Here We Go Again

Today is Sunday, July 16, 2023 and it’s the beginning of a short week here. I woke up at 5:00 am anticipating my early morning start. The first thing on the agenda today was my weekly bloodwork at Amiri Hospital. We arrived at 7:25 am and I was in the laboratory by 7:30 drawing blood. Today was the second time I go to Amiri Hospital without a wheelchair (last Thursday was the first time) but it was the first time the lab technician who usually draws my blood sees me without it and she was so thrilled! It put a smile on her face, and in return, an even bigger smile on mine. Once we were done there we headed up to the 6th floor to see my rheumatologist. She went to Hajj and took a short vacation afterwards so the last time I saw her was a little over 3 weeks ago. She was very happy to see the strength I’ve gained in my muscles after her physical examination of me. We discussed various items and I caught her up to speed on what’s been happening on my end, what each of the various doctors I’m seeing have said with regards to my condition and developments, what’s the next step in terms of my medications, etc. Overall, she’s very pleased with my progress and reassured me that things seem to be moving in the right direction in terms of my treatment. ألف الحمد لله. We headed down to the first floor, the radiology department, to schedule a breast sonar as part of the screening tests I should be doing. Then we headed down to the pharmacy to pick up my calcium and vitamin d supplement which had finished.

It was only 9:20 at this point but I felt like we got so much accomplished already this morning. From Amiri I headed to PMR for my daily PT and OT sessions. First up, physical therapy, and today we went to the hydro pool. My therapists put me in the pool 15 minutes before the scheduled session so I actually ended up having a 45-minute session in the pool! As always, my muscles felt great in the water and the weightlessness of my body was amazing…but I was draaaained by the time we ended! I showered, changed and went to see my OT. She asked how the splint was over the weekend and I told her that thankfully sleeping with it on was not that bad at all. We continued working on exercises for my hand with a little upper body strengthening as well. My PT and OT both want to concentrate more on my upper body muscles after seeing the body composition analyzer results from the appointment with my nutritionist last Thursday. Slowly but surely we’ll build up the strength in my arms and I’ll go back to the strong Lulu I was once…or maybe even stronger!

By the end of the working day the results of my bloodwork had finally come out and my doctor messages me with the good news…My CK levels are still continuing to go down! Although this week it’s only a slight decrease, my doctor reassured me that it’s still a decrease. As long as it’s not going up then we’re on the safe side and going in the right direction. My protein is still on the low side but hopefully by next weeks’ bloodwork we’ll see a difference now that I’ve doubled my protein supplement intake. Today was a busy day and tomorrow is going to be even busier so I’ll go catch up on my rest now and I hope you catch up on yours as well. Ciao for now!

اللهم اني أحمدك على نعمك الواسعة التي أنعت علي.