How Being a Crash Test Dummy Reminded Me of Questions I Meant to Ask My Rheumy

     I'll get back into regular blogging eventually (it's on my list) and the whole New Year's recap/resolutions in my next blog.  I'm usually pretty good at remembering everything I want to ask my rheumatologist during my appointments, but since I found out I don't have Fibromyalgia and I don't have Chronic Lyme Disease (I definitely had the disease once, possibly twice, but because my former rheumy used cheap, unreliable tests, odds are, I did not have it 9 times.  The 2nd diagnosis is in question because my neurologist tested me for babeciosis--a rare bacterial disease also found in deer ticks that can be transmitted at the same time as Lyme Disease, but Doxycycline does not kill the infection and can lead to a false positive Lyme test).  I asked plenty of questions about my medications, vitamins, interactions with foods, the warning labels on my medications (the immunosuppressant carries a TON of scary warnings, including avoiding germs, injury (lmao!), people who've recently received live vaccines, etc.) and what do I need to do to protect myself/any special precautions, best times to take them... Then this past week has me writing a list in my little notebook.
      It all started last week when I wanted a good picture of my dog for Christmas.  She doesn't do the whole antler/headband thing.  Even if I could get a pair on her head, she'd have them ripped off her head and chewed apart before I could get my camera up.  With the help of my father, I managed to get a blurry picture of a snowman headband thingie, but they were destroyed in about 45 seconds.  So, when I bought her toys and treats for Christmas, I couldn't resist the reindeer costume on clearance.  It took a bit of wrestling, quite a few times being zapped by static electricity, but I was able to take a cute picture:

    The following day, she carefully set up her runner so it would get tangled around my ankle and I would fall on my paverstone sidewalk--HARD. Yes, she is that smart and that vindictive.  I twisted my back, seriously bruised and scraped up my elbow, and jammed my shoulder something fierce.  All for that one picture.  And ended up in a sling for 4 days.  It should've been longer, but the sling was annoying. But I did notice my overall pain went up a bit.  I was just recovering from a 3+ week flare my rheumy had to break by a medium/high, three day dose of prednisone 10 days earlier.
     The day after Christmas, my nephew came over to spend 3 days.  We had about 3" of snow on the ground from a small storm on Christmas Eve, so he wanted to go sleigh riding, except our sleds are MIA.  we're good at improvising, and my mom's great at making "death sleds" (re: super fast, should probably wear full safety gear on top of extra layers of clothes not just to keep warm, but for extra padding).  Attempt 1 was with the flat lid of a plastic tote, rubbed down with a candle, 2 coats of butcher's wax, and sprayed with Pledge for good measure.  I don't need to post the video here.  I couldn't get enough footing to push him, tried to kick the tote a few times to get him started, accidentally kicked him the arse (not hard!), burst out laughing, lost MY footing because I was laughing too hard and fell right on my arse.  Twice.  Only to find out not only did it not work, but there just wasn't enough snow, or the lid wasn't flat enough.  So we tried candle wax and Pledge on a flattened cardboard box.  That too, was a failure.  But while we were trying cardboard, snowstorm #2 was hitting us and the boy wanted to try the big plastic tote--which my mom was waxing with butcher's wax, pledge, candle wax, and something else (I don't remember).  2 hours later it was time to try the tote.  It acted more of a plow.  And I learned how to fly.  While we tried to at least lay down a decent sled track, I had to keep pushing him down the hill because I couldn't get my footing.  As soon as the tote (with all 100lbs of him in it) stopped dead, I ended up doing a high flying airborne somersault, once again landing on my back in the snow.  (Thankfully, there's no video of THAT!).  You'd of thought I learned my lesson that day.  Nope!
    Day 2 brought out the hunt for a decent sled.  We HAD to have something!  There was now 8"+ on the ground and it was perfect skiing/sledding snow!  Of course my brother never adjusted my skis after the last time he borrowed them, so my boots don't lock in the bindings, or I would have let him use those (and I would have most likely tried them for the first time in at least 11 years, just because) when we spotted it--an archaic plastic sled disc.  It had a bit of a crack, a little warped, but it was a sled.  3 coats of butcher's wax, 3 coats of acryllic floor wax, and a quick coat of Pledge for good measure, off we went.  It didn't quite work, and I ended up showing him how to do a running "Superman Sled Dive" to gain more speed.  As if I didn't learn enough... I landed halfway down the hill, winded (or out of breath, considering I'm horribly out of shape, but I'm not sure which), lying there like a camo'd slug, trying desperately to catch my breath, knowing I had to stand up because it wasn't like I could roll UP the hill, bruised in places I didn't know COULD bruised, and aching in places I forgot existed.  What the hell was I thinking (Besides it was fun)? But I learned I could sled surf!   When we were out Friday, we did find a brand new sled disc, waxed it up perfectly for him and sent him out.  I didn't even put my boots on.  After 2 hours, he crashed it into a tree and broke it.  But hey, he did take this picture of me because he thought it was just the funniest thing ever:  Yep, that's me in about 6 layers, laying there as a snow slug.

       But I did think of something to ask my rheumy when I see her next as I'm sitting here with heating pads, pain medication, and fine as long as I don't inhale too deeply or make any sudden movements (or try to move too much at all)--if overdoing it or injury can trigger a flare.  Obviously it's painful.  I have the aches, pains, and bruises to prove it.  But my joints are swollen and it feels like I'm on the edge of another flare similar to the one I just barely crawled out of.  And I do think that's a very good question to ask...