busy times at JOINTogether...

two important tidbits of info today:

1. the bryan/college station arthritis walk is just a few days away!  as of this moment, our team has 12 people signed up and have raised $250!  incredible!  i may be biased, but i think we have the best friends and family in the world, bar none.  (also, we got our JOINTogether t-shirts today!)
   
   
2. we have been asked to be featured Health Bloggers on a new healthcare website, wellsphere.  we are honored and excited at this opportunity and hope that this will help us reach a broader audience as we strive to raise awareness about RA and arthritis in general.  if this doesn't work, we'll just hire a college kid to stand on the corner and wear a full-body sign.  

hope to see many of you at the walk on saturday!  if we haven't formally met, please feel free to come up and say howdy (we'll be in college station, after all).  

So, for the post that I intended to write last week...

My infusion went great last Monday!! The time before that as you know was a train wreck, but this time all was smooth again. They had a new infusion nurse, who at first I was a little skeptical of that ended up doing a fine job and only stabbed me once. I also had an appointment with the rheumatologist this time. Normally she will come check on me while getting the infusion as a part of the study, but this was a normal office visit with all the x-rays and everything. I was under the impression that the office visit was going to be first in an effort to safe time, but they did it the other way around...go figure. Even so, we did make it out of there at 1:00pm and considering previous visits that have taken up to seven hours, only four and a half is not too bad.

The results of the visit were that the rheumatologist and myself agreed that the medication is working which is tremendous! She was very impressed and stated that my body has come a long way even in a few months and that she was worried about me before. She stated that she will continue to check on me during the infusions as a part of the study, but that I do not have to have a normal, x-ray, lab work visit for another year!! Thank God, because even with insurance, it can be pricey. Great news huh? I was excited!

So with that, I have been doing much better!! So much better actually! Granted, I want to be clear that I still have pain, morning stiffness, and it sucks, but not quite like it was even three months ago, and for that I am thrilled!! Yay for feeling better!!!

IKE

We survived Ike!! Really, Brenham didn't have too much of the storm at all. Of course it rained and our power went out for about four hours, but overall we faired quite well. We did harbor some evacuees...haha, jk...really my Mom and stepdad along with their cute kitty have been staying at our house since Thursday. It is pretty nice, because my Mom keeps cooking, which is exciting!! Yesterday Andy and I came home from work at lunch, and lunch was ready and waiting!!! Thankfully they were able to check out their boat in Kemah on Sunday and their marina is really the only thing that did not have serious damage. Actually their boat did not have any damage at all, and only had about three blades of grass on it! The only other thing about the storm was that Andy and I had to work all weekend due to evacuees who relocated to our facility. We ended up working about three 12 hour shifts throughout the weekend, including from 7pm to 7am...let me just tell you, that sucked!!! Thankfully nothing major happened and we just got to chill out, but of course there was no computer access, so we were bored to death. Other than that, our first official hurricane ended up being okay.

In terms of health and pain, I too faired better than expected. I have been feeling pretty yucky since about last Thursday but through the actual storm when I am usually curled up in bed crying, I was not! It was great to go through a storm and not feel as though death is around the corner! You may think I am exaggerating, but I am not! Anyway, it was a great feeling for me. Throughout the entire month I have been frequently surprised at my ability to do more things and endure more and more. The medication is working wonders and I am thrilled. Looking back at just three months ago, I see major changes. I am not cured, at least not yet, and do continue to have severe pain, but it is at a much different level than previous! Thank you GOD!!!!

Arthritis Walk!!!!

Okay, so the time has come to get all you fine folks, friends and family alike, to step up and participate in whatever way possible at the Arthritis Walk taking place in College Station on October 4th! So far our team consists of myself, Andy, Laura, and Diana. Now this is a great start, but we need more!

We are hoping to have a huge group representing JOINTogether at the walk and raise quite a bit for the Arthritis Foundation. If you are in the College Station area, or frankly in Texas, please come walk with us...it would mean the world to me. Andy is creating some awesome Rheumatoid Arthritis T-shirts for the walk available on our on-line store. If you are unable to attend the walk, but you would like to contribute to the Arthritis Foundation, please feel free, and know that it is greatly appreciated.

Thank you all so much for the amazing encouragement, support, and love that you have given to me through this journey, I could not have made it this far without your help! If you would like more information on our journey with Rheumatoid Arthritis please check out our blog at jointogether4ra.blogspot.com

Thank you greatly,
Gabriele and Andy Moore

Thankful for my RA friends!

Just wanted to say thanks to my new blogging friends (links are on the right) for all of the support, encouragement, and for sharing your stories to help inspire me. You are truly a blessing, and you may even be thousands of miles away and we have never met face to face, but it means the world. I look forward each day to logging on and seeing what new blog is up, and being blessed by hearing the successes and struggles that all of you are dealing with. Now granted, I wish that none of us had a blog about Rheumatoid Arthritis because I wish we all did not have it, but sadly that is not the case. So instead of wishing away RA and drowning in my own missery, I am thankful to have friends out there to not only share my story with, but to be blessed in hearing your stories too. So thank you my RA friends, you are an inspiration to me!

invisible illness

this week is invisible illness awareness week, a category in which RA is definitely included, but the definition is considerably broader, including physical and mental illnesses alike.

one the really cool things is that they are having a conference that is both free and does not require you to physically attend. since many of the people for whom this conference is organized cannot travel for one reason or another, they have structured the seminars so that you can watch/listen online and participate by phone and/or online chat. also, in case you can't be on the website at the scheduled time, the seminars will also be available for free download the following week (and you can even order a CD copy of all the conferences as well). seriously, how cool is that?

also, be on the lookout in the next few days for updates on a exciting event coming soon!

Schlitterbahn goodness!

So yesterday, Andy and I, along Laura and Diana went to Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, TX. Andy and I left here on Friday night and went to San Antonio to stay the night with them so that Saturday morning we could get up and go. Let me just tell you, we had a blast! Also, I felt pretty much great the whole day. I was amazed...as was Andy, I believe. I have been feeling pretty good since the last infusion, which was about two weeks ago, and have not had a bad flare since then. I really expected that yesterday was going to be a rough day considering, but I did much better than I thought I would. We had to walk about a gazillion miles and go up about a gazillion more stairs, and I DID hurt, but I did not die, which is awesome. So, I just wanted to share the good news...I actually had a great day, and even though it was exhausting, I made it!!!! YAY to good medication!!!!