You’d think by now, I should know to keep my mouth shut

This morning, I posted a blog about my run yesterday and how my ankle held up. Pretty pleased with myself I was. All was fine and dandy.

At 4:00pm today I got home from grocery shopping. After putting all the groceries away, I sat on the couch and put my feet up. That’s when I noticed ‘that’ type of achey pain in the ankle. 

Let’s fast forward to now.

And a close up for good measure.

The photos were taken at 5:15pm. And yup, that’s some nice swelling I’ve got going on there on the left. I guess that run yesterday had more of a negative effect on my arthritis than I thought. I know it’s arthritis and not the trauma. I can feel it.

Bugger!

Week 19 - 'Ang on! That was days ago

It was only late last night I realised my week 19 date had come and gone and I had not blogged an update. What can I say? Time flies when you're taking a few days off the job.

I think it's probably fair to suggest that my Arthritis has stablised. <------ (update: 5:30pm - This was a stupid thing to say...... ) At least for me and what I can detect in myself, this feels a fair thing to say. Occasionally, my right ankle becomes a bit of a grump for a day, but this is honestly nothing when I compare it to how it was behaving before I commenced in the trial when there was only the occasional good day. Now, in terms of my overall symptomatic experiences, 95% of all days are good days.

Now, for an admission.

I failed to note in this diary in between now and my very first run attempt back in November, I had only once attempted another run just prior to Christmas. The reason I didn't mention it was because I failed to make a full kilometer before I decided to turn around and walk home quite pissed with things. I don't know really what happened to make it such a fail. I do k now it was cooler than I prefer, probably 18 degrees. And it was also very windy. The wind got in my ear, even with my music headphones in. Within a few minutes of getting started my ear was aching and the ache started to make it's way into my throat and my neck. It wasn't pleasant at all. The rest of me was wasn't performing either. I recall having to make an effort to will myself into giving it a go. In the past when I was running regularly, this generally worked in my favour and I'd normally end up pretty pleased with myself for pushing myself to go. On the odd occasion, the mind is stubborn and the body follows suit. So the combination of an impending throbbing headache and a petulant flesh caused me to admit defeat and try another day. But I was disappointed and to be honest, a little angry.

Since then there have been a variety of other factors made it difficult to summon the motivation I needed to try again. This include a couple of disappointments but also Christmas came along as did my Noosa/Sydney break. But yesterday that changed. The conditions were perfect. 21 degrees and not a whiff of wind on the horizon. I was in the mood to go. And in the afternoon, I did.

40 minutes and roughly 5.5km later I got home buzzing. Did my ankle hurt? A little while I was running. But the run was great. My body was willing and the spirits were high. I went further than I thought I would. I would have been content with less than 5km, because distance wasn't the priority. Getting my heart rate up and keeping it there for 45-50 minutes was the priority. I was only stopped by the horn of a car that was sailing past. It was my husband coming home from playing a round of golf Since we were only around a kilometer from home, I jumped in the car very satisfied with what I had done. At this point, there is no need to push things. The fact remains that yesterday I did close to 6km and accomplished 40 minutes of sustained exercise. And today, aside from a little muscle soreness in the legs, I feel perfectly fine. <------ (update: 5:30pm - Hindsight is a beautiful thing. Spoke too soon ...... )

That in itself is something to smile about. A reminder to forget about the last attempt. A reminder that I really do enjoy running.

Week 18 from Baseline

In the last week, my back has been extremely grumpy which I assume is due to lack of attention by my Chiropractor. But since my visit on Monday, I have had no further troubles.
I’ve also been prone to a few more headaches of which I am putting down to an overabundance of stress. It’s true that there are parts of my life that are a little stressful right now. And sometimes, in the weak and sooky moments, it does gets the better of you.

But in terms of my arthritis, I’m fairly pleased with how the last week has gone. I did experience a bit of pain in the ankle briefly last week. It felt painful, but really, it felt more tired than in pain. I wasn’t wearing any heels when it started and it was a day in which my physical activity was limited. It might very well be the makings of a flare up, but if that’s true, it was definitely subdued by either the Adalimumab or the Salazopyrin.

I have to confess, the pain in my back, my head and to a lesser extent, my ankle has once again combined to make Nurofin Plus my best friend in the world. And that’s never a good thing. I did attempt to dull my aches with some Paracetamol, but as usual, it works as effectively as hitting the sore bits with a hammer. It doesn't only fail in its job to relieve the pain, it fails to stop it from getting worse.

Week 17 - Time out for Queensland

I simply wish to say:

- To all the people currently cleaning up from the QLD flood disaster. I wish you well. Stay strong.
- To those who are still waiting for the floods to come, good luck and stay safe.
- To those who have lost loved ones, I am so sorry.


Donate to the Premier’s Disaster relief appeal online or by phone on 1800 219 028.

You can also donate via Internet Banking

Account Name: Premiers Disaster Relief Appeal
BSB: 064 013
Account number: 1000 6800
SWIFT code (for international donations): CTBAAU2S

And don't forget the a little bit for the animals. Donate to RSPCA QLD Flood Appeal here

PS. I have had no arthritic problems and no pain this week. So there you go. This matters not today.

Week 16 from Baseline

I have always set up my visit to K at 8:00am in order to get to work at a somewhat respectable time. Given today is the last day of my annual leave, and I am most certainly not at work, you’d think I’d have been smart enough to change this weeks’ appointment time and allow myself a final day sleep in. Since I didn’t, I might have possibly been seen driving to K cursing my stupidity and lack of forward thinking on the issue.

Its obvious most of Melbourne is still on holiday. I zoomed over the Westgate Bridge and arrived at my appointment at 7:30am. At other times when I leave at 7am, I usually get there right on 8am. And being early had another benefit. I got out of the clinic earlier than usual and zoomed home again.

What also worked about getting seen early lies in the law of unintended consequences. My CO obviously needs her morning coffee before stabbing any arms with needles. I expect a mighty bruise later on my right arm later and the stab was definitely not ‘just a little sting’. I left the clinic with Cotton balls taped to both arms. If I turn up that early again, I will take in a coffee for her.

My blood tests from last visit were all normal. In terms of my joints, I have swelling in my right ankle which is a first as far as I can recall. Without a joint assessment, I would never have known. It’s certainly not noticeable in any way.

Took my dose, packed a traveller and I was off again to start my day.

Zoom Zoom!

We're all going on a summer holiday.....

Oh, would you look at that. I missed the Week 15 update while I was holidaying up north and north-ish.

I have a visit to K booked for Wednesday. Since I expect to leave with some progress data, I will leave the week 16 update until then.

In the meantime, please enjoy this short video from my summer holiday.