Tag Archives: rheumatologist

Sicky Update: I Have a Treatment Plan (and a Tentative Diagnosis)

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I saw my rheumatologist last Monday (11/21) for the first time in about three or four months. My blood work came back fine, of course. (And I discovered that we’ve been testing my collagen levels all along.) We went through my blood work from the past four years, and again looked at the numbers from my ANA test. He explained that my ANA levels are just at the curve of the bell, which medically speaking is taken to mean that I have no disease, but research he’s done and research by other practitioners shows that borderline levels combined with the symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis or Lupus are legitimate and shouldn’t be ignored. It’s just hard to diagnose. He drew a quick diagram to explain it:

The ANA levels bell

The ANA levels bell

People diagnosed with RA or Lupus are about where the green dash is. I’m where the red dash is. (Shushy. My diagram is awesome.) He said most practitioners ignore us borderline people, but he believes that those in the borderline ranges with RA-like symptoms are legitimately sick. It’s still hard to really diagnose me, though, so after talking a little more about my joint pain and stiffness, he decided to start treating me for Rheumatoid Arthritis with a medication called Mobic. Mobic is a non-steroidal medication that reduces the inflammation that causes pain and stiffness in your joints. There aren’t really many side effects, and I’m also really comfortable with it being non-steroidal, because most of the medications I’ve heard of for RA have some kind of steroid in them, and those have all kinds of nasty side effects. The only thing I have to watch out for is stomach ulcers because it’s basically a high dose of Motrin (which is ibuprofen). He’s monitoring me through blood work and regular visits, though, so I’m not really worried about it.

If the Mobic doesn’t work, he’s going to try me on Plaquenil, which is a much stronger medication with a lot more side effects.

I asked him about potential joint damage, because of how often and how badly my hips, for example, hurt. He said usually you can see from the outside; my hands would be visibly damaged. He ordered xrays of my hands and hips, though, so that we can keep an eye on them. I really like that he listens to my concerns and actually addresses them.

At this point, I’m pretty sure I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. The symptoms match perfectly. The only thing that’s missing is blood work results that are consistent with normal RA diagnosis measurements, but if I respond to Mobic, Plaquenil, or some other RA treatment, I think it’s safe to say that I definitely have RA. It’s also the diagnosis code my rheumatologist used on my blood work order and my jury duty excuse request form. So, as far as I’m concerned, I have RA until it’s proved otherwise.

Off My Mind: Christmas, Careful Economics, and Crashing Appointments

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I haven’t been able to do much writing lately, and I think it’s because my mind is clogged with so much other crap, I can’t get into writing mode. I’ve tried making a To Do list of all of the writing things, but that just bogs me down more. Clearly I need to get some things off my mind.

My day job is starting to get kind of intense. I worked five days in a row, and two of those days were like being in the Twilight Zone. My normally nice coworkers kept snapping at me and giving me snarky answers to questions. I think it’s the holidays — Black Friday is around the corner and we have no idea what the sales are or what the associate schedule is going to be — but still. I’m relieved that I have today and tomorrow off.

I still really like my job, though. I never thought I’d actually like working in retail, but I don’t mind working there at all.

I’m probably going to be working a second job during the Christmas season. I may or may not be completely out of my mind. Only time will tell. My old boss from my very first job asked me if I would come back during the holidays. I’m broke, so I’ll pretty much do anything — “anything” including working at the mall during December. I am fully prepared to be a babbling heap by the New Year.

Thinking about Christmas shopping kind of makes me want to throw up. I wrote a whole article about budgeting for the holidays — it’s coming, get ready! — and while I’m actively doing all of the steps I’ve outlined in said article, I’m still nervous. Clearly I am a trustworthy source.

In all seriousness, I’ve given myself a budget of $25 per person, and I hate it. I want to give everyone on my list the world, but I can’t even afford everyone on my list. It comes down to this: I have twelve people I’d like to shop for, but can only afford eight of them. How do you choose?!

I tried to get Mike to agree to not get each other gifts, but he said he’s getting me something anyway… which, in all honesty, just makes me feel like I have to get him something. I know he just means that he’s excited — he loves Christmas shopping — but he just doesn’t realize how stressed I am about the whole thing.

I know it shouldn’t matter, because either way, I’m going to spend the holidays with the people I love, and that’s very precious to me. I wish Christmas was more like Thanksgiving (which is next week, and my belly is very, very excited); there’s no pressure to get things for people. You just have to bring yourself (and some food). Eating is very zen like that.

Of course, thinking about Christmas shopping just reminds me that I’m very broke. How I can justify buying things for people when my car is currently unable to go on the highway is beyond me. I should be putting that money toward the car, and car insurance, and my student loan repayment. I wish I could figure out some other sort of gifts so that I could put the majority of the money I’m saving for Christmas toward the car instead. But thinking about that might just collapse my already fragile nerves.

I am, however, saving for a few things. My savings account is currently the home of Operation Apartment. I am saving at least $10 a week, which is nothing at the time, but it adds up. Or at least, it does as long as I don’t touch it.

I’m also saving for a new computer. Specifically, a Mac. More specifically, a 15-inch MacBook Pro. Of course, I so don’t have $1,799 (or $2,199). I’ve calculated that, if I save $30 a week and save all of my pennies (quite literally), I can afford one in about a year. I’ve been drooling over the idea of getting a Mac for quite some time. I’m admittedly kind of attached to the PC I have because I’m sentimentally weird like that, but it’s way out of date — I can’t even play The Sims 3 on it, and that’s a fucking crime — and acts like a geriatric brontosaurus. I refused to even start looking at computers until this one actually needed to be replaced, though; I’m just not the kind of girl that needs the latest and greatest. My basic needs in a computer are: internet, word processor, and Sims (and pretty much in that order). I’m not a tech junkie or WoW gamer (Sims are way cooler than WoW, anyway). Quite frankly, I’m sick of Microsoft and Windows. I want to get as far away from anything Microsoft as soon as I can. I have very limited experience with a Mac, but if getting away from Microsoft means shelling out about $2,000 and learning a whole new computer interface, then so be it. (Besides, it’s really not that different. I worked at a web design shop a few years ago that used nothing but Macs, so I spent my days bouncing back and forth between a PC and Mac. If I hadn’t started my day on a PC at Job 1, switched to a Mac at Job 2, then went back to a PC for Job 3, I would have gotten the hang of it much faster.)

While my laptop is pretty outdated, though, I don’t really need a new one… yet. (But not being able to play TS3 or The Sims Medieval is kind of making me want to cry.) I do, however, need a new phone. My BlackBerry, bless its little chip, is pretty wonky, and even more outdated than my laptop at this point, even though the laptop is physically older. How’s that for the technology we have these days?! I abhor the BlackBerry’s track ball. My biggest gripe about this phone from day one is the track ball constantly getting stuck, or the screen moving up instead of down even though I am scrolling down, dammit. A little less than a year ago, I updated my BB’s OS so that I could have the new Twitter app at the time, but now the damn thing’s OS is out of date again. It’s a pain in the ass to do, though, and I’d rather not tempt fate (I was a little nervous about accidentally destroying my phone the first time around). Contrary to popular belief, I am not an IT. (Web designer =/= IT. I cannot stress this to my family enough. Sigh.)

Even worse, though, the thing keeps freezing all the time. I’m waiting for the day it just stops working completely. Realistically, it still makes phone calls, so it’s still serving its purpose — like I said, I’m more practical than techie, even though I really like shiny things — but I’d really like to come a little bit out of the dark ages and get a touch screen. My grandmother — Noni — has a touch screen, and I don’t. (She rocks at it, too.) The question is, though, which one? My mom told me she’d get me a new phone for Christmas. When my sister and dad got the HTC Evo several months ago, I started drooling over it. I figured I’d just get that. But now Sprint has the iPhone, and the iPhone 4 — not 4S, mind you; I don’t need my phone talking to me, thank you very much — is actually the same price as the Evo. How do you choose?!

I have a friend who has had and loved both, and even she doesn’t always give me the same answer. The iPhone’s battery lasts longer, she says, but the HTC survives more drops (unless you get the expensive plexiglass hard case for the iPhone). She also told me the HTC’s apps are cheaper (as in, usually free), but after some research I discovered the iPhone can be synced to your Mac, so all pictures you take or changes to documents you make on your iPhone instantly go to your Mac via iCloud. Since I know I’m getting a Mac at some point, this is a huge thing; I could put Pages (word processor) on my iPhone and Mac, and write away from my computer if I need to… and it would be on my computer instantly. Right now, if I’m away from my computer and get an idea for a story or book I’m writing, I pull out my BlackBerry, open up WordPress, and start writing. Then I send it as a draft and it goes to my WP site, and then I log in to my website, open up the draft, and copy and paste it into a Word document. If I take a picture on my BB, I have to connect it to my PC via USB, upload the photos to my computer, and then upload them to my website or whatever. iCloud cuts out those middle steps, and like I said, it’s a huge deal to me.

So I guess I’m leaning toward an iPhone. My mom told me to let her know whenever I decide. Hahaha, I guess there is a techie in me.

I should be coming into some extra money soon, so fortunately we may be getting our apartment and I may be getting my Mac even sooner. I don’t know if I wrote about my 401(k) woes here — and if I did, I can’t find the post — but I finally got it all straightened out. To make a long story short, the third party company that managed the retirement plans at the newspaper I worked at a couple of years ago took it upon themselves to move my 401(k) into one of their IRA accounts, instead of into an IRA account at my bank like I requested. I still don’t know entirely how it happened, but when they moved it into their IRA, they never sent me any access information, so I got locked out of it somehow. I couldn’t contact them, either, for similar reasons — you have to have a PIN to even get through their 800 number to talk to someone — so I ended up going through my bank yet again, the retirement plan company sent me some paperwork in the mail and I filled it out and faxed it, and I should be getting a check from them soon. That check is going toward the Operation Apartment fund.

Come January, I should be coming into more money, because I put a lot of extra money into taxes withheld while I worked at my full-time job as a Tee Shirt Terrorist. At the time, I made enough money to do so without even missing it, and figured it would be like a savings account I’d get to use on whatever I wanted down the road. Well, “down the road” is here, and I’m putting that money toward my Mac.

I’m writing a graphic novel with Mike, Robbie, and Sean. This isn’t actually stressful, but it is on my mind (I’m super excited about it). A couple weeks ago, Mike and I were sitting around the house talking about how talented of artists Robbie and Sean are, and I said, “You’re getting really good, too, though.” He kind of just shrugged that off, and somehow the conversation led to me announcing that the four of us should make a graphic novel and get it published. “I mean, the three of you all draw, and I write, and it just seems like a crime to not take advantage of that and at least try to get something out there.” The original idea was for me to write, Mike to do the cover, and Robbie and Sean to do the inside art, but since then, Mike has been talking about cowriting it. I came up with some characters and then the story today, and am writing a short story that Mike and I will convert into a script later.

I need to set up some appointments with a few doctors. I missed my Mirena followup again when the power was out; the office didn’t have power on the date of the appointment, and it never got rescheduled. I also never followed up with my PA-C after seeing my rheumatologist a few months ago. (Oops.) I guess I’m just sick of the whole doctor thing. I have an appointment with my rheumatologist next week, I think, but I’m not sure if it’ll work out because the schedule for next week at work isn’t up yet for some reason, and they’ve also put up a notice saying that no one can request any time off until after the holidays. (This is normal, though, from what I remember from my previous retail days.) I may have to reschedule it for January or later; I kind of want to schedule an appointment at Yale first. I also need to see a different gastroenterologist. My GI issues are not improving, and I don’t feel that my current gastroenterologist is attentive enough.

I’m really sick of playing the doctor game. I don’t want to go all the way to New Haven every time I need to see a rheumatologist, but Yale is world renowned for its medical practitioners. They have an entire rheumatology building there. If they can’t figure out what’s wrong with me, I don’t know who can.

We are moving our things out of storage during the last weekend of this month. Our dressers are definitely coming up here, and most of the stuff is going into the cellar so that we can go through it little by little. I have to move the dining room around so that I can fit the dressers in here, but I’m not sure exactly how I’m going to do it. The roof/ceiling hasn’t leaked since that rain storm before Irene, but I don’t want to put anything important under that general area because it would kind of be like asking for the roof to collapse. Still, the only way I can think of to make that room work involves putting my bed right under where the leak is. I really want to move that room around, though, because Noni said I can use her desk that’s in there as a work station. I am seriously sick of working from the couch, even though it’s kind of comfy.

Still, I’m really excited about getting my dresser back.

I did something I thought I could never do this past Saturday. I really want to write about it, but it’s hard. I tried writing a poem about it, but so far all I have is a bunch of fragments that could be a poem. Still, I’m really proud of myself. I feel a lot better, and I’m not regretting my decision… which was one of my fears.

I need to create a writing schedule, but the thought of doing it kind of overwhelms me. I’ve even created half-assed schedules, and those overwhelmed me enough. It boils down to being afraid of actually doing it — “it” meaning making a living off of writing — or failing; whether I become successful or fail, I’ll still no longer have the goal of becoming a professional writer. It’s been my goal for so long that I am not sure how to be apart from it now that I’m actively pursuing it.

♦

I really do feel a lot better now that this is all off my mind. I even have a mini To Do list now:

  • write short story for graphic novel (goal: 5,000 words)
  • create article schedule
  • submit “Outlaw Love Story”

What do you wish you could get off your mind?

One Title Does Not Fit This Post

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I don’t really know how to say this, so I’m just going to say it: I found out yesterday that Noni’s tumor grew a little. I know that “a little” isn’t anything to freak out about, but I can’t help but think, “What the fuck? The hormones were supposed to shrink it, not let it grow.” I’m trying to stay positive and not freak out, but it’s bothering me. Her doctors are going to reevaluate the hormone treatment and see if they should try something else, or if she’s going to need surgery to have it removed like they originally planned, or what. I don’t have many more details than that. I think they’re going to do some more testing on the tumor. Honestly, I kind of went into this numb zone where I didn’t hear much else beyond “tumor grew a little,” and I’m kind of afraid to ask someone because I kind of feel like an asshole for missing most of the conversation.

Because I don’t really want to think or talk about that, I guess I’ll tell you about my second least favorite subject: My latest visit with my rheumatologist!

I saw him on on the 21st, and after waiting an hour like always, finally got into an exam room. I saw one of the nurses first. She took my blood pressure, asked me about medications, then went through a whole list of questions, like, “Do you have any joint pain? Headaches? Chest pain?” etc. Some of them were relevant, but most of them weren’t. I told her about my six-day headache, and she was kind of surprised. I forgot to tell her about my switch from oral birth control to the Mirena, so when my doctor came in I made sure to tell him about both the headache and the Mirena. He didn’t seem concerned about the headache, though. (It did, by the way, finally go away on the 23rd. I haven’t had one since, knock on wood.)

We talked about my Tramadol and how I’ve been on 25mg and how it’s radically helped my joint pain, and he seemed satisfied with that. He asked me if I’d started Tai Chi or anything like that and I told him I had planned to, but lost my job so couldn’t afford it. We also talked about my UTI symptoms. After telling me I needed to get a urinalysis done that day and get blood work done in two to three months, he asked if I’d followed up with my PA-C at my regular doctor’s. I hadn’t, and hadn’t even thought about it, so he said I should follow up with her… and also with Dr. Lichter.

Dr. Lichter is a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation specialist. He’s the one who did several nerve conduction tests on me, all of which came back fine, and then told me to get a gym membership and sent me on my way. I didn’t have a problem with him until then. I have a huge problem with doctors dismissing health problems when they can’t quickly diagnose them. He might be a fantastic doctor, but he obviously didn’t know what to do with me and didn’t think he needed to try anything else. I know I’m a mystery. I’ve had countless doctors tell me that. My blood work is wily. Honestly, if I were a doctor, I might have reason to think I was a drug addict just looking for a prescription, or at the very least, a hypochondriac. Unfortunately, before my daily dose of Tramadol, my joint pain was very real and definitely not just a twinge here and there that I freaked out over. This shit kept me up at night on many occasions that I’d rather not remember. This shit interfered with my life on many levels. If I’m a hypochondriac, I’m a really good one.

Dr. Greco wrote my PA-C’s office and Dr. Lichter’s office on the “copy to” part of the blood work order, and told me he’d see me in six months, and to follow up with Pam (PA-C) and Dr. Lichter in the meantime. I know I don’t have to see Dr. Lichter. I’d definitely rather not waste the $40 copay. Hell, I can’t even afford any of my copays right now, so I’d really rather not waste it on a doctor I don’t like and don’t want to see. I’m going to make an appointment with Pam and see what she thinks. Honestly, I’m not sure what the next step is. My symptoms are, for the most part, finally being managed. I could just walk away and be content with taking several medications — Tramadol, Miralax, a slew of vitamins — for the rest of my life. At the same time, though, I still really just want to know what the hell caused all of this. It’s kind of hard to justify more sleuthing, though, when my symptoms are being managed.

I did my urinalysis that same day, and the next day got a call from Dr. Greco’s office. I have a bladder infection, and am on Cipro. I can’t even think of how many times I’ve had bladder infection or UTI symptoms, had my urine tested, and came back with nothing. I had it so bad one time, I was screaming and crying. (I think I may have even gone to the ER, but it was a long time ago so I’m not positive.) I’m shocked that something actually showed up this time. I’ve been feeling like shit for a couple months now.

Cipro sucks. You can’t take it within so many hours of magnesium, calcium, or milk product, or with any of those things, so I am having a hard time remembering to take it. I take all of my pills in the morning after breakfast. I can’t take Cipro then because I usually have some kind of milk product; if I don’t have cereal for breakfast, I usually drink coffee with cream. It’s definitely annoying.

I’m also annoyed because I had a urinalyses when I had my annual at my gynecologist’s, and apparently the bladder infection didn’t show up. My symptoms then were worse than they are now. Speaking of my gynecologist, I missed my appointment today with her to check my Mirena. I completely forgot until I started writing this. The worst part is, their reminder machine called me yesterday, and I have it written down in my planner. I have completely lost track of my days.

Not having a job is killing me. I know I keep whining about this, but I’ve never had such a hard time finding one. At first, when I lost my job in May, I thought, Whoo, vacation! Now I am bored, a couch potato, have no life, and have no money. The bills are piling up. Most of them are medical bills, but I have to give my mom money for my car insurance next month, and then in October have to pay at least $50 toward my student loan. And if the school ever sends me my acceptance letter, I’ll need gas to get back and forth from New Haven. I’m only planning on taking one class (unless something changes drastically, like I get a work study at the school), but still.

I feel like I’ve been going through one of those really long rough patches, and I’m almost at the part where I’m going to get through it. It’s not just work related. It’s my health, family — everything. I feel like I’m on the edge, that I just have to keep swimming. It’s been a long, long rough patch, let me tell you. I cannot wait to get to the other side.

How did you get through a long rough patch?

Tramadol is definitely my new best friend

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My Martha Sim is VERY knocked up, and definitely not on Tramadol, though her facial expression is pretty funny!

My Martha Sim is VERY knocked up, and definitely not on Tramadol, though her facial expression is pretty funny!

How could I have thought I didn’t want to blog anymore? I still have so much to say.

It has been over a month since I started taking 25mg of Tramadol every day, according to my rheumatologist’s action plan. I think it’s safe to say that it’s working. My pain level is way down. I still have my bad days, but usually in the morning before I take my dose. I also still get little twinges or, like my left wrist today, something will bother me all day, but it is never enough to stop me from doing anything. Also, 1,000mg of Tylenol usually knocks it out. I bet even just 500mg would. (I haven’t taken any today for my wrist. I’m lazy like that.)

I’m thrilled. It doesn’t help with my other symptoms, but most of them can be managed somehow.

Speaking of other symptoms, my GI issues have changed. It used to go a little something like normal bowel movement one day, constipation or very hard and painful BM with little product the next, and then the next day very soft with a lot of product. For the last month or so, I’ve been going at least a week — sometimes two — without going at all. When I do, it’s either very hard and very little product (like before), or very soft and a lot of product (like before). I am going, though, so I guess it’s not a huge deal. At first, I was pretty freaked out. I thought I was dying or something. Now, I’m a lot less panicky about it and have been proactive on making it better. I’ve been taking a half dose of Miralax every day, and have been trying to eat a lot of fruit throughout the day (a cup or more). Yesterday, I had nothing but fruit for breakfast and for lunch, and today I had nothing but fruit for breakfast. (Which reminds me… I need to go take a dose of Miralax!)

I am pretty sure this is all Tramadol’s doing, since it started around the same time I started taking the 25mg every day. I’m seeing Dr. Greco in a couple of weeks or so, and will definitely be asking him, but as long as the Miralax and fruit help and I’m still going rather than not going, I’m not going to freak out again.

I’ve also been thinking a lot about my lack of a diagnosis. It makes me fucking crazy that I don’t know what’s going on. It makes me fucking crazy that this all might be a post-effect of having mono when I was seventeen. It makes me fucking crazy that not having a diagnosis for my very real illness severely limits my rights in the workplace. If I had a diagnosis, none of the things That Horrible Place got away with would have happened. Or, at the very least, I could have had a lawyer get me a pretty penny. Right now, I’m looking for a part-time job, but in the future I definitely want something full-time, and knowing that without a diagnosis, working full-time leaves me no wiggle room whatsoever for doctor’s appointments… It makes me worryworryworry.

What I was getting to before that whole worryworryworry tangent is that I’m going to ask Dr. Greco about post-effects of mono, and see if we can start looking into that route. Depending on how this next appointment goes, I’m also going to start looking for a second opinion. While I truly feel like Dr. Greco does genuinely care, I don’t feel like we’ve made any progress in the last year. I’m still kicking myself for not rescheduling my appointment at Yale and just canceling it.

Mike’s cousin Jannelle works in a rheumatologist’s office in Rhode Island, and said she might be able to squeeze me in, so I can get a second opinion. We were talking about Mike and I visiting in August and staying for the weekend, so we’d have to decide and then let her know. It might be worth it, though.

I’m so over this mystery illness. I just want it to go away. I’m hoping that maybe it will; maybe it’s some weird post-mono hiccup and it’ll just kick rocks after torturing me for a while.

RANDOM FUN FACT:
G4 has just informed me that someone is busted for marijuana possession every thirty-five seconds, or something like that. These are the things I hear on the TV while blogging. If that’s true, our country’s police are spending way too much time on petty crime. They should be putting that manpower into the dangerous drag racing on South Main! Besides, who doesn’t like a stoner? Everyone should have a requisite pothead friend. They’re entertaining, and insightful.

I'm getting the hell out of here!

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Squirt is clearly only tolerating my annoying urge to take pictures together.

Squirt is clearly only tolerating my annoying urge to take pictures together.

Tomorrow I’m getting out of the city and into the country and fresh air for three beautiful days. I’m ecstatic. I’m still unemployed, and all of the stress surrounding the whole situation has been making me yearn to just get out. As long as Noni still feels up to it after her chemo today, we’re leaving for the lake tomorrow morning, joining up with Aunt Wendy, going to Aunt Wendy’s graduation tomorrow night, and then coming home sometime Friday. I get three days all alone with my grandmother and aunt — something that will probably never happen again.

I haven’t yet decided whether I’m bringing my laptop to do some writing, but I’m bringing two of the books on my summer reading list. I really want to leave my laptop behind, but I haven’t done any writing in a few days, so I might bring it and my Sade On the Wall first draft and notes. I don’t know. There’s something appealing about getting away from my laptop for three days… and there’s also something appealing about using those three days to get started on that editing I’ve been meaning to do (and procrastinating).

So yeah, as long as Noni still feels up to it in the morning, we’re heading off! Her chemo went well today, though. They started her on a different chemo, since she was reacting badly to the other one. The first time she had her treatment, she fainted and got pretty banged up. She also had a lot of joint pain. The second time, she had joint pain again, I think, so her oncologist decided to try a different medication. This one was a shot instead of an IV drip like the other one, and she did well on it today. All of her blood work came back perfect, too, and she and the oncologist even think the tumor might be shrinking.

I do feel kind of bad that I’m leaving Mike for three days, because not only is he getting a root canal on Thursday, but he has never spent that much time with my family without me around. I hope it won’t be too awkward for him. I mean, I know he’s known them all for about five years and has been living here for almost a year, but I’m sure it’ll be a little different, at least. It would be for me. Then again, the only thing he’s said about the whole thing is that he wishes I was going to be around after he gets the root canal, for comfort purposes. He’ll be fine, of course, but I wouldn’t be me if a small part of me didn’t worry a little.

She didn't think this was funny.

She didn't think this was funny.

Aside from going away and being unable to find a job even though I’ve applied to several places, I started taking 25mg of Tramadol every day on 06/02 — almost two weeks ago — and since then, my pain has decreased to only a small twinge here or there. Most days, I’ve had no pain at all. It’s hard to tell whether this is the medication, or just a period of remission. Either way, I’m enjoying it. If, by the time I see my rheumatologist again in July, I’m still not having that much pain, I’m going to just assume it’s the medication. And then I’ll have to celebrate, because holy shit! This low dose of Tramadol doesn’t make me feel like I just smoked a bunch of pot! Of course, it’s not treating that annoying fatigue that hits me like an eighteen wheeler sometimes, but I can deal with that if I’m not also in pain.

She hates me.

She hates me.

I’ve also been doing a lot of stuff for Freaking Bookworm, partially to keep busy but mostly because I love it. I created a book review bloggers directory inspired by the book review vloggers directory that my book blogging buddy Liz created. I also wrote an article on why it’s a good thing that teens read YA, which got quite a few tweets and Facebook shares. (When I say “quite a few,” I mean it’s quite a few for my little book review blog. :D ) I also read and reviewed Witch Doctor #0 and Beat, and created a summer reading list. And, even though I am not ready to share this over on Freaking Bookworm, I landed my first interview with an author, and got accepted to write book reviews for Blog Critics, the sister site to Technorati (which is like Google to the blogosphere). I have a lot more reviews coming, but this is what I’ve been working on lately. So, even though I lost my Amazon store, things are still going really well, and I’m having a lot of fun with this. It would be the best job in the world if I could find a way to make a living off of it. I will, someday.

"Oh stupid human, are you done yet?"

"Oh stupid human, are you done yet?"

In unrelated news, I’m thinking about giving up personal blogging and focusing completely on book blogging. (I also have plans for another focused blog, as soon as I get back on my feet and can afford to spend the usually inexpensive $8.95 for a domain name. In the meantime, I’m setting up a WordPress.com blog to make sure I’m committed to the topic.) As much as I enjoy blogging, I just don’t see the point in publicly sharing my personal life and problems anymore. It used to be a way for me to vent, but I’m just starting to think of it as immature; I look back on many of my old posts and think, Why did I need to share that? I don’t see anything wrong with personal blogging in general, but I think I’m growing out of it. Don’t worry, though — you’ll never see me stop blogging! (Unless I die. But we’re not going to think about that. I like being alive.)

What’s new with you? I just caught up on blogs, but I still wanna know. Leave me a comment and catch me up!