Time to be thankful

This week has been pretty nice. I really can not complain. I have been reading other blogs about life with RA and feel pretty fortunate. My life of chaos and extreme discomfort is slowing moving to a more normal functional realm. After a long year, some much needed time off from life, drastic changes in my medical care, and a lot of faith, I am finally feeling better. I feel like I am normal. Or as normal as any of us really are. I can do the everyday mundane things and the not so mundane things.

I think the hardest part of this disease is that it blindly strikes, hard, quick, out of nowhere; with periods of peace which trick you. They trick you into forgetting what the disease is like, the constant pain, the inability to do simple tasks. The way in which your body can go from normal to completely broken in 0 to 60 in a blink of an eye... And for me it was only 2 short months ago, where I was struggling with just about everything. Trying to cope with it all. Trying hard not to depend on others too much. Never wanting to be a burden and always wanting...

It is good to remember what it was like. It is good to know that all the changes and hard decisions made over the last few months were worth it. That my body has responded amazingly well. And that is definitely something to celebrate and be thankful for!

And this is not only noticed by me, by how I feel each day and perceive myself. But by others. YAY! This weekend a friend told me how it was nice to see me so much more animated. It is not the first time that I had heard that, but each time I hear a comment like that, it makes me stop and think about the toll this disease takes on a person as a whole and how much I have to be grateful for. I definitely enjoy being more active and positive. It just feels good!

The highlights of the week

• wonderful comments from friends about positive attitude ~ which is great since I feel I can be quite a downer and have tend to view the glass as half empty
  
• increase in energy
  
• making time to workout ~ walking at work 3.5 miles 3 times this week and dance class (but I still gained weight)
• pills decreasing in number ~ I am down to 20 mg prednisone a day!!! WoOT!!!
• seeing the squash and tomatoes on the plants grow + building the trellis for the peas with the bf
• making time for and having a great date night
• success at work ~ smoothly accomplishing something (that had to do with a someone) that I was dreading... but hey, it was smooth as butter
• and possibilities at work ... keeping fingers (and toes) crossed on this

My life seems to have a balance or as close to one, that I have not seen in years. The body works. I feel good. I have more energy than I have in a long while. Right now the key to keeping things running smoothly seems to be structure - planned diets, sleep schedule, medication schedule, lists for just about everything under the sun... I am a little tired of the schedule and plans. But when I do not get enough sleep or eat the wrong thing, I start to feel bad again.

I guess it is all about balance.

I do miss some of the chaos. May have to run amok a bit.