School year 2013-2014

After a great summer of swimming laps almost daily, my dermatomyositis is still in remission, and I am continuing to do well. Once school started, exercising regularly went by the wayside, as usual, and I found that I was losing track of the weeks between B12 injections until I felt tingling in my hands and feet! I really need to stay on top of that. My big accomplishments - I went water skiing this summer for the first time since dermatomyositis! I tried to knee board, but I just didn't have the upper body strength back for that. This past weekend I went snow skiing for a whole day! Also a huge accomplishment! I didn't fall a single time, and I kept up with my skiing buddies. By lunch time, I felt like my right leg was dragging along a bit, and after breaking for lunch, I felt as though I definitely favored that leg, but I made it! I took two days to recover so I could return to work today and not be too tired. On the down side, I have received a lovely reminder of what being on a high dose of methatrexate can do. With my weakened immune system, it was confirmed today that I have a case of shingles! I am like an old person (no offense to older persons). I was told that this can be a recurring thing, and that the medication may or may not help. Given that my body responds well to medicine, let's hope it does help. I am thankful the shingles are on my stomach and not my face, although my hopes for a bikini modelling career may be over... In 6 months, my doctor may consider giving me the vaccine they advertise on TV. You know, the one for people over 60? I try not to think about what can happen on "meth", but as my husband said, this makes you think, "What's gonna happen next?" Clearly, we will just have to focus on my future Olympic skiing career...