Bob, my doctor's name is Miriam Cohen and she is at the Rheumatic Disease Center in Glendale, WI (414-351-4009).
I don't want to put my personal contact information out here, but you can reach me by phone at PyraMax Bank in Greenfield. Also, please visit the myositis website for more information.
Last week when I had my last meeting wth Rachel, I told her that I had been thinking about changing the direction of my blog entries and I wasn't certain that people would be as interested in the everyday coping with a disease as they were with the ups and downs.
What else is there to share?
She reminded me that my blog really doesn't have to change...it is, and can remain about a woman, a wife...a mom...a daughter...a sister...a friend....
coping with day to day stuff that has to do with living with a disease but chosing to make the very best of it.
So here it goes...my last visit with Rachel was bitter sweet. I have come to rely on her as a confidante, a sounding board, a coach, a motivator and so much more. Really amazing considering we have never met face to face. The call ended with Rachel asking me how I had changed since we first started meeting. A few things I thought of...
- I am eating more spinach in any given month since we started than in all the years of my life combined
- I no longer consume nutrisweet or other artifical sweetners
- I realized I have a strong sugar (dessert) addiction and it has very little to do with trying to give myself a boost of energy when I am tired and everything to do with how sugar effects me mentally and physically
- I drink a lot more water. Real water, true H2O, not sparkling, mineral or tonic.
- I have a better plan for a healthy dinner for me and my family is reaping the benefits as well
- I haven't eaten a frozen entree since July even if it is the easiest and quickest solution
Now, these are all very big accomplishments for me and I was feeling really good and then Rachel said to me...."let me tell you what you wrote before our first meeting..." Now this is not word for word, but what I remember from what she read me
I said that the very biggest priority for me was to get my disease into remission/resting.
- I am no longer taking prednisone to control my disease, rather I am taking a lesser steroid called hydrocortisone and it's purpose is to help my adrenal glands cope with the change.
This next thing blew me away....I wrote that I hated myself. I hated my disease. I hated that when I had good days, enjoying activities with my children, family or friends that I was punished with more days of feeling bad.
- This nearly brought me to tears. I don't like the word "hate". I don't allow my children to use the word "hate", I don't use the word "hate" yet I repeated it multiple times in statement I provided just six months ago. Guess what...I can honestly say, six months later that I don't know who that woman was that said she "hated" herself. I don't.
Was the program a success? Yes.
Did I get everything out of it I had hope for? No.
I got different things, things I couldn't have imagined and didn't know to wish for.
