Friday, August 13, 2010

Progress

After 2 months of being in severe pain, I am finally getting some relief. At the highest dosage one can take of my medicine, I can finally do some things I haven't been able to do in a while...like clean my own house and pick up my cats. Heck, I even opened a soup can yesterday without wincing in pain. I went and got a second opinion with my regular doctor, and he agrees with me that something is definitely going on that needs some more looking into. He believes I have some type of Collagen Vascular Disease (Sjogren's, Lupus, ect.) that is doing this to my nerves and causing a variety of other symptoms. So, I am headed to the Mayo Clinic next month for a nerve biopsy and 2 days of testing.
I have still found that being on the computer (the typing and the mouse) for extended periods will lead to pain, so I am limiting that. I believe that my painting style, which was very tightly rendered, will be taking a big turn in another direction. I am going to focus on abstract mixed media paintings. This week, I've been making my own mixed media papers to use in collages, just to get into the swing of things, and test what I can do as far as my pain level is concerned. I have not gotten back to jewelry making yet, but if and when that happens, it will also take a new direction. Right now, I am proceeding slowly, and just being grateful that I finally have some relief, and may get some answers in the near future as to what is going on in my body.
Thanks for checking in! I hope to share some new work with you next week!

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Open for Business!

Finally, after 2 months of waiting, my medicine level has been increased and I am finally getting some relief from the nerve pain in my arms. I was able to clean my own house ( except vacuuming..that is now hubby's job) yesterday for the first time in a month. I had been using a gal I found online that did a super job and was a real sweetheart.
No exact cause has been found yet for my neuropathy, so more tests and visits are in order. The good news is that I finally reopened my Etsy stores this morning and hope to be back to painting soon. In fact, I may play around with some paint today. Using the computer for long periods of time is still causing me some pain though, so I will keep this short. Thanks for checking in! Hope everyone is having a good week! Try not to melt in this heat wave!