As of February 2nd....

As of February 2nd we have crossed 80.80 miles together. That's wonderful. I am keeping track of my miles separately and when I get under the 1000 miles to go, I'll let you know.
I received an email from my friend Chris that her family was going to join us in the miles and a few others have mentioned that they will send their miles to me on a monthly basis.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU....
Aside from motivating me to be active, this journey has inspired me to actually attend the conference in Denver. I had been asked earlier if I planned to go and I said I really didn't think so. You see, I am afraid to see the different levels that this disease effects people. That being said, each mile that we get closer to Denver, I realize this is a group of people that I can support and receive support from.

On Thursday afternoon I received a call from Dr. Cohen with the results from my lab work. My thyroid numbers are up and my inflammation numbers are up. We discussed a possible change from Imuran to Cellcept. The following day she called me and said she had thought it over and she doesn't believe the timing is right and she recommended we hold off on this change. Our first goal has got to be to get off of prednisone or at least to a minimal dose (something under 10 mg would be my hope) However, on Saturday when Bill went to pick up our prescriptions he came home with a very large bottle of Cellcept. I left a message for her and will let you know if and when this change will take place and what can be expected from it.
Sunday was really hard. The muscles in my arms are very achey and my skin hurts. I have been reading the Deanna Favre book and I may have found a connection. In the book she describes the side effects of a "chemotherapy cocktail". Although I take different kinds of chemotherapy drugs some of the symptoms I thought were related to my disease could possibly be the results of the drugs I take. I now have a new way to possibly analyze the statistics I keep on my "How I feel" spreadsheet. I already know that my low number day is almost always Sunday or Monday and my highest number day is almost always Thursday or Friday. Once I get the bugs worked out I think I might share the spreadsheet with other members of the Myositis Association. It's been helpful to me to put a "value" to how I feel.

Thanks for checking in.
Here's my quote for today:

"About all you can do in life is be who you are." -- Rita Mae Brown

klb