Complimentary Medicine

It's been more than a year now since PSA hit - autoimmune, inflammatory condition. I am still on a DMARD  - Sulphasalazine-  but nothing else except herbal and complimentary medicine. I also engage in yoga. acupuncture, diet modifications, osteopaths, etc. The good news is my mobility is coming back (primarily in my legs/knees and one shoulder) and the pain is subsiding. Sleep and stress reduction seem to also make a difference so I try to get lots of sleep and reduce stress (always a challenge) . Walking is still slow, but I biked about 15 km the other day. I am hopeful but it is hard work. Tonight I start a mindfulness-based stress reduction course. I am doing exercises from physio daily. I am taking nothing for granted - including the fact that I have health benefits and an income that allows me to try different remedies. The learning curve is huge and encompasses a lot of time and energy. I fully believe that the path is somewhat individual but that by supporting each others' efforts and demonstrating compassion we can make a difference. I am very grateful to the friends that have given me constant support.

New Year ... more hopes

I'm glad 2013 is over. I'm hoping that 13 is really an unlucky number and now it's over! Several people, mainly of Indigenous ancestry think that I had bad medicine put upon me. In any case, my condition continues to improve (go into remission). I was able to travel again in November - this time to Chile for research and then a short trip to Buenos Aires and Uruguay (the latter is definitely a place I'd like to visit again in the near future). I was able to walk up to 10 blocks as long as I don't rush and rest when necessary and cycle for much longer. Here is a photo from Montevideo- reading a paper in the same restaurant where Eduardo Galeano does much of his writing.

Of course little setbacks remind me of the disease and how it still controls my body. I worry about going back to teaching (something that has put me into a wheelchair on two occasions). I also have my first cold in over a year and wonder how this will affect me - so far it's my stomach that seems upset but because of the autoimmune nature of this disease I have to constantly be wary. Overall however I am optimistic that I will gain more mobility and slowly make a physical recovery that permits long walks and avid cycling - something I long for in many ways.