Pain Free?!

Last week I went to see the rheumatologist for my anylosing spondylitis. It was a great visit. Well, not at first. He reminded me of House. He was kind of a jerk. But it got better and I could tell that he really cared about what he was doing. He did a bunch of range of motion tests with me and told me that I need to go on an anti-inflammatory and start physical therapy. Sadly, anti-inflammatories can cause kidney damage & since I'm at such high risk for it anyway with diabetes, I'll have to get tests done every 3 months or so to see how my kidney function is. But he said that with these new treatments, I should be able to live pain free. That's such a foreign concept to me. I haven't had a day w/o pain since I was 10. It's exciting!

I started my physical therapy yesterday. It kicked my trash. I was SO sore! I used to be really strong. In high school I could whip out push ups like they were nothing and even beat the boys in my neighborhood at arm wrestling. Yesterday I couldn't even do the exercises for my shoulders with 1.5 lbs before they gave out. Pitiful. It was a very humbling experience. But I guess if my shoulders/knees/back were strong, I wouldn't be in PT in the first place.

I'm going to be going a few times a week for a couple of weeks - until I learn all the exercises. After that I just have to do them by myself at home a few times a week and hopefully work up to everyday without needing Morphine (no, I didn't really get/take any). ;) I'm going to learn them all and then teach my dad since he's got it too and hasn't been to a doctor for it in over 20 years (?!). I'm hoping we'll both cut down our amount of pain significantly. I really am excited about this!