UC Journey

It's been a while since I've posted on my UC blog. The reason being I've actually been doing pretty well. Yay! Things have been relatively uneventful as far as my health goes. I think there's only a few things to report.  Infections I have been getting frequent infections over the summer such as BV (bacterial vaginosis), yeast infections, and UTI's. I am now on either medication or vitamins for all of these and it has settled down since.  Rinvoq I went back to the GI doctor about a week ago and it went pretty well. I have been instructed to start taking a lower dosage of Rinvoq -- going from 30 mg to 15 mg -- starting as soon as possible. My GI doctor is hoping that this will lessen the frequency of the infections while still keeping me in remission.  My Energy Levels Although I have been feeling much better, my energy is still unusually limited for my age. I'm still not completely sure why this is since I've been in remission, but I try to push through it f...

  At my last GI appointment last month my doctor told me to get my cholesterol checked. It had been high last time they checked in the summer last year. I went to the doctor last week and got my cholesterol checked. It was even higher than when they had checked last year. Originally my doctor told me that they would put me on a diet to lower it, but after seeing my results they concluded that it was too high for a diet to do any good. So now I am on a cholesterol medicine called atorvastatin.  So far there hasn't been any crazy side effects besides feeling mildly sore and sneezing more than usual -- weird, I know. I was definitely disappointed to hear that I had to take another medicine to combat the side effects of my UC medicine along with a vitamin called CoQ10 to combat the side effects of the new cholesterol medicine. But I will say taking the medication is worth it if it will help and prevent anything bad from happening.  I started this new medication less than a we...

  Recently, I went on a road trip with my husband to visit his family for Christmas. I really enjoyed the trip and my time with them, but boy do I have a knack for finding a way to go to the hospital. My body loves to throw me for a loop!  The day before the big road trip I noticed something was off but didn't think much of it. It felt a little like a yeast infection which I was struggling to fully get rid of. The next day while we were driving, that was when I realized there was something seriously wrong. The pain made it difficult to sleep and walk. I could still walk well enough for no one to notice though. But at this point, I was very swollen down there. The next day while we were staying at a hotel, it was once again a rough night due to the pain. This time it was so swollen that anything that brushed against it was excruciating. I still didn't say anything though because we were travelling and just trying to make it to our destination. We eventually made it to my in-law...

 The past two weeks have been pretty rough. At the beginning of my Thanksgiving break on November 25th, my husband got sick with what we thought was the flu. With my weak immune system due to the Rinvoq medication that I am taking, I thought I was bound to catch what he had shortly. Anytime I get sick, I usually am sick for longer than the average person because of my weak immune system. This would be the absolute worst time for me to get sick. The Christmas piano recital is coming up so soon, my students need me especially now, and I am going on a trip to visit my husband's family for Christmas. If I got sick, I would be sick for a long time, and it would not be good with all these things coming up. Not to mention, I still had to take care of my sick husband. All these thoughts swirled in my head when he was very sick for that first week. So, I prayed. A lot. I prayed in the morning, in my head throughout the day, and at night asking God to be with me and somehow keep me healthy e...

  Ever since I started feeling completely healthy again, I found that I struggle with something completely different now. I have been struggling with making myself rest and taking days to relax. Now that my body doesn't force me to rest often, I have been pushing harder lately. My thoughts were, "Now that I'm feeling well and healthy again, I have no excuse to be lazy!"  So, I have been working, practicing my music, cleaning, cooking, and exercising all day every day. I feel guilty about taking a day or taking some time to rest now that I feel well. I shouldn't be lazy if there's things that need to be done, right? After a few weeks of not taking a day to rest, I finally hit a wall on Sunday earlier this week and came crashing back down. I took the evening to rest and take care of myself and felt better. I definitely don't need as much rest as I used to, to bounce back. It is strange though having to be conscious of taking breaks and time to rest after so ...

  Recently, I finally got a good exercise routine going to help with my cholesterol and overall well-being. Every morning, I do three different workouts and record how I'm doing so I can see my progress. I do push-ups, crunches, and squats. Starting out, I did sit-ups but quickly realized that I could not quite do them properly. So, I switched to crunches, and this has been much easier in the sense that it is noticeably working my core better than the sit-ups.  Day 1 (about 3 weeks ago) I could do 5 push-ups, 10 sit-ups, and 20 squats. Today I did 10 push-ups, 25 crunches, and 30 squats. The most squats I have been able to so is 40, but it depends on the day. Some days I can do more than others. But, although this is by no means impressive, it is a big improvement for me, and I can feel myself finally getting stronger. I can still only do girl push-ups with my knees on the ground, but it feels good to see some improvement. In addition to this workout routine, I also try to tak...