Spring/Summer 2012

At this time, my doctor was giving me glowing reports on my strength and the appearance, or lack thereof, of my rash. On paper, I was doing remarkably well! However, I was still taking off every Wednesday, and I was frustrated that I wasn't really feeling well enough to resume normal activities. My doctor reminded me that it took me awhile for me to get as sick as I was, and it was going to take just as long to rebuild my muscles. I was feeling that my case of dermatomyositis must not have been that bad, after all I could breathe and eat by myself - stories online had scared me into thinking that assistance in those categories was the norm. I asked the doctor how bad off I was. Apparently it was bad. He thought it was crazy that I never stopped working. He never told me to stop! He said he wouldn't tell someone to stop because then they might fear the worst about their situation. I could see his point. With hindsight being 20/20, I totally should have taken major time off! When I complained about being so tired still, he checked my blood work for some additional things (my blood is checked at every appointment) and he found out that my B12 was extremely low! This coincided with the end of the school year. After my first injection of B12, I felt better within the hour! It was amazing! I spent the summer up north and was able to swim almost everyday, although it wore me out pretty good - I found that I was rather cranky afterwards until I had sufficient time (about an hour) to recuperate. The combination of B12 and being on summer break worked wonders for me!