So it’s been a bit over a month and what a crazy few months it has been! First, to get you up to speed on a few things…
My most exciting news was that I was accepted to nursing school! HOORAY! It is such a relief to finally know and takes away a bit of the stress that I was feeling before. I begin clinicals in the fall and in two years I will be an RN (just have to pass the NCLEX)!!! I cannot explain how great it feels to finally see the light at the end of what has seemed like a never ending tunnel! This summer will consist of me getting my physical, getting immunizations, getting CPR certified, etc. The closer it gets the more exciting/real it becomes! In another school note, I am in the last week of my classes which is a relief at this point. This has been an extremely difficult semester for me, not school wise but health wise. Since midterms, I have been counting the days and the time is finally here! I am officially done for the semester on May 18th and believe me when I say AMEN!
Some other exciting news on our front is that Ed was accepted to his Master’s program for Accounting and will begin his program this summer! In addition Ed got a Teaching Assistant position for the fall semester! It’s exciting because he gets to get back into teaching, which I know he really misses, and involves a topic that he is extremely passionate about – Economics. In addition to his classes, he will be attending an extra class and then teaching four discussion sessions. He is really looking forward to it! We are so blessed that things are falling into place for us and we couldn’t be more thrilled!
Outside of school, life has been pretty typical. My lupus flare hasn’t seemed to subside at all and has decided to intensify a bit. In my last post, a little over a month ago, I was put on a taper of prednisone in hopes that it would bring my white blood cell count up to my “normal” range (As I stated before, I have leukopenia due to the lupus so my “normal” count usually is around 3). Unfortunately, when I went back last week for lab work, it was found that they are not going in the direction we would like, and are actually still decreasing. Needless to say I was a bit bummed because I truly believed that the prednisone would do the trick. My doctor says this is a direct result of the lupus being extremely active and she wants to take a more proactive approach to try and get me back into remission. The plan of action moving forward is to put me back on an increased dose of prednisone (no taper this time L) and add Imuran (for more information on Imuran, click here) along to my daily dose of Hydroxychloroquine. While I am not a fan of all the medication, I am more concerned with feeling better and hoping this does the trick and will be something that is short-term. I go back to my doctor on May 15th to have additional lab work and tests run to double check that everything else is working like it’s supposed to. For now, its kind of a waiting game...
In the meantime I have really been trying to focus on maintaining a stress/negative-free environment and concentrate on listening to my body instead of trying to push through the pain and discomfort just to please everyone else. I don’t expect people to be sympathetic to my situation, we all experience difficult times on different levels – it’s a part of life. My main goal in sharing my experience has always been and will continue to be about creating awareness and bringing attention to a condition (not a fan of the phrase disease) that continues to affect more and more people each day.
May is Lupus Awareness Month, please do me a favor and be aware of impact on not just the person living with it but also their family and friends. Pay attention to the information that is out there because it is more relevant that you may think – for more info visit.
As always, thanks for taking the time to read –
Till next time…
