Good Day My PMR Friends!

How are you doing? Are you feeling OK? I hope that your days are without pain (or at least minimal) and that you can enjoy life in some respect.

I want to catch you up on my PMR progress of late.

I am happy to share that although I am not yet in remission, I feel close!

I now take 2 mg of Prednisone in the AM and 1 Aleve at dinner. Prior to adding the Aleve, I had been waking up pretty stiff, and the rigidity and discomfort hung on until early afternoon when my Pred finally kicked in.

I KNOW that we have been warned not to take anti-inflammatory pain relievers with Pred. However, when I discussed this plan with my doctor, she did not make a fuss since I am on a low dose of steroids and only take one Aleve a day, spaced way apart from my steroid and with food.

And I must say that adding the Aleve has made my mornings SO much better. I can now function ALL DAY!

I proved this to myself about 3 weeks ago while driving to visit my daughter and grandchildren 8 hours away.

I stopped to get gas and was pleasantly shocked that I did not have to peel myself gingerly out of the car and walk like a penguin who needs a diaper change when I went to refill my coffee cup at the rest stop (as I had in the past when traveling).

I felt light. I felt good. My butt did not feel like the "sits" bones were coming through my skin. I felt like I could RUN!

So I grinned to myself and sprinted (well, actually jogged) across the parking lot. I felt like high-fiving myself when I got to my car.

This is a big deal to me since it has been 2 1/2 years since I ran! I used to joke that I could not run even if I were in a burning house. I was that stiff.

When I arrived at my daughter's, my grandson was excited to play with me.

When he asked me to go out in the yard and play red-light-green-light, my typical response would have been, "You play, and I will watch". On that day, I said "sure" and ran alongside my 4-year-old grandaughter (OK, she beat me) to see who first touched my grandson's outstretched hand.

It was wonderful to stretch, move and play as I wanted without being in pain and exhausted by the effort. 

The following week, I watched our 6-year-old twin grandsons for a few hours. They pulled out a soccer ball and started to play. I went to sit in my usual "observation" chair when one of them invited me to play with them.

I figured, "why not"? I jumped in and was proud to keep up with 2 six-year-olds while playing soccer.

I'm a fun grandmother again! That fact makes me very happy! 

I hated feeling old and frail...

Now that I can do more without pain, I have started doing some yoga to build up my skinny flappy arms.

I remember my 90-year-old grandmother having wrinkly, swinging skin on her inner upper arms when she lifted her arm. At 60, I noticed that my arms were beginning to resemble hers, and I feel like I am not old enough to have such ugly upper arms. So, I plan to keep building my strength now that I am feeling up to it. Hopefully, my body will tone up a bit, also.

I must say that I am very thankful to put PMR in the back seat and hope to see it soon in the rear-view mirror, disappearing down the road for good.

And my newly invigorated self could not have happened at a better time. Last week, my husband ruptured his Achilles tendon while hunting. As he recovers, he is dependent on me to help him shower, get dressed, and get ready for work. The rehabilitation can take 6 months!

All the household chores now fall to me, including keeping the woodstove stocked up with wood. Lifting piles of wood several times a day and doing all the work around the house is a great workout for me and will hopefully build up my weak muscles.

I am glad that I am up to the task. After these past few years of my husband caring for me and doing the lion's share of the manual work, I am happy to be able to assist him through his recovery.

I hope to report soon that I am off steroids and in remission and have no setbacks. I am aware that I am not the master of my own destiny, but I keep hoping for the best in this painfully slow recovery.

As I have said many times in the past, I am the turtle in the "tortoise and the hare" story, progressing slow but steady. I still have to get to the finish line but I will continue to do whatever I can to plod steadily forward.

Have a great week and holiday season, my friends, if I don't catch up with you sooner!

Donna