Long Time No Post!

Hey y'all!   I know it's been a very long time (almost a year) since my last post and I am terribly sorry.  While I've had things going on I guess I just haven't had very much to say.  I was just reading a friend's blog and she posted a link to the blog of a teenager with terminal cancer.  The blog is called Alice's Bucket List and she is very inspirational.

So what has been going on with me since the last time I posted?  Well, since the end of September, I have been dealing with a pressure sore that has been extremely hard to heal.  I had surgery on it in October and then again in January.  When I went into the hospital at the end of September it was incidentally discovered that I also had a bowel block.  Just an fyi, those are all kinds of not fun.  So my wonderful plastic surgeon (I'm not being sarcastic there, he really is wonderful and very accommodating to my needs) couldn't operate on the wound until the bowel block was cleared up.  That took, I believe, about 4 days.  I was really sick and the days just ran together  for a couple weeks there.  That's the funny thing about being in the hospital for an extended period of time, after awhile time just runs together and it seems like every day is exactly the same.  Nine Inch Nails have a song by the same name.  The first verse of the song sort of explains how I have felt at different times during this ongoing ordeal:

I believe I can see the future
Cause I repeat the same routine
I think I used to have a purpose
But then again
That might have been a dream
I think I used to have a voice
Now I never make a sound
I just do what I've been told
I really don't want them to come around

The only glaring difference between how I have felt and that verse is the part about having a purpose.  Throughout this whole thing, I haven't doubted whether I have a purpose, but I'm not exactly sure what that purpose is.  However, I am told that I am an inspiration to people, so maybe that is my purpose; to inspire others to live life despite their circumstances.  

Anyway, I ended up going to rehab for a few weeks on complete bed rest and antibiotics.  Came home in the beginning of November.  And let me tell you, when I came home, my cat was so glad to see me! lol  Sunshine has always been relatively anti-social, but after I came back home, she got out of that a little bit.  So, I was home for the holidays!  I was hoping that I would be able to attend my brother's wedding near the end of that month, but I wasn't allowed to be up in my chair long enough. :(  It worked out though, that I got to see TONS of pictures and some video of the wedding from my mom and dad.  Well, the wound opened back up in January and got infected.  I had to go back into the hospital and have another surgery to close it as well as one to remove part of my left hip.  It was causing me a lot of pain and a breeding ground for infection, so that was a good solution.  Turns out that it really was a good solution because a lot of my chronic back pain was taken care of!  No rehab this time, but I did come home on an IV for the infection.  At least I was at home though.  Being home always beats being at the hospital- no matter how wonderful the nurses are; and I had some seriously awesome nurses this time. 

Fast forward a month and, not only do I now pretty much have a cling on kitty (seriously, she gets very possessive of my attention), but the sore opened up AGAIN!  Not the whole thing, but enough of it to throw me into an anxiety attack.  So now, I am back to home health visiting me to do dressing changes every few days (how often they have to do the dressing changes depends on what kind of dressing is being done) and hoping it will close back up.  I want it to close up so I can have my life back.  Like...now. 

I went to see my rheumatologist today.  Did I tell y'all that I was officially diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis ?  He confirmed the diagnosis in March and also diagnosed me with Fibromyalgia.  Yeah, neither of those are very fun.  My supported living coach took me to the appointment and since it didn't even take an hour, we drove around a bit and even stopped at a couple stores to browse.  First we went to PetSmart because I wanted to price some cat condos for Sunshine.  I haven't decided whether I'll get her one or not, but I did like looking at the different ones.  We also looked at the Betta fish.  The turquoise one was my favorite!  And then one of the employees was taking one of the guinea pigs for a nail trim and I got to pet him for a couple minutes....SO cute!  The three cats in the back were my favorite though.  I love cats.  There was a calico (she looked very much like my dearly departed Maggie), a grey and white one, and an orange and white one.  All three let us pet them, but the calico was the most friendly; once you started petting her, she didn't want you to stop! lol  And then we stopped in at Belk's to browse before heading home.  It was a great day!  Though, when I got home, Sunshine was mad at me.  I think she was made about smelling the other cats on me!  

That's all for now.  Talk to y'all again soon! 

Erin