Diagnosis

This morning I woke up and I swear my fingers felt like Tootsie Rolls.  It was weird because they were not swollen as you would expect.  They were more like swollen on the inside like what a sausage must feel like when it is being stuffed.  I take so many anti-inflammatory drugs that I don't really swell that much anymore.

I guess at this point it might be interesting to hear what is going on with me.  I have rheumatoid arthritis but it doesn't stop there.  I have what my doctors call "Adrienne's Disease" because I have so many different parts of different diseases that it is hard to pinpoint exactly what I have.  As well as rheumatoid arthritis, I have symptoms of lupus, chronic fatigue syndrome and Sjogren's syndrome.  I also have Raynaud's phenomenon, restless legs syndrome, pernicious anemia, and Crohns disease.  These are all autoimmune diseases.  Autoimmune diseases occur from an overactive immune response of the body against substances and tissues normally present in the body.  In other words my body is attacking itself.  There is a war happening in my body every day.

To stop the war (or at least slow it down), I take a bunch of medications called anti-inflammatory drugs.  It is a race to keep the disease at bay for as long as possible. 

But most days I don't look sick, even if I wake up and my fingers that feel like tootsie rolls and my feet feel like they are on fire, you would not be able to tell.  Some days I don't feel very well and don't have the energy to do more than what is absolutely necessary to get through the day.  Luckily those days do not occur very often.

My best drug is to find the humor in  all of this.  Laughter is the best medicine as they say.  Who wants fingers that look like Tootsie Rolls?  Fingers that taste like Tootsie Rolls?  Now you're talking.