"Arthritis Quest"

No, we’re not dead, we’re still around. An update on my health. I haven’t had any more severe outbreaks of arthritis attacks, but it’s been bothering me in more insidious ways. For starters, I’m getting considerably more trouble breathing than I have been, though my weight and blood pressure and other vitals have essentially stayed the same or even improved. I’m not sure yet if it is connected or unrelated, but it tends to correlate with the overall lethargy that the arthritis causes. For some reason I’m also feeling pressure on my chest when I lie down on it for long periods of time, something that I never dealt with before. I’m not sure at all if that is related, but since this is a sort of catch-up update, that’s where I am right now.

The surgery went pretty well. My neck still feels like I got punched repeatedly, and I had to get morphine for the pain while I was in the hospital, but I didn’t feel drowsy the same way as I did last time after recovery.

I’m also back in Washington now, so the progress reports are going to be spread farther apart, but more complete.

More after the break.
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Tomorrow afternoon I have my surgery, so I may not be able to post tomorrow. On the weight loss front, however, since I’m not allowed to eat after 6am, and I’m going to be drugged all day, I should be good to go on that front.

More after the break.
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Doctors appointment went well, and with some minor little insurance issues, looks like we’ll be having surgery tomorrow afternoon.

Progress report after the break.

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We’ve got a new article on how to lower your blood pressure in just two weeks using the DASH plan. The plan is the result of extensive study by the National Institutes of Health on blood pressure and sodium’s effect on it.

You can find the guide here.

Tomorrow morning I have my pre-surgery consultation for a small procedure I’m having done on my spine to help mitigate the pain from some severe disc damage I have from a car wreck a few years ago. Supposedly I have gym plans with a friend afterwards, but if not it’ll be back to the studying grind, and I’ll just jog for a bit outside. I don’t plan on doing much more than cardio at the gym anyway.

More after the break.
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This is my first progress report posting. In the spirit of blogs like Get Fit Slowly, I’m going to post regular progress reports of my blood pressure, diet, and weight loss, in order to help motivate myself to eat healthier, lower my weight and blood pressure, and generally be more healthy.

More after the break.

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Arthritis Quest is a new blog, chronicling my quest to survive with inflammatory arthritis.

About me: I’m a 25 year old male in Washington DC, who was recently diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis. The doctors right now are not sure if it is rheumatoid arthritis, sarcoidosis, or some other deal. So, this blog will follow my journey through learning to live with whatever disease that I have.

After the shock of getting this diagnosis, I’ve decided to make some lifestyle changes. This blog will also follow my quest to drop my blood pressure, and lose weight. I didn’t want to call this blog weightloss quest, or blood pressure quest, so it will have to do as an ancillary to the living with my arthritis theme.

Tomorrow or Wednesday, I’ll write more about this Monday’s rheumatology meeting. But I have one more post to make before I do that.