Going Home

So, here I sit, the last evening before packing the Explorer up and heading back North. 

I really don't want to go, but, real life must begin again.

I have had the most wonderful time. Suesue is a most gracious hostess and her daughter is such a sweetheart. 

We had our show on Saturday. Unfortunately, the sponsor didn't set up properly and no patrons came our way, so we ended up not selling a red cent. But, I didn't think it was such a big deal. After some rain first thing in the morning, the weather cleared and we ended up having a beautiful day, weather wise. On the way back to Sue's, we stopped to pick up fixings for dinner and I made them Jambalaya. We then watched Nim's Island. After the girls went to bed, I stayed up to finish a job application. Then turned in from exhaustion.

Today, Sue had to work. Her daughter went to church with Sue's mom and I just relaxed in the quiet. It was actually kinda nice. Got some pics uploaded, started to apply for some temporary employment (which, I've already got a lead! Now, if I only remember what I did with my resume). Watched some Monty Python and Dr. Who (finally). When Sue got home, she made lasagna, which was really good! Then we watched Made of Honor. Now, the girls went to bed and I'm still up, enjoying the quiet once again.

Later this morning, I asked Sue to get me up so I could say good bye to her and her daughter. That's in about five hours. I really don't want to leave. Sue has made me feel very much at home here. We get along famously, like we've known each other forever. But, I do have my babies to go home to and a life of my own to start. I'll be back, I just know it.

Besides, I'm already planning on stowing away in the trunk of her car when she does her road trip to her sister's in Missouri around Christmas. :)

Remicade

I don't know that I've spoken about my nasty medicine before. I think I've only mentioned it seeing as I haven't had a treatment since starting this blog. Well, I had a treatment today. What a waste of a day.

Remicade was first approved as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. It has since been approved to be used for a variety of autoimmune disorders including Crohn's disease. What it does is basically prevent a person's body from attacking its own organs. See, for whatever reason, my immune system has deemed my intestines as an invader. Because of that, my body has created antibodies to try and destroy my intestines. Remicade works to prevent those antibodies from winning. For more detailed information, visit here: http://www.remicade.com/remicade/global/understanding/understanding.html.

When first beginning Remicade, you begin with a treatment every two weeks for the first six weeks. After that, you go a month in between for a couple of times. Once you reach maintenance level, you have to go every two months. I am at that stage now. I visit my infusion nurse every two months for two hours at a time.

During my treatment, my nurse mixes my medicine with a saline solution. This stuff is pretty nasty and expensive. One treatment costs upwards of $10,000 (USD). That's just the medicine! Then, there's the cost for the supplies to administer it! Remicade is administered via IV. I get hooked up to a needle and bag and sit for two hours while this nasty stuff is dripped into my vein. So, the kids and I play, I'll text or surf the net on my cell. Pretty much try to find things to pass this time. It's hard to keep the kids busy for two hours!!!!

I keep saying nasty medicine because it is. It suppresses my immune system. This means that any bug out there, I'll get. And when I get it, I get it twice as bad as everyone else because my body isn't making antibodies as readily as a healthy person. I recently had bronchitis for six weeks! And I have to be really careful...there's a warning of tuberculosis with this medicine. And, because it's such a strong medicine, the drip has to be carefully monitored so it doesn't go in too quickly. And my blood pressure has to be taken constantly to make sure I don't pass out. So, yeah, it's pretty nasty and dangerous stuff.

So, today, I took some pictures and posted them to Flickr. I had never thought to photograph or otherwise record my treatments. Never thought that anyone would be interested in this boring thing in my life. I do warn you, the first link is a picture of the IV in my arm, for those of you who are squeamish.

http://flickr.com/photos/28592236@N04/2742195088/

http://flickr.com/photos/28592236@N04/2742195098/

If you have questions, just post them in the comments and I'll do a follow up post answering what I can! :)

Day 24!

I think I may as well admit it: I'm a former smoker. I'm done. Seriously. If I've made it this long, then I must be done. I will still post pics and updates from time to time. I will also finish out the patches (still have four weeks to go). But, unless the cravings get bad, I don't know that I'll blog about it anymore.

But, taking the pics sure is fun! http://flickr.com/photos/28592236@N04/2738903182/