A walk through the past and into the future!

Okay, so the story begins back in high school working in the kitchen at the local nursing home.  I worked there for four years in the kitchen.  I remember having small issues with psoriasis but back then I figured it was due to working with bleach water without gloves.  I guess the arthritis didn't start until after graduation and was probably brought on by working as a certified nursing aide.  I loved the work but it was so very hard on my back!  I was also bowling every week with a friend and then with my husband and after a couple of years, I realized it was bothering my thumb and middle finger.  My knuckles tend to swell up and stay that way for a few days!  I finally decided to quit bowling on leagues about twenty years ago.  I missed now bowling but I couldn't take the pain any more. 

I guess it has been about fifteen years or so ago, I was realizing that I was always tired! Nothing I did helped. I tried less caffeine, Benedryl at night, going to bed earlier than normal, etc.  Nothing worked.  I finally went to the doctor (repeatedly) and nothing came up.  Eventually the family doctor suggested a rheumatologist.  She ran a bunch of tests and my ANA levels came up positive.  It is a low positive but it is still positive.  Tiredness, sleepiness, sleeplessness, sensitivity to sun, and even what they call a "butterfly effect" across my cheeks. It looks like I am blushing or overheated when I'm not.  Lupus and psoriatic arthritis are both autoimmune diseases.  They can be brought on by infections, illness, or even stress. Around the time the symptoms showed up, we had ten funerals in less than two years!  This includes my sister, two of my grandparents, my husband's mom, grandmother, and a few other people that were close to us or to our family.

Somewhere in these time frame I also started seeing a dermatologist about my skin.  It was breaking out and getting scaly looking on my elbows, hands, sometimes the knees, (front or back), back and ears.  Turns out that not only do I have the psoriasis but I have eczema!  The pictures below show some of the bad spots I have right now. My hands are the worst right now.  If you look closely, you can see my ring finger is red right near the nail.  The skin was recently infected because of a major breakout.  The nail was starting to loosen up because of the infection.  I was an antibiotic for ten days and the nail is slowly coming off. Oh yay! 
My fingers crack all the time.  So if this Enbrel works, it will be so nice to have normal fingers again! Imagine trying to crochet, sew, open things or recently even writing a check was a problem! My thumb was cracked and it split even wider as I tried to write. I ended up having to use my card, and put the check in my wallet to destroy later!

One of my goals is to update my pictures.  I am using the Enbrel twice a week for now, and then it goes to once a week.  I know have to give my self an pre-measured injection! Weird but hey if it works!

So the doctors think I have eczema, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and lupus. Oh, and around Christmas, my asthma kicks in big time due to folks bringing in real trees into their houses. In my case, the fake ones work! I don't have to water it either!  Some days I have trouble getting out of bed. I wake up almost every morning feeling tired like I didn't sleep.  Most days, I hurt somewhere. The medication I take on a normal basis is Neurontin and Plaquenil.  Due to the meds I take I have to have an eye exam every six months which includes my eyes being dilated.  Blahhh, not my favorite thing to do! I get blood work at least twice a year to make sure my levels are staying where they need to be.

I know it causes me problems playing with my grand-daughter but I know that she won't always be the adorable two year she is! I want to be able to keep up with her and some days I just have to suffer a little and remember to take Advil or Tylenol!

 I am not complaining, just hoping I can help someone else realize they aren't alone! I have had a number of people pray for me and I greatly appreciate that. I know that I am going through this for a reason, but for this time in my life I am okay with not knowing what God has in mind!  I look at two of my friends who are dealing with cancer, and in different ways fight for their life everyday, and realize this is doable. 

Please feel free to email me with questions or leave a comment below.  Thanks!

Gifts from my kiddos

This is why I love my job! Gifts from my pre-k kiddos for my birthday!    

  A lemon cake with an "L" for librarian!   

More felt food.

 More felt food!  

Playing tourist in your own backyard

My hubby and I recently got to be tourists in our own "backyard."  If you have never done it, I strongly suggest you do it soon. Our county is one of eight or so, that participate in "secret tours."  You pay a small fee to get your booklet and goodie bag. Then you can visit any or all of those places. Most have giveaways or goodies for you, whether it is food samples or a little gift.  Check them out online at Best Kept Secret.


This hot sauce was found at a place called Kitchen Kettle Village.  Since my husband goes by Pappy we thought this was pretty funny since he likes his hot sauce.  Kitchen Kettle has many things to do a lot of cute shops, carriage rides, and lots of good food.


I am very outnumbered when it comes to golfing. My husband both daughters both son-in-law's and even now a two-year-old granddaughter all like to golf. We found this sign at a store in Ephrata,PA at a place called Sheldon's.  They have the neatest shop. You can find jewelry, scarves, garden stuff, garden flags and a lot of pictures.






This amazing looking burger came from a place called Outback Grille.  My hubby and I got this burger and ended up splitting it inhale because it was so large. We then each got a small ice cream, and our bill was only around $20.  We were able to do all of this stuff on good Friday as my husband had off that day. I don't even have pictures from all the places we actually went to.




This cute little place is called Stoudtburg Village in Adamstown, Pennsylvania.  We were able to go with a few friends. This place has lots of antiques, lots of cute shops. You can also rent some of the town houses that are in the top floors of these adorable buildings. We were here on Saturday and I expect it would be a lot busier in the summer. I would definitely go back to visit this place.


 

For Easter Sunday we went to Lewes, Delaware to visit family. We also got to go to the beach but only for just a short time because it was so cold.  We will be play tourist a lot more because we had we had so much fun!

Felt Food, easy and fun to make!

 So here is my latest project.  I decided to make some felt food for my grand daughter, Emily. She loves playing in her little kitchen but needs some food to go with it! They are so expensive to buy new and rare to find at thrift shops. I guess everyone else is looking for them also! I have no patterns for any of this but I am hoping that my explanations will make sense.  All stuffing on here is scrap batting.

The photo with the brown in the middle is my attempt at a burger. I cut out a circle to make the burger. I forgot when I cut the circle, I needed to leave a "tab" so that my burger is actually round after being sewn, and not flat on one edge. Oh well, live and learn!

The carrots were easy. I folded a piece of felt at a corner, cut it to length and sewed it up the side! For the top, I cut a piece of green felt. I took some DMC thread (3 of the 6 strands), made a running stitch around the top of the carrot. I attached the green at the same time.

For the  banana, I cut three pieces of yellow in the shape you see in the picture. I sewed them together at the sides but did not go up the whole way.  I stopped at the angle. It makes more sense when you see the finished one.  The banana inside is a very light beige. I cut it about the same length as the outside, and rounded the one edge. I then sewed it up the open side, leaving the bottom open.  I stuffed the white part of the banana and then put it into the middle of the yellow part. I lined up the bottom edges and did sort of a running/gathering stitch to catch all edges.

As you can see on the bottom photo, I did a few more things that what is show above.  You can see the finished carrots and banana.  I also did eggs (one in each plastic egg), bacon, two pop-tarts, the green is lettuce for the burger.  The tomato and cheese aren't finished yet. The goldfish will be getting a bag to go with them. I have some clear vinyl and I think I might sew a window in the bag and perhaps sew a fish on the outside. I want to make a few more things but for now, a certain little girl with get this as part of her Easter basket to keep at our house.

Toddler bed blanket

So my grand daughter who is two will tell you that she isn't a baby anymore. She is a big girl. Well the stinker fell out of her crib at home a few weeks ago, so mommy and daddy changed her crib to the toddler bed option. She is almost too big for my pack-n-play as she is getting so tall.  Well, a friend gave me a toddler bed along with with a crib and a sheet! So I surprised the munchkin with her new big girl bed at our house and told her she could pick out material for a new blanket. Below is her choices. Do they match? No but they are cute together.

Here I cut the material and batting to the same size. I used a yard and half of batting and I bought two yards of each material, which is flannel. She also 

picked a small pillow so I used the extra material to make two pillow cases.

Is my model just the cutest girl ya ever did see?!!

Prayers and medicine question

So recently I was told by my doctor  that he wants me to try the drug  Enbrel. I was told that it will help my psoriasis and my hands splitting! I wondered if anyone else has tried it?  

The side effects that are listed are scary but so are some of the ones for the meds I already take. I keep thinking that I shouldn't complain especially while watching some of my friends and them dealing with cancer! 

I have a friend who is in another state in the hospital there. She can't come home due to major health issues. She was supposed to have a double surgery but isn't strong enough! Even sitting in a chair  for a few hours, walking from  her bed to the door tires her out. Her family did drive to the other state and stayed for a week. She has been out there by herself for several weeks. My prayers are for her strength, faith and courage to stay strong. 

Another friend is fighting another type of cancer, and now has to have a biopsy on her breast.  This makes number five for her I believe!  My prayers are for her health, mind and faith to also stay strong.