Today is the first day of a brand new year. I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and from my family to yours we wish you all the best for the coming year.
The past year I have spent so much time worrying about what was wrong with me, when they would find a diagnosis,
having tests, seeing dr's, waiting for test results, seeing specialists
and before I knew it a year had past. I had my diagnosis' and guess what
I am still seeing dr's, still having tests and still waiting for
results! While these things are inevitable they do not have to be the
focus of my days. This year is going to be different.
One of my favourite quotes which you will probably remember from my last
blog is that worry is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to
do but it doesn't get you very far. So on that note: I don't want to think in terms of New Years Resolutions but with a brand new year comes brand new opportunities. We cannot do anything about what has happened in the past. We can look forward but again my crystal ball seems to not be functioning so I have decided this year I am going to focus on the present. I want to be present in my life, in my children's lives, in my husbands life and the rest of our family's lives. I don't want to think about the past and I don't want to worry about the future. I really just want to focus on each and every day as they come. We don't need to wait for a brand new year for a new start, we get a fresh start each and every day!
Outside of my family, I want to focus on greeting my health challenges with trying to find the positive in each and every day and not dwelling on the pain and how crappy I feel. I have accepted the reality that I will most likely continue to live my life in chronic pain each and every day. If I wait to live my life for a day where I feel well...a whole year will go by just like 2011 did and before you know it so will decades.
I also want to spend more time on my blog and turn this into a resource that I can use to help others. If I provide nothing more than people knowing they are not alone then spending my time on this blog will be something very worthwhile. I also want to spend more time writing, I want to write my novel this year. I may choose to keep it to myself or do something more with it, but this is something that I want to do for me. I have the start of many outlines and some with character development I just need to decide what resonates with me and go from there. In addition for the next 30 days I am going to try to write a blog a day. This should be an interesting challenge for myself and hopefully a lot of fun too!
Do you make New Year Resolutions? What plans do you have for the coming year? I would love to hear from you! Here is to making 2012 a wonderful year.
© 2011 Rhonda
Showing posts with label New Year. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Year. Show all posts
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Friday, December 30, 2011
Christmas & Health
The house is quiet for the first time in a very long time. My husband and children have headed north to spend the day tobogganing with my husbands oldest daughter, her hubby and of course our grandchildren. I am sorry to once again stay home but I just don't do long drives very well. Not to mention it is one day where they can escape my illness and not have to consider my ability into their planning. It is a day away from illness :) I wish I could take a day away from it but that is not very likely to happen. I suppose if I got on the right mixture of medications it is possible but that just feels like a dream at this point in time.
Christmas was WONDERFUL and I am so pleased to have little ones who make the season that much more special. They declared this the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER and do so every year! They were so appreciative of all of their gifts, our Christmas Eve family get togethers and Christmas Dinner with my parents, brother and nephew. Now the excitement is for New Years Eve. They want to have a party..lol What this means is my parents over for the evening to play cards with my hubby and I. If you have anyone over, and there is food and snacks it is a party...lol I wonder if I will last through the evening playing cards. I sure hope so. Mind you my mom is quite sick with a chest infection right now so not even sure they will make it. If not the four of us will bring in the new year playing games.
Santa once again provided our family with year round passes for the Toronto Zoo and The Ontario Science Centre. This two passes will be great with home schooling the kids. We get to have field trips too :)
My hubby scored big points by purchasing me a kobo vox which is a tablet / e-reader. This is solved my issues with not being able to hold my books or turn pages. I can read again and that is such a wonderful gift. My kids were so impressed with my e-reader they used their Christmas money and saved up allowance to purchase their own! I love that I have instilled the desire to read into my children. Reading is a truly wonderful gift. It can transport me into another world where I can be distracted from my pain even if only for a little while.
As for a health update - I have not been doing very well these past few weeks. I am so glad that all of my shopping was done early this year! My Rheumy is very concerned about my lungs and ordered a lung CT. The last one I had in May before my diagnosis noted nodules and a thickening of the plurel of my lung. Now that we know I have a severe form of RA it is assumed they are rheumatoid nodules on my lung. She believes I have what is called Rheumatoid Lung. If that is the case I won't be able to take biologics, methotrexate and a host of other RA meds. If I understand correctly I will be down to just pain meds and the RA will run rampant without any medication to slow it down. This is a very scary prospect as I wait for my results. I will see my Rheumy on the 20th for the results which feels like a very long time from now. I know it isn't but if my lungs are as bad as my rheumy suspects then I am in for a very painful future. That is overwhelming when I am having such a difficult time with taking RA meds. I will try not to wallow in what could be and stay focused on the here and now but I won't lie it is difficult.
I have been giving a lot of thought to 2012 and what I want to accomplish. On the bright side I have learned what is wrong with me and I am being treated by a wonderful Rheumatologist who will do her best by me. I may or may not be able to continue working in 2012. I will continue with homeschooling which is so very important to me and my children. I have always wanted to write a novel and now is as good a time as any to make that happen. I have decided that NaNoWrMo is too fast paced for the unpredictability of my illness. I signed up and failed miserably with another difficult month with my RA. So this time I have a plan: I will spend time in January writing my outline and on character development and I will take it from there. I am in no hurry and will take my time to make this happen. It has been a life long dream and it is time to make it a reality. My other goal for 2012 is to dedicate more time to this blog and hopefully adding something of substance back to the RA Community. I am going to aim for 30 blogs in 30 days and see how that goes. Perhaps I can bring the subscriptions to this blog up from the single digits..lol
What are you goals for 2012? Do you make resolutions? Are you able to stick to them? I would love to hear from you.
© 2011 Rhonda
Christmas was WONDERFUL and I am so pleased to have little ones who make the season that much more special. They declared this the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER and do so every year! They were so appreciative of all of their gifts, our Christmas Eve family get togethers and Christmas Dinner with my parents, brother and nephew. Now the excitement is for New Years Eve. They want to have a party..lol What this means is my parents over for the evening to play cards with my hubby and I. If you have anyone over, and there is food and snacks it is a party...lol I wonder if I will last through the evening playing cards. I sure hope so. Mind you my mom is quite sick with a chest infection right now so not even sure they will make it. If not the four of us will bring in the new year playing games.
Santa once again provided our family with year round passes for the Toronto Zoo and The Ontario Science Centre. This two passes will be great with home schooling the kids. We get to have field trips too :)
My hubby scored big points by purchasing me a kobo vox which is a tablet / e-reader. This is solved my issues with not being able to hold my books or turn pages. I can read again and that is such a wonderful gift. My kids were so impressed with my e-reader they used their Christmas money and saved up allowance to purchase their own! I love that I have instilled the desire to read into my children. Reading is a truly wonderful gift. It can transport me into another world where I can be distracted from my pain even if only for a little while.
As for a health update - I have not been doing very well these past few weeks. I am so glad that all of my shopping was done early this year! My Rheumy is very concerned about my lungs and ordered a lung CT. The last one I had in May before my diagnosis noted nodules and a thickening of the plurel of my lung. Now that we know I have a severe form of RA it is assumed they are rheumatoid nodules on my lung. She believes I have what is called Rheumatoid Lung. If that is the case I won't be able to take biologics, methotrexate and a host of other RA meds. If I understand correctly I will be down to just pain meds and the RA will run rampant without any medication to slow it down. This is a very scary prospect as I wait for my results. I will see my Rheumy on the 20th for the results which feels like a very long time from now. I know it isn't but if my lungs are as bad as my rheumy suspects then I am in for a very painful future. That is overwhelming when I am having such a difficult time with taking RA meds. I will try not to wallow in what could be and stay focused on the here and now but I won't lie it is difficult.
I have been giving a lot of thought to 2012 and what I want to accomplish. On the bright side I have learned what is wrong with me and I am being treated by a wonderful Rheumatologist who will do her best by me. I may or may not be able to continue working in 2012. I will continue with homeschooling which is so very important to me and my children. I have always wanted to write a novel and now is as good a time as any to make that happen. I have decided that NaNoWrMo is too fast paced for the unpredictability of my illness. I signed up and failed miserably with another difficult month with my RA. So this time I have a plan: I will spend time in January writing my outline and on character development and I will take it from there. I am in no hurry and will take my time to make this happen. It has been a life long dream and it is time to make it a reality. My other goal for 2012 is to dedicate more time to this blog and hopefully adding something of substance back to the RA Community. I am going to aim for 30 blogs in 30 days and see how that goes. Perhaps I can bring the subscriptions to this blog up from the single digits..lol
What are you goals for 2012? Do you make resolutions? Are you able to stick to them? I would love to hear from you.
© 2011 Rhonda
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