Saturday, May 15, 2010

Early "remission"

Immediately during and after the chemo, I could feel relief.  By the time I had left the hospital, I already had decreased joint pain and my skin was softening.

I was still limited in my movements and motions as my joints and tendons have been permanently damaged.  The disease also can "scar" the tissues o your organs, like my lungs, so any of that damage that has been done, is done.

The chemo wasn't going to make that go away, just stop further progression of the disease.

I was still exhausted and worked only part time.  I would work for 4-6 hours a day and sleep the rest of the time.

I was getting stronger though.  My blood tests were looking good.  My lung function tests were stabilizing.  It looked like the chemo had done what we hoped!

In March of 2005 I spoke in front of the Maryland State Senate about my life with autoimmune disease and Scleroderma in order to push for a bill to study how those diseases affect individuals living within the state.  How medical care, costs, lack of education, etc affect the population.  I got meet, former Baltimore Colts running back, Lenny Moore.  He testified as well, about his son's 9 year losing battle with Scleroderma. 

Lenny holds a scholarship fund raising event every year in his son's name.  I was invited to attend.  I manned a booth for the Scleroderma Foundation, sharing my story and information with guests.  It was an awesome event and I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to attend.

During the summer, my husband and I spent our vacation road tripping through the Canadian Rockies.  Despite ongoing marriage issues and stress there, we enjoyed a great vacation.  I was being active.  Getting to see new territory.  I managed to get my butt on a horse and go on a trail ride around Lake Louise. 

It was refreshing and liberating and relaxing.  It was a great feeling of accomplishment.

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