Things Done Today? FAIL.
Okay, I can't say I got NOTHING done today, because I actually did a huge load of dishes and picked up the kitchen a little bit -- and that really needed doing! Plus sister Sue took me shopping for a few things -- and to pick up food that we ended up having for dinner (and I also had for lunch). So while it's not much, it's better than not checking anything off that mental list.
(And I did also do some screencaps, which takes a bunch of time, believe me. So that was good, too...)
Going out right now is exhausting for me. I know that probably sounds crazy, but it's true! Right now I'm sitting typing this and just yawning and yawning while I do. So hard my eyes are watering like mad...
Our best guess for my fatigue is still the anemia (low iron). Marilyn and I used to assume it was my blood sugar being out of whack, but now that we know about my extreme anemia, it makes more sense. I've only been on the iron for a few days, so it probably hasn't changed much, yet.
By the way, I didn't reveal what's actually WRONG with me yesterday when I found out (!!!). The whole thing is very complicated, so bare with me... According to my Nurse Practitioner, I have Chondrocalcinosis.
Before we go further, originally she was thinking gout (which is a form of arthritis) -- but there was an outside chance it might be something else. She took two vials of blood to test for it and had the results yesterday. Remember that I mentioned I might have psoriatic arthritis (I was diagnosed years and years ago) -- but it's very hard to pin down. There's no test that can say for sure that you have this disease/condition. Plus gout and chondrocalcinosis both appear to require testing fluid from the joint to be 100% sure -- and this wasn't done. Anyway, just to be clear!
Calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate (CPPD) crystal deposition disease (also known as chondrocalcinosis) is a rheumatologic disorder with varied symptoms and signs arising from the accumulation of crystals of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate in the connective tissues. It's also sometimes known as pseudogout and pyrophosphate arthropathy. The alternative names emphasize particular aspects of the clinical or radiographic findings. Most commonly affected is the knee joint (which has been my problem).
While pseudogout is one of the ways to refer to this condition, I'm RELUCTANT to use it. I think that gives people the wrong idea, is if this is merely a 'pretend' (or fake) form of gout -- which isn't true at all. It's serious, it's painful and it's difficult to treat (maybe more difficult in some ways than gout). Oh! And it's possible Dad had this, rather than gout. The testing they used to do was quite different, so I suppose we'll never know for sure...
The good thing? Diet isn't nearly the factor that it is with gout, from what I've read. (Of course, even gout is probably not as impacted by the purine diet as people believe -- that seems to be very old-fashioned thinking...)
Not sure WHERE we go from here. Hopefully the steroids will get it under control and I'll be able to move on. Today was the LAST day of my Prednisone, thankfully. I'm still having pain, though it's nothing to a few days back (!!!), believe me. I'm trying to stick to half a pain pill at a shot -- and then only when things are really rough (I've had none today, so far -- but will probably have one before bed).
And that's ALL I can stand to share about my health, because it's boring me to pieces! Moving on, please...
Marilyn was late getting home, trying to get ready for the Fall Board Meeting (which is tomorrow night). She still needs to do the PowerPoint tomorrow...
As tomorrow will be a long work day, I think I'll head to bed now. I had a nap today, so it's silly to be this tired. But I am tired, so that's all there is to that!
More tomorrow, hopefully!