Good News and Bad News

I had the Rituxan infusion on February 28 and on March 20th. I had done this back in 2007, after that treatment everything went well and I had little flare up for a year. Not this time unfortunately. I felt good afterwards,  but I'm currently on the third week of a good flare up. Sadly, I had to miss two days of work this week. I had to rest at home with cyclobenzaprine, tramadol, and prednisone. Thankfully I did have sick time to cover my days off, but I have recently been promoted at work and feel really bad leaving my co-worker short handed at work.

The best way to describe how I feel would be to imagine your shoulders and neck mussels as tight as they can be. Pain goes from the should to the elbow off and on. My right hip hurts with pain going down the side. As the meds have helped some my back is feeling better but very sore and my hip has a pinch type pain inside of it.

The meds are not my favorite either. The cyclobenzapine is to be used two hours before bed, except for when I'm off from work then it can be taken 3 times a day. The cyclobenzapine is a mussel relaxer and make me sleepy. The tramadol is alright as it does help to lower the pain but also has a tired side effect and I get a little itchy. I also feel a little on edge and jittery at times. When I take the cyclobenzapine and the tramadol I notice my ears become sensitive.

Now the wonderful prednisone is a steroid. Which leads me to the good news I did have. I lost some weight and my liver functions are back to normal. So with the prednisone, it has a side effect of gaining weight because it make me hungry. I'm working on being very focused on what I eat. I have also recently learned from my family doctor that I have high cholesterol that I need to lower with diet.

More bad news. Some of the damage that can been seen, a few fingers are no longer straight and my left elbow is at a slight angle will be permanent. At least that not too bad, and it not noticed unless you look for it. The doctor also feel the Rituxan is not working for me this time but we need to wait six months before we try something else because the Rituxan last six months in the body.

I'm praying we can find a solution soon as I would love to keep moving and losing weight. Right now just trying to do housework is a bit too much, so the family is jumping in and doing most of it. I tried stopping after work last night to pick up a few groceries at a local grocery store. I got about 10 things and left with my hip good and sore. Not quite what would be excepted for a 32 year old body.

It would be very useful if I could get a travel scooter so I could at least go to Dollywood Splash Country and rest in the water or have an easier time have to go places, but insurance will not cover the scooter because I don't need the scooter in the home. So, I'll have to save up for a travel scooter.