Welcome To My New Life Fighting A Disease I've Never Heard Of Before....... Ankylosing Spondylitis

  Saturday night was torturous. I rolled and turned all night. My hips and lower back were in severe pain. I think, as a friend suggested, I may have overdone myself. Also, I have been noticing my weekly Monday dose of Cosentyx has me feeling wonderful until Friday or Saturday. I assume that's why my doctor is having me do a five week loading dose. Fingers crossed when I begin my monthly injection it will be effective for the full month.    Monday morning I was psyched to get my injection. Exactly as the prior two weeks, by midday I felt so much more energetic. My husband took some vacation days from work this week. He and I have had a productive start to our week.   My youngest son will be having a birthday soon. He wants a new bedroom, since his sister got married last July we have an extra empty room. My husband and I thought a good birthday present would be to remodel the room my son wants to move into. Our money has been tight since I had to give up my job l...

  As I have mentioned, I had to give up my employment last December. I try to find projects to occupy my mind when I feel well enough to produce something. Sometimes it may take me many days to finish the project, due to the fatigue or pain Ankylosing Spondylitis bestows upon me. My husband would say some projects have taken years and are still incomplete. Specifically, a train cross stitch I began for my son's 5th birthday, my son is now almost 22 years old and it's not completed yet. I'm not sure why I can't seem to finish it. It has become a inside family joke. There isn't a lot left to do on it, maybe this will be a Christmas present this year.   I decided since we are now a one income family, I need to "make" as many Christmas presents as possible. I am self conscious about sharing my crafts with family and friends. I always fear it's not good enough or not perfect.   That fear has been the story of my life. Looking back on my life, I have alw...

  On top of dealing with AS, Fibro, Neuropathy, Osteoarthritis, and Scoliosis, I am very stressed about money.   My family is struggling financially. In December 2016, I had to make the hard decision that it was time to give up my job. The fatigue and pain from my diseases and working was overwhelming. I would come home from work and go straight to bed. Some days, I would get up about 8pm and make myself a bowl of cereal or a sandwich. My mother lives beside me, she would cook healthy meals for my teenage son. Many days she would save me a plate, which was a blessing. Toward the fall of 2016, my mom realized how horrible my struggle had become and cooked every day for us.   My husband works second shift, 3pm - 11:30pm. By the time my husband drives home from work, it's 12:30am. Therefore, he only saw me in the morning for a half hour or so before I left for work. It was a rough schedule, not being able to see each other. We made it work for 3 years but I don't think...

   I'm sure a lot of you will relate in trying to save your family money at the grocery store.    Due to the progression of my ankylosing spondylitis I had to give my job up in December 2016. That was a very emotional decision for me. I may write about it at a later date. This post is about couponing since we are a one income family at this point.    I tried subscribing to our local newspaper in order to clip Sunday coupons. I found this to not be cost effective. Some weeks I only used a couple of the coupons, paying $2 per paper was a losing proposition. I canceled my subscription after 2 months. Of course that was not as easy as it sounds, the newspaper office called constantly offering me better rates. At one point I might have restarted my subscription but after being called 4-5 times a day, I said forget it. Why doesn't telemarketers report the consumer said "no" and stop calling?   Back to my subject!  ;)   I found a wonderful s...