Focus: Progress and Positivity

Well, it has been quite a week! Let’s see if I can break it down!

*Monday:
I had a late morning appointment with my Ophthalmologist to do a vision exam to see if I need new glasses or not. It turns out that my eyesight has changed just a wee bit and although I’m still seeing 20/20 with my glasses (a miracle also since my eyesight is really bad. I am crazy nearsighted in my left eye which means I can’t see far away and I a have crazy astigmatism in my right eye.) but apparently I can see just a bit better and everything should look really sparkly once I get my new lenses. At the end of the appointment I asked my doctor when he thought I might just be able to wear contact lenses again (I haven’t been able to because my eyes have been so dry. He told me about a year and a half ago that I wouldn’t be able to wear contacts anytime soon because my eyes needed to be less dry and they needed to have some time to repair themselves.) and he considered it for a moment and then took a look at the current dryness of my eyes. Guess what? He said my eyes looked really good and so much less dry than they were and that I could wear contacts again!!!!!!! Woo hoo! Yay! I’m so excited! I haven’t been able to wear contacts for years. I’ll be able to see in 3D again. Sooooo, the contact lenses are being ordered as I write this! I was given a warning by my doctor to be careful about wearing them too much especially at first because it’s important not to make my eyes worse just because I’m wearing contacts again. He told me we’d both worked really hard to get my eyes in shape and he’d hate to see more problems so I needed to take it really slow and ease my eyes into wearing them again. Yes sir! Sure. Whatever. Just let me wear them!

I also had an appointment in the afternoon with my Dermatologist. I don’t like making two appointments in one day but they are in the same building which is really nice so sometimes I make exceptions. Turns out my Dermatologist thinks that considering what I’m up against with lupus (can get skin rashes, acne, hair follicle issues, eczema, etc.) I’m doing extremely well and we’ve now moved from a flare-up treating regimen to a maintenance treating regimen. Of course everything’s new and changed but it’s for different reasons. She thinks my skin looks really good and she said it’s because of all the work I’ve been doing to get there. I don’t have to see her for six months unless something comes up. She told me she’d see me sooner if anything flared up or to call her if I had any questions.

Wow! Now that was a great start to my week! Two positive appointments in one day! Awesome!

*Tuesday:
I had a follow-up appointment with my Rheumatologist regarding my lupus and she felt very good about where I was. Sure I had a long way to go and she completely supports my disability but there is improvement. She pointed out that I had made a lot of progress since I first started seeing her almost two years ago in August of 2010. We had a great discussion about my options and some details that had come up and she spent some real time answering my questions. I did more blood work as I usually do when I’m there now to make sure my organs are functioning correctly and then she told me she didn’t have to see me for three months! That is so cool! I graduated from seeing her every two months to seeing her every three months now! Amazing! That is real progress. I was seeing her weekly for quite awhile. It’s taken a lot of work to get there and what’s also awesome about it is that the work has actually paid off. I’m getting somewhere. She told me she’d see me sooner if need be and to just call her.

It was also my 1 Year Off of Prednisone Anniversary too! That’s huge!!!!!!!!

*Wednesday:
Phew. A day to breathe. I’m so relieved. What a positive yet really busy and draining first half of the week that was. I was able to have some down time which I try really hard to do on Wednesdays if possible so that I can refuel for the next half of the week. It usually helps a lot.

*Thursday:
That’s today! I’m getting ready to go to my second to last Physical Therapy appointment in a few minutes. I only have two left because my Physical Therapist feels that she’s done all she can with me and that it’s time to pass on all of the At-Home exercises to me and that it’s up to me to commit to doing them every day and to walking every day if at all possible. She says the idea is to help me get as strong and mobile as possible so that if/when exacerbations/flare ups happen my body is hopefully better equipped to deal with what comes my way. I have heard this so many times over the years but I’m really hopeful this time about it because the exercises she’s been giving me have already helped immensely. These last two appointments are just to finish up and to see what other exercises to give me to do at home and to give me a plan and baseline to work with. I am sad to not be able to see this woman anymore because she has been really great and very funny to deal with but I’ll admit I’m relieved because it was overwhelming to commit to seeing her at least twice a week on top of all of my other doctor appointments and other obligations such as resting and recovery too. Oh and having a life helps too if possible.

So this has been a week to focus on progress and positivity and it’s really helped my mental well being to hear that things are improving because for so long it didn’t feel that way and I have been feeling very burned out from all of it these days.

Here’s to more good days!!!