Gaining with Pain in the Garden...

Hi, it's Brenda here, with another planted blog post. I realize that last month went by without my planting one. I celebrated another year of life with my 16th Craniversary on September 8th. I referred to it as my "Sweet 16" It was also 8 years since the first book I coauthored, Grief Diaries; Living with a Brain Injury was published. I referred to that as my "Infinity" I'm all about marking special occasions. Dates mean even more now, than before this experience of having gone through a craniotomy. 

Today, marks another significant milestone in my life. It's 7 years since the 2nd book I coauthored, Real Life Diaries; Living with Rheumatic Diseases was published. It also happens to be World Arthritis Day, which always falls on October 12th, so it's easy to remember. I'm referring to this as my "Rainbow Book Anniversary" So many others from the CreakyJoints community were involved in this great book project. 

If you would feel so inclined to purchase the book, it's available at Amazon. It's also available on Kindle. Here is the link to my author page. https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B01LZ5NCRP

I recently had to say goodbye to my rheumatologist that I've had for over 4 years. It was bittersweet, but I had no choice. He did tell me that I remain in clinical remission with the RA on my biologic. The clinic where I'm employed has recently acquired a provider in rheumatology, so in order for my insurance to cover those visits, I have to stay in network. I actually had my first visit with her on Monday and I have to say that it went very well. It's nice be able to have my charts linked, so she can refer to his notes from the past as well. The first thing she said to me was; "You have had rheumatoid arthritis for many many many years."  33 to be exact. Now, I'm finally getting to my reasoning of the title for this planted blog post. 

We talked about pain and how we all in some way are dealing with something. I decided a long time ago, that RA was never going to beat me. I decided to have it become and you might find this strange, a friend. I decided to find out as much as I could about living with RA. We even talked about CreakyJoints during my visit. She actually had heard of it, so that was my open door, to share some of my experiences with advocacy. She told me I shared things with her, that she didn't know. I like to think being a veteran living with this disease, that I have become quite knowledgeable over these past 33 years. 

I look forward to being on this journey with yet another ally who gets what it's like living with this disease. She listened to my concerns and before my next visit, I'm going to get a whole set of labs done. I see her in 3 months. If she feels I'm doing all right, we will stretch that out to 6, as that is what I was doing with my last rheumatologist. This is #5 for me, but this is going to definitely be an easier transition. She even told me that if I need to see her, to feel free to contact her. 

HAPPY WORLD ARTHRITIS DAY! 

Keep Blooming!

💙💜 Brenda