I think my Behcet's is under control, to the extent of fewer lesions, smaller lesions, faster healing lesions. Now that is great news! However, I am concerned that my arthritis (which is probably related to the Behcet's) is getting worse. I am having a hard time typing and an easier time of whining. My left hand hurts so badly! It reminds me of the early days before I had the arthritis diagnosis, 9 1/2 years ago. Now of course, I know that it is probably part of the Behcet's not a separate type of rheumatoid arthritis. I cannot make a fist nor pick up small objects with my left hand. As I said in a previous post, I am grateful it is not my right hand, so I can keep knitting. I actually took up knitting to keep my hands working. One doctor likened arthritis to a rusty door in the rain: If you don't keep using it, it will rust shut, and it is almost impossible to get it working again.
Alrighty then...I will keep trying to use it and keep on knitting. I have too many things I want to make for gifts. Ha. Last year, a lot of people got hats and scarves. I still grin when I see a homeless person wearing a homemade hat or scarf. That might be one someone made just for them. (Since my family might be a little sick of another hat or scarf, I like to make them for people who may be exposed to cold weather. I cringe to see a person freezing in the rain and cold with no coat or other winter gear.) One year, my knitting friends made over 300 pieces of winter gear to donate. Last year a bunch went to a poor village in Honduras. It's pretty cool to see pictures of children or adults wearing something you or someone made by hand. It lifts your spirits and gives you a reason to keep on knitting/crocheting. It takes you outside of your little "poor me" box and makes you realize you can be something to someone who has so little. I think we take for granted all that we have at our disposal.
Ask yourself: What one thing could I do to make someone else's life brighter?
A food donation? A trip to the dollar store for hats/scarves to donate? A kind word? A smile?
Do one thing this week to make a difference.
On this blog it tells me different stats. How many hits I have had, what places they are from. I was stunned to see that I have had hits from all over the world! Singapore, Germany, Australia, Hungary, Canada, eastern Europe and other regions nearby. Go world!
I love the internet...it makes a very big world into a very small one. Greetings from the United States and welcome to my blog! I have added a language translator just in case you need it. This is not a political blog. This is just my own take on illness and disease and the medical profession that (sometimes) falls flat on its face. All the comments are my personal take on those things. If you or someone you know has been touched by illness, you know how hard it can be to communicate that to people without sounding like a total and complete whiner. I try to find the good even in the bad days. I like to laugh because frankly, if I didn't laugh, I would be crying my eyes out most of the time.
So give yourself a big hug, try and find the joy, and just keep going, one foot in front of the other.*
*This is a favorite quote from my friend to his beloved wife before he passed away last week due to pancreatic cancer, when she felt like she couldn't go on anymore.
As usual, your last post made me grateful for a dear friend like you who can always find the good and positive in the worst situations... like knitting for others when you have so much pain to deal with. Thanks for the great lessons you teach me, and teach others! Love, grannie
ReplyDelete