Approval Finally...

The Remicaide Nurse called today, and my insurance company has approved 3 treatments of Remicaide (and at $2,400 a visit, that's saying a lot!)...my first appointment is next Wednesday! Yay!

I'm down to 151 pounds, which would be great if I had lost it through diet and exercise, not diarrhea and blood and tissue and constant nausea and pain. Now we just need to get me off the steroids before I go into psychosis...and so we can get rid of all these evil symptoms that go along with the steroids--MAJOR dizziness, mood swings and some serious depression, severe body/hand weakness (such that I run out of breath and have to pant for air if I try to talk on the phone and walk around at the same time).

Here's a description of the disease I just found that is incredibly accurate:

About Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis

Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are painful, medically incurable illnesses that attack the digestive system. Crohn's disease may attack anywhere from the mouth to the anus, while ulcerative colitis inflames the large intestine (colon) only. Symptoms may include persistent diarrhea, abdominal pain or cramps, rectal bleeding, fever, and weight loss. Many patients require hospitalization and surgery. These illnesses can cause severe complications, including colon cancer in patients with long-term disease. Some 1.4 million American adults and children suffer from Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, with as many as 150,000 under the age of 18. Most people develop the diseases between the ages of 15 and 35.

Everyone who has been calling me has been asking about my health, which is understandable, but I'm so tired of talking about it!
(Which is probably why I haven't been posting about it...plus the profound depression kinda gets in the way of EVERYTHING.)

TTK and I discussed it at length, and decided last week since the Remicaide was pretty much guaranteed to happen, we would start an INCREDIBLY slow taper off of the steroids since they are destroying me...

which is probably why I have energy today and yesterday, and am posting, and feel better than I have in months.

I've also started crocheting as I felt way too limited by the Knifty Knitter and always working in the round. Plus the dizziness has kept me homebound (I am NOT driving a car like this!) so I've had a lot of time on my hands and not much strength to do chores...

Right now I am making monsters, for my neice (who just turned two). I am basing them on the amigurumi concept, and I'll talk more about this whole craft thing in another post. :-)