Don't forget to VOTE!

If you haven't already done so, tomorrow is going to be a monumental day and I am so excited that it is happening in my lifetime. We are either going to have our first EVER African American or our first EVER woman President. Polls open early and in most States, will be open until 8:00pm. Most people have done the absentee ballot by mail and I thought about exercising my option to vote that way but my return to work has left me with very little time. I definitely can feel the fatigue from the lowering of my prednisone and I certainly miss my nap times. In between shifts, I find very little time for that and will have to make that a priority soon. Luckily for me, work has been non-stressful. Our flights are full but not to the point of overselling. Our premier members can't always get the seats they requested because of frequent plane changes and security checks. For the most part, work has been enjoyable. There is the constant gossip which I try to stay away from or just not repeat it to anyone other than Lynn. Airline gossip is appealing and amusing to her and is another form of riotous humor in my line of work. The attitudes that passengers have and what they think they can get away with is unbelievable. If you've ever watched the show "Airliners" and what the Southwest staff go through on a daily basis is true. If I could put pen a book on the daily idiosyncrasies that I experience, I would be a millionaire.

Finally

relief from mother nature's gusty winds and constant rains in San Francisco. I'm not complaining and i certainly express deep sympathy for my sisters in other parts of the country as well as the world with this incessant weather we've been experiencing. Most of what I do is hunker down, read books and make the best of the situation. My rheumatoid arthritis has not given me any problems since the start of my Humira injections. It has been one week since the lowering of my prednisone (5 MG) down to one and a half tablets daily, one folic acid (1 MG) and one multi-vitamin daily. My (10 MG) tablets of methotrexate is still taken every week on Wednesday, all of which I have faithfully taken and not missed for fear of my stiffening joints coming back to haunt me. The weather certainly doesn't play any part in it's affect on my joints as I so often hear from other sufferers. I sometimes feel a fullness in my hand joints when I curl my fingers and I look for tell tale signs of nodules and deformities as my fingers stand at attention under my inspection. I am afraid of the medications in my ample embodiment of woman and I disengage from the thoughts of what the future holds for me. Four months ago, I was a wretch from my tormenting pain and surprised by the suddenness of it all. A misery I would not wish upon anyone and executed a disguise of my endurance. This disease was altering me so aggressively, that I was not recognizable to myself anymore. Where was that sturdy, vigorous, take-charge woman that I knew? The agony was excruciating. The loneliness was more inviting, yet, lacerating and extracted me from the human race. My advantage was my family and friends who kept in touch with me often with their talk of others with my affliction. Lynn and her ever present spirit and communication, tho sometimes challenging, would be the hand on my heart to uphold and guide me through inharmonious moments in my life.

Humira

is the name of my next set of medicine that I will be taking. My RAtologist did not like where my marks were at this time and increased my prednisone to 2 tablets tonight and two tomorrow morning to kick start it and hopefully to me in better spirits and out of the pain that I am in right now. He explained that I will have to be checked with a TB shot before taking the Humira and gave me three choices on how to take it. The first being that I would have to come into the office and have the medicine administered by IV and one hour to sit in the office. The second would be to self inject myself with one shot every two months or third, coming into the office every week for a shot. I'm not too keen on self administering shots to myself and of course the IV sounded wonderful until he showed me the tampon looking tube of medicine that I would be taking. I wouldn't have to see the needle but I will feel a little sting. It looked very uncomplicated and easy but was not going to get that today. They have to check with my health plan to make sure that they can pay for most of it. After further researching, I found out that this particular medicine can cost upwards of $13-$15,000.00 dollars for a year! Holy Crap! I hope i don't have to pay for any of this.
It's time to refill all of my medicine and I'm so glad that it costs me a mere $5.00 per prescription to do that. Walgreen's gives you instructions along with your prescription and it also tells you how much you saved. I better keep working for as long as I can at least up until I'm 60 but I may have to settle for 55.

Choral concert season

is in full swing and I can attest to that by being invited to a women's group from Walnut Creek by Lynn and her daughter Camden. It was an interesting concert more so than the usual ones that I've been attending with Lynn. Her director is the same man, very cute in the gay boy circle and partnered with a jealous older man. Hmm, we'll see how long that relationship will last. Conductor boys are prissy little things that need constant attention and primping. They are the darlings of the choral world.
The melodious sound of the guitar player was so soothing that I fell asleep every time he played. The concert was wonderful with similar twists to that of Lynn's chorus group. The finale was "Silent night" and done in a circle around the crowded church pews. It wasn't as throaty or had that deep womanly sound like Lynn's group, now there is a women's chorus. All in all, a good concert. Afterwards, a reception was thrown in the back room with cookies, cakes, veggie plates and wine. I was looking for coffee to keep me awake on the ride back over the Bay Bridge but one small glass of wine will do. Someone recognized me from my old outrigger paddle days, it was an old friend I used to co-ed with. I hadn't seen Bobby in 15 years and he still looked the same, a little heavier and a lot less hair but still had a great sense of humor. He introduced me to his 2ND wife, Lauren, who was also part of the concert as a dancer with her troupe. We talked about old times, the people we knew and where they are, the amount of drinking we used to do and trouble we used to get in to. How during camp outs he would sing a song but could never remember the words to the ending. That was the good ol days. We exchanged phone numbers and will hopefully keep in touch with each other. That was the highlight of my day. I was a bit tired from the reduction of my medication and am feeling the effects of it. I'm now at half a tablet of prednisone every odd day until I see my RAtologist on Dec 12Th for my third phase of the medication bout. I keep thinking healing thoughts.