6 months on from diagnosis

The Family at Lunch on Sunday.

Well here we are again, the end of another week, It has been a pretty good week overall, I was a bit iffy on Monday and Tuesday after my trip out on Sunday but it was worth it , just to spend time with the family, anyway by wednesday I had recovered from that and had a good couple of hours out down the city centre yesterday with Pauline. My brother Pat phoned yesterday and was saying how we will have to get together again for lunch before Christmas, as although we are a close family and keep in touch we don't see each other that often as we all have or had busy lives.

Southampton  Hospital

Queen Alexander Hospital

Thinking back now it is about 6 months since I was admitted to the Queen Alexander Hospital at Portsmouth at Easter and then 2 weeks at Southampton before returning to Portsmouth with a diagnosis of Dermatomyositis, and about 5 months since I was released back home with a care package. When I think of the condition I was in when admitted to Hospital, then I can see how much progress I have made up to this point. This is all thanks not only to the nursing staff and Doctors at QA and Southampton General Hospital but also to my Neurologist Dr W Gibb from Southampton, and to the wonderful help and support I receive from my Family and friends.

So where Have I made the progress when I was diagnosed with Dermatomyositis I also had very bad Dysphagia and for 3 weeks in Hospital I was on a feeding tube, and My weight had dropped to 8.5 stone. I had very limited mobility even getting into bed was an effort, I was put onto 60 mg of Prednisolone daily , Now my mobility is returning slowly, My swallowing is improving, I am putting on weight and I am down to 10 mg of prednisolone daily so I call that Improvement although I know I still have a long way to go.

Well again I slept pretty well during the night, only waking briefly about 3.00 before going back to sleep until waking at 6.45, so as it is Friday and Methotrexate day I took the Methotrexate at 6.45, before having a coffee and watching the news in bed until getting up at 8.00 ready for the carer. I seem to be tolerating the Methotrexate better now than when I first started on it, However Amanda arrives at 8.30 so get groomed and now ready for the day ahead, although not a lot planned for today and the weather is not up to much today. so will probably work on the Family history for a while and also go and see what is happening in the Myositis groups on Facebook.

Been working on the family history for a couple of hours and making some progress but just reached another brick wall so will take a break and have a stroll down to Milton Park for a while and get some fresh air, I can go into Tesco Express on the way back and get some milk etc and then get a spot of lunch before settling down to a bit of daytime TV this afternoon.

Well had some chicken soup for lunch, also my medication so now for a couple of hours in front of the TV, before getting this posting finished and up on my blog, so until tomorrow I will say Cheerio, and have a good evening.