The Silver Lining

Someone once told me that you don't drive a car looking in the rear-view mirror, you've got to keep LOOKING FORWARD! I am most definitely looking forward to starting a new year -- this past one has been a long strange ride. Do you prepare New Year's Resolutions?  I remember doing them as a child, writing on blue-lined notebook paper things like "Be kind," or "Be nicer to my sister."  I suppose I managed to keep those as well as a child could.  Hmm.  I will have to ask my sister.... As I grew older, the resolutions became more specific, I guess you'd say... like "Lose weight" and "Get more exercise" and "Get control of spending."  I can tell you for sure, they lasted usually about two weeks before I'd give up on them. Since "Resolutions" seemed like an instant recipe for failure, I eventually decided to ditch making them. Then a few years ago, I re-invented the process for myself. I recently ha...

It's no secret that 2018 has been a really tough year for us.  I am totally ready to say "BYE FELICIA" to this year! (I so love Robin Roberts and her reaction to Omarosa!) As I look back over this year, however, I realize there have been quite a few things I have learned. Ultimately, the value I can pull from a rough and tumble year comes from these "life lessons." 1.  A simple DNA test to trace ancestry can present some unexpected surprises.  These surprises can often be quite shocking -- which was something my husband had to deal with this year.  Quite a shake-up to start the year, but we've moved forward. MG 2.  Don't blow off strange symptoms, even when you think they are minor. 3.  I increased my vocabulary.  I learned many new words like Myasthenia Gravis, Autoimmune, Chronic, plasmapheresis, infusion, seronegative. 4.  I learned several new abbreviations, such as: **MG -- Myasthenia Gravis **IVIG --  ...

I don't get really "preachy" on my blog; I have many friends and readers of different faiths.  I am a follower of Jesus Christ, I was brought up going to Sunday School and church.  I've had some "aha moments" that confirmed my beliefs for me, and I've had many MANY times when I leaned on the promises of the Scriptures.   There are several verses that have always stuck with me.  One of those is Hebrews 12:1, which says:   “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses , let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” The phrase "cloud of witnesses" sticks in my mind.  My interpretation of that "cloud" are the people that encourage us and lift us up throughout our lives. They set examples, show us the way that we ought to go.  That "cloud" has been with me my entire life, whether I realized it or not. M...

We had a really busy week last week.  I tried to schedule a few down days, to recoup my energy in between some events we had going on -- I'm learning to be aware of not over-scheduling things. Wednesday we had an appointment at Duke with Dr. Raja.  This is a LONG trip for us -- it is 4 hours' drive from our home to Durham.  Our appointment was late afternoon, so we packed up for staying overnight IF we decided to do that.  We stopped for lunch at Cracker Barrel, and arrived at the clinic just a few minutes early.  I was happy to be able to walk into the place on my own steam this time!  My first visit, 3 months ago, I was wheelchair bound and on oxygen 24/7. July, 2018 October, 2018 Dr. Raja was quite pleased with my progress; so were we!  I'm continuing on the same medicine regimen for the time being.  We will likely try reducing the prednisone again  in a few weeks.  She noted I had gained 5 pounds in three...