a bit discouraging - I have pain in my neck, shoulders, pelvis & hips. I have also been experiencing discomfort in my middle back and tailbone area (AGAIN!) along with hot flashes, night sweats and some pretty terrible headaches. I have started a symptom journal that I will be taking with me to my next appointment so that I don’t forget anything – although I’m not sure I’ll make it until February like this. But I’m hoping its stress related (imagine that) and not the myositis getting worse. We’ll see once the semester is complete and things settle down (scratch that I forgot about the Holidays!!) if my symptoms get better.
Overall, things have been going pretty well. I’ve had my good days and bad days (just like anyone else) and even though there seem to be more bad days than good lately, I’m just doing my best to take it day by day. So that is the last three weeks in a nutshell (probably not everything) – I lead such a thrilling life I know!
Till next time I'm just singing this song…
4 comments:
always love reading your blog. Hale is in bad shape this week, I'm going to have to find out about myositis-Halee's back, feet, fingers, shoulders and knees are killing her-hasn't made it to school one day this week. urgghh
Thanks Kim! I'm so sorry to hear that. Heating pads help ease the discomfort a little bit for me. Also, if you have access to a hot tub or whirlpool that helps as well. I know its hard but try to keep her moving around as much as tolerable because laying for long periods of time make it worse for me (I tend to get very stiff). Keep me updated and I hope that things start to turn around for Halee!
Janelle, I wondered if you would help out by looking through our materials on lupus fog. Thanks,
Jan Orosz
Would you help out by listening to podcast segments on time management, and then answering some survey questions about our NavigateLupusFog.com podcast project? You can find our podcasts at this url:
http://www.navigatelupusfog.com/podcasts.php# passphrase is: survey2011
You can also find additional information on lupus-related memory problems at http://lupus.webmd.com/d2n-coping-with-lupus-11/lupus-fog-memory-problems
Background information on our project was included in the Lupus Foundation of America's publication Lupus Now Spring 2010 article titled "Think again: Coping with changes in cognitive function."
As a college professor in the field of public management, experiencing lupus-related cognitive dysfunction (brain fog/lupus fog) was one of my most difficult challenges in successfully staying in the work force. We hope to locate funding for the podcast project and we thank you for your feedback!
Jan Orosz, Ph.D.
Carey Busch, Master of Education in Clinical Counseling, Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC)
Hi Jan,
I apologize for not getting back to you sooner as I just saw your post. Am I still able to participate? I would be interested in learning more about it as well - as a current college student I will take any information I can get. Thanks!
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