Cal, oh wow - what a fabulous thing to do for those two cats. Thatās so gorgeous. What are their disabilities? Animals are so much better than us on managing their disabilities too. My friend had a cat that lost his front leg in a road traffic accident around aged 2. He lived happily till he was 17, even catching his last mouse around 2 months before he sadly had to be put to sleep. I have two cats, brothers too aged just 16 and doing incredibly well presently. Sleep alot, eat alot, cuddle alot and generally make me smile. And their antics even at this age and the fact that stroking them is so rewarding - they most definitely decrease my stress levels.
Last May - 15th we got an 8 week old black labrador puppy. Last May also I finally accepted I had PsA too. Last May too I was in severe pain, frightened, exhausted, disabled and terrified this would be my future. I cried trying to clean up after this gorgeous puppy, cried trying to walk him around the garden to get him toilet trained at least 20 times a day. I cried staying up late and getting up early (sometimes so almost impossible) and thought we had been utterly insane to get a puppy.
Well we werenāt. I tried mx then spent 24 hours throwing up possibly due to side effects and/or possibly through stupid hysteria, sadly threw a tantrum and then just managed on low dose steroids tablets and painkillers. I have a severe phobia of vomiting too. The last time I threw up before last May was July 1995! Went to Dublin once a month for a homeopathic treatment from about July, which worked painwise at any rate probably for about 3 or 4 months intermittently. When it worked it really did work too. Realised over Christmas that first I should get re-evaluated and secondly I had to maintain a better expectation of capability than I was doing. And my Irish treatment was never going to stop any progression of this disease anyhow so it wasnāt sensible to just rely on that. Asked my GP to send me to Bath (centre of excellence in my view in the UK for PsA) Iām in Kent with a perfectly able rheumatology dept but not one that gets that excited about PsA. Bath does. So I went to Bath and am now told 3 joints are now eroding ever so slightly, my hip and two toes. So this time Iām welcoming starting the treatment circus.
My understanding like Stoneyās is that folic acid should be prescribed with mxt. In Kent I was told to take it the day after only. Bath tells me Iāll be taking it 6 days a week only missing the day Iāll be injecting mxt. When I was prescribed mxt in Kent last May, steroid tablets were also prescribed with the idea of sliding those down as the mxt was increased. (Thatās the reason I got my GP to re-prescibe them again now.) Personally I prefer Bathās approach as I believe the more folic acid taken the less side effects of mxt suffered. However Iāve asked my doctor in Bath to explain to me precisely what she is going to be looking for to tell her mxt is doing its job for me and in what time scale. I will be expecting her to say my erosions arenāt progressing and I expect to be feeling far more consistently able and off steroids tablets too. Weāll see. But you and I are at the beginning of this treatment maze, so thereās a huge number of drugs and combinations of them for us to try. So really weāre lucky arenāt we? And yes everyone says drink tons of water whilst on mxt too.
The NHS in the UK is fabulous in my view. It has to treat me as a resident and tax payer here. Iām not a UK citizen but an Irish one and very proud to be Irish too. But Iāve lived and worked here since 1989. However the NHS is also plagued by lots of issues understandably and it has struggles but I consider myself hugely fortunate to be able to avail of it. Private medical insurance in the UK doesnāt provide cover for chronic conditions so whilst I have that through my employment, it will do diddly squat in covering anything to do with PsA other than say if I needed a joint replacement - I could do that privately which would be quicker and more comfortable than waiting on a NHS waiting list.
Now to doctors. Doctors are by definition intelligent in order to be able to do all that study. Rheumatologists and any other consultants are also intelligent given theyāve gone on and specialised. Their job is know their specialism and to treat patients suffering from their subject of excellence. The sole purpose of their chosen job is to help the relevant patients. If they canāt do that properly well then theyāre no good at their job, irrespective as to how intelligent they might be. Theyāre not a superior being to me though and neither am I superior being to them. So Iām afraid they get short shrift from me if they pull any superior nonsense, or believe theyāre some sort of God or think itās at all appropriate to belittle me (especially if Iām then presently scared witless). I donāt particular care if they donāt like me asking questions or even second guessing them. Theyāre grown ups just like me and so should be able to deal with my questions, my quest for understanding and indeed me being frightened and exhausted too. I am always super polite to all of them but Iām phenomenally persistent.
I know though Iām lucky as Iām a lawyer so I can march in or rather limp into a consultation and present myself (if needs be only) as an equal strata professional. That cuts the superior nonsense very quickly. Doctors are scared of lawyers with due reason too. Iām also lucky that Iāve worked with doctors for much of my professional life as I used to instruct them as medico-legal experts for trials. So I know them and the tricks they pull if theyāre feeling out of their depth and lacking in confidence. So just as a client instructed me to take on their case and they expected me to the best job possibly for them, I expect any doctor who has to see me to do likewise. I donāt need to be their friend and I donāt need them to like me but I do need them to do their job for me. If they do we get along fine, if they donāt I complain and pull them up. All professionals have complaint procedures and Iām never scared of using them if itās rational to do so. My present job is to decide complaints from consumers about the providers of financial products and services like banks, insurance companies etc. I make binding decision on these instutitions to ensure if the consumerās complaint is valid that theyāre put back into the position they should have been in. So obviously Iām not at all scared about making a complaint if needs be.
And guess what - neither should you be, if something isnāt right or you donāt uderstand or you feel your concerns arenāt being listened to. Provided youāre motivated to get yourself in the best possible position treatment wise so as to be the most capaciated you can be, neither should you ever be frightened or scared to ask a doctor to do his or her job properly for you.
I donāt advocate wasting your time and everyone elseās at simply complaining at everything and anything - thatās just silly but certainly if something isnāt right it needs to be sorted out. I hope this has helped.
But now back to why we werenāt mad to get the puppy. Far more important. He took shedloads of work at training, masses of patience. Has ruined carpets in two rooms, took a liking for eating coal of all things and I kept forgetting to lift the coal bucket or sometimes found it too hard to! But I can quite categorically say heās an absolute joy to have about. The cats are rejuvenated by him since they consider they have a 27/7 job to do now, which is both torment him and keep him in check. He got me out walking when I truly thought I couldnāt do so and the exercise helped me actually even if the walks were often shorter than either he or I would have liked. I found a lead that simply doesnāt let him pull too - essential. And every single minute of every single day he has the ability to make me smile, laugh or groan but with a smile on my face. I am utterly besotted with him and he with us. The very best thing Iāve ever done this past year. Freddie arrived on 15 May last year so Iām super excited for you that your furballs are arriving on 13 May this year. It seems like thatās a great weekend in the year for welcoming animals into your home. Especially if youāre facing all youāre presently facing PsA wise too. Fabulous distraction from the understandable fear issues youāre dealing with.
If Freddie continues to calm down as he is now, my intention is make him into a pet therapy dog if possible so we can visit old peopleās homes and hospices etc to spread some smiles and bring some comfort. For me there is nothing so lovely than pet animal being nice to me, or even a farm animal or a wild animal. God knows why I chose to become a lawyer, should have just worked with animals! And what do animals do? They just live in the today right now! We can learn so much from just that.
So on that note, Iām off to argue with my vacuum cleaner and see if I can remove at least some black dog hair from floors and sofas. Have a good rest of your day.
It felt as though I had had a strong sleeping pill the night before. I felt very fatigued, and just wanted to laze around home.
Keep us posted on your continued success with that, alsoā¦and, I would add, I think sugar can increase inflammation, but thatās a tough one to give up, too!
So presently Iām in a āhoneymoonā period of āgreatā capacity. Which is so fabulous. I know it canāt last. They leach your calcium from your bones for one. so never a long term solution. But Iām happy enough to stay on them till the NHS allows my consultant to āgetā to me in the queue to then prescribe my mxt. In otherwords Iāve told them that so itās up to them to hurry themselves up presently. As in that buck has firmly been placed back in their hands. For now.
