When it rains…..

So my heart is still aching over losing my cat, Isabella.  I’ve been having trouble sleeping. It’s so difficult holding an animal that you adore while they pass away.  Things got better when I knew her ashes were back home with my parents.  I know she had a good life, but not being able to sleep was a way my brain was processing things.  Lack of good sleep takes its toll on my body.  The fatigue has been cumbersome.

I returned to my home after the holidays and we were hit by a “cyclone snow bomb” in the NorthEast.  I have to laugh because the meteorologists predicted 1-3 inches of snow but -0 degree weather with windchill.  When you live with RA, you have routines to make life easier, especially if snow is in the equation. I should know by now that meteorologists are hardly ever right!! I live in a town home and have a driveway that butts up to a shared alley/driveway.  Normally, if there is going to be a lot of snow, I will park in the driveway so I don’t have to shovel it and can focus on the alley.  Well, 1-3 inches is no big deal, so I parked in my garage.  Five or six inches of snow later, and I am kicking myself because I had to shovel a LOT of snow.  Thankfully, my neighbor helped me out.  Regardless, my elbows, wrists, and shoulders ached terribly and guess what…..I couldn’t sleep again due to the pain.

Then the dog got sick.  Georgia was refusing to eat.  I was almost late to work multiple days because I had to spoon feed her before getting insulin into her.  I was thinking it was due to diabetic ketoacidosis so I rushed her into the vet.  Nope.  Not her diabetes.  She has a massive ulcer on her tongue.  What it is from is still up for debate.  Could be a chemical burn from licking/eating something (rock salt, or possibly essential oils my cats knocked over) or it could be a cancerous tumor. We’re treating it as a burn and taking it from there.  I get the dog home and now she is on 18 pills a day, 2 shots of insulin, a “pain relieving mouthwash” and two blood glucose tests daily. All of this in addition to taking care of myself.  Seriously, enough is enough, right??  Nope….

I wake up on Saturday feeling like a brick house fell on me and I’m coughing a lot.  I hadn’t been feeling good but living with RA, I always feel like I am sick.  I drag myself out of bed and go to a walk-in clinic because it is a weekend.  Turns out I have bronchitis (that was my guess) and a sinus infection (I didn’t see that one coming but once I was told, then I felt it).  The doctor looks at me and asks why I didn’t come in sooner.  I almost fell off the table.  I always feel like I have the flu.  The cough made me think something was wrong but if I wasn’t coughing, I probably wouldn’t have gone in for a few more days.  I think the doctor thought I was crazy.  People have no idea what it feels like living with chronic illness.

So, life is a bit overwhelming right now.  Focusing on getting rest, drinking liquids, and taking it easy.  The body aches are pretty serious and of course, I have to stop taking my biologic drug until I get better.  It kind of stinks to be me right now.  Nursing Georgia is going well because she is a good patient.  We have a follow up tomorrow and hopefully, the tongue will be healing and we won’t need to see an veterinary oncologist.  Here is a photo of Georgia before diabetes and just the other day.  She’s been through the ringer but still smiles when she sees me, even at the vet’s office.  We are quite the team.  Wish us luck that we both get better sooner rather than later.