Worrying about others

As much as I tend to be a worrier when it comes to my own state of health, it is so much worse to be worried about a loved one. About a month and a half ago my girlfriend mentioned that she had some weird swelling in one of her knuckles on her left hand. She couldn't remember hitting it anywhere even though she is incredibly clumsy! Due to this high level of clumsiness I hoped that she'd just banged it and had forgotten. It seemed to go away and I didn't ask about it again. Yesterday she said it had swollen up again and showed me. Now, I know as an RA patient any time anyone mentions the words 'swelling' and 'joint' I will immediately diagnose them with inflammatory arthritis. It might not be that. However, as I found out when my symptoms started in a knuckle on my hand 3 years ago, there really aren't that many other explanations for such a swollen joint. Believe me, I looked for them very hard in the beginning. Surely though, the chances of us both having RA are minuscule, especially in our 20s!!!!

There must be something else going on. Surely.

She is also the worst person for going to the doctor so I doubt I'll be able to persuade her unless it becomes very painful or spreads. It doesn't seem to be very bothersome at the moment but it does look exactly as you would expect an RA-inflamed knuckle to look. I really, really, really hope there is some other explanation for this, although I don't know what that could be.

Here we are again..

It's time for the 'End of the Year' post.

I think this has been a very odd year for me. 2011 was a brilliant, exciting year. Lots of things happened in work and my private life. Plus I had a wonderfully flare-free year. It's hard to follow that!

2012 has been a good year. Not exceptional but solidly good. And what more can you ask for really? I got the amazing opportunity at the start of the year to travel to Peru. It was really an adventure.
I had a pesky flare around the same time but once that got under control in June I have enjoyed the most symptom free 6 months since the start of my illness. So that's also a good thing to be thankful for.

I'm feeling some aches and pains starting up the last couple of weeks and I hope they're short lived, but as always - we shall wait and see!!!

Despite all the good things, I'm feeling a bit off. I've been reading up on it and it is apparently quite normal to feel a bit down in your mid-late 20s. Something about finishing with formal education and starting grown up life and working out who you actually are and what your goals are.

I don't really make resolutions as I'm really bad at keeping them. Instead I sort of reflect and try and set small goals for myself which are easier to achieve. My goals so far are to keep being involved in the community garden and to try to go back to exercise. Also to try to find more time for myself and doing the little things that make me happy.

That's it really, wishing you all a happy, prosperous and healthy 2013!

Eye exam

I've just come back from my annual eye test which I need to check that the hydroxychloroquine I take for my RA isn't building up in my eyes affecting my vision. Thankfully everything is fine, both with the drug and my general vision too. No glasses needed (surprising, considering how long I spend staring at computers)!

It's so great to know that I can continue on my meds and that there are no adverse effects from taking them. It's sometimes worrying to be on daily medication, especially so young, but good to know I'm being monitored closely.

Also, as always I feel grateful for the good care provided to me for free by the NHS. So lucky to have this service!

3 years

Oh my, how time flies. It was my 3 year RA-nniversary on Saturday. I think I also started this blog not that long after. I can't believe how quickly these few years have gone by. Must be getting old?!

The joy of digging

As I mentioned in my last post, I've joined a community garden in my neighbourhood.

Today we had a group 'digging' day, to top up the soil and prepare the beds for next year. It was really good fun and between the 6 of us we managed to sort out the 2 TONNES (!!) of soil in a couple of hours. I learnt a lot about the composition of soil and what nutrients are required for vegetable growth. I also found some hidden veg in some of the beds from this year so I came home with a bag full of fresh carrots potatoes and beetroot.

It was really nice to spend an afternoon outside being active. Working in an office and living in a flat sometimes makes me really sedentary and i miss out on a lot of 'outdoors' time, especially in the short winter days.

I was also very grateful for the fact that I was able to take part in such a demanding physical activity like soil shovelling. Thanks to my meds (and a large amount of luck!) the RA seems to be at bay for now. Hooray, bring on the wheelbarrows!

Wee update

Things in Squirrel-land are pretty good right now, busy hopping around branches and collecting nuts for the winter and what not!

I'm just back from a short holiday in Berlin with my girlfriend (our first holiday together!) and I was in London before that for a work conference. Busy busy busy. This weekend I have a family friend staying with me but to be quite honest what I'd really like to do is just have a quiet one, sit around in my PJs and watch crap TV. Unfortunately all these social events seem to all happen at once. So hard to be popular and in demand, haha!

Something I'm quite excited about right now though is that I've joined a local community garden. It's a charity project which gives people in the neighbourhood a chance to get involved in growing our own vegetables. We're just planning what to grow next year and I'm really looking forward to it. I've never grown anything before so it'll probably be a bit of trial and error but there are more experienced members who will be on hand to help. The area I live in has mostly flats, so it's great to have a space and the facilities to grow our own veg.

So that's it really for now, nothing to complain about!
I hope everyone has got their Christmas jumpers on, not long now till Santa comes!!

Vit D

As the winter nights draw ever closer, I got to thinking about my RA flare pattern. I've only had it 3 years so maybe not long enough to draw any real conclusions but it started in December, and every year since then I've felt really good June-Nov and flared post-Christmas only to settle down again in summer. I don't know if this is just clutching at straws, but maybe the lack of sunlight has something to do with it? I don't think it's the cold because when I've travelled temperature changes didn't affect me and to be honest the difference in temperature between the Scottish summer and winter is only about 15 degrees! However, we're pretty far north which means we get super long summer days and super long winter nights!! From the end of Oct when the clocks go back until March I don't see any daylight Monday to Friday as it's dark when I leave for work and dark as I go home. REALLY DEPRESSING!! Even at the weekends it's easy to sleep in until about 11-12 (I like long lies!) and then you only get about 4 hours of daylight before it starts to get dark again. And that's only if the sun can peek out from behind the thick rainclouds!!

I've therefore decided to take some Vitamin D supplements this winter. I'm starting from today and have enough to last me 3 months. I've been 99% symptom free since June so we'll see if this year I can avoid the dreaded 'winter flare'. Probably not, but worth a try (even if it's just to satisfy my curiosity!).