Two years later...

March 29th was my second house-a-versary, so I thought it would be fun to do "before" and "progress" pictures of the different rooms two years after closing. I am not finished with any of these rooms (hence, "Progress" rather than "After"), but I'm really happy with the results thus far. I'm enjoying making this house into a home.

Breakfast nook: Before and Progress

Master bedroom - before and progress

Kitchen - before (oh pink formica, I do NOT miss you) and progress

Living room - before and progress

More living room before and progress

Dining room before and progress

TV room (slightly wasted space) before and progress (I have NOT touched this room at all, it is literally my apartment living room transplanted into this house)

Hallway before and progress

My antibodies are raging war here...

Yes, it’s true. My antibodies aren't a fan of me.

So the last you heard of the medical saga was that I was going to get a CT done for the stomach pain. I got that done and it was all clear. Good news, but still begs the question - where is this pain coming from?

Another trip to the Rheumo doc (that’s waaay easier to type than rheumatologist) earned a “we’re missing something. Something else is going on”. So he started brainstorming. And I mentioned getting a second opinion (I’ve been doing some research on my own), and he heartily agreed because I think he’s at the end of his options with me. So he sent me to an infectious diseases doctor.

Why infectious diseases? It was actually a brilliant piece of his thinking outside the box in my opinion. I travel a lot. We just suppressed my immune system even more about 8 weeks ago, which was when I started having more (and new) symptoms. So maybe I had picked up something during my travels that was dormant or that whatever semblance I have of an immune system was able to fight in the background, but now that I am uber immunosuppressed, my body was like “yeah right, have at it”. I went to this really awesome doctor at St. Luke’s and he asked a TON of questions and then looked at me and said “I’m pretty sure this is not infectious. But because you do have a couple of “flags”, I am going to do some basic tests/cultures. If they turn up negative, we’re not putting you through the meat grinder”. So I was chest-xrayed and had about half of the blood in my body drained (yes, that’s an exaggeration, but it was a LOT of vials!). And everything was negative. Yay, I am not infectious. :)

Meanwhile, my symptoms keep worsening. Major issues with fever and swollen joints (as in hip and SI joints so inflamed that I have trouble walking in the evening). And I hurt. All the time. My wrists, fingers, ankles, toes, hips, and shoulders are the worse, and even the connective tissue between my ribs and my jaw is not happy. I was pretty miserable in the evenings during this past weekend in AZ, so I called my Rheumo doc on Monday and he worked me in yesterday.

We started the paperwork to send me to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN (they specialize in rheumo-stuff). We had talked about doing this at my last appointment if the ID doc couldn’t find something. And he also mentioned some awesome rheumo docs at the UT rheumo clinic (in Houston)– so I’ve got an appointment in May with them, and hopefully they can work me in sooner. And then we talked other medication options.

In hopes of tiding me over until I can get a second opinion at UT or Mayo, we’ve drastically increased the dosages on both my immuno-suppressive drugs. So if I was uber immuno-suppressed before, call me uberificially immunosuppressed now. We’re also looking at using some biological medications that will kill my B cells – B cells produce antibodies and my antibodies attack me. Autoimmune diseases can be caused by overactive/dysfunctional B cell production (B cells come from white cell lymphocytes ). He’s starting the process of getting me approved for one of them –it’s not a common med to treat Sjogren’s, but it has been done before for patients who are “not responding to aggressive therapy” (that would be me). It’s ridiculously expensive and difficult to get a hold of, so there is a lot of insurance hoopla to go through. Thankfully, there was no more talk of the scary new lupus drug he had mentioned earlier. I have done some additional research and refuse to go on it, but looks like it’s off the table. Thankful about that!

So there we go – future consultations at the UT Autoimmune and Rheumatology Clinic and the Mayo Clinic in work. Uberificially immuno-suppressed. And my antibodies don't like me :).

So thankful that my rheumo doc doesn’t have ego issues about me getting a second opinion – not that it would have stopped me, but it makes it less stressful. And I am thankful that even though I am hurting and am uncomfortable, God gives me the grace to still get work done and spend time with friends and family.

Melted Crayon Artwork

My Pinterest project was to do some melted crayon artwork.

I bought a 16 X 20 canvas ( 2 pack for $7.99!) and 2 boxes of Crayola 64 count crayons ( $2.99 a box). I am not sure how other brands of crayons would melt - I have a feeling they would be too waxy and the color wouldn't be as consistent.

First I had to choose the colors - this is going in my dining room, which is orange and will soon have a blue cabinet in it, so I wanted to pick up those two colors, but not be all "orange and blue" looking.

I hot glued my color choices to the top of the canvas.

Then I used my embossing heat gun to melt the crayons. Most instructions I found said to use a hairdryer and also said that it could take up to an hour to melt the crayons. My heat gun accomplish the melting in 5 minutes. You can get embossing guns at craft stores for under $20.

Whoohoo, it's working! Definitely do this on cardboard or drip catching surface because the wax pooled at the bottom and did splatter off the sides some.

The crayons melted SO fast...there was even smoke. To get longer drips, I just held the heat gun over the crayons for longer.

And melted! A $10 DIY piece of art :)

I am going to add the word "EAT" to this somewhere, but I need to get the wooden letters first. Can't wait to sit this on the top of the new cabinet...guess I should finish painting it huh? :) So many projects to tackle!

March Pinterest Party

Well, I had so much fun at Lisa's Pinterest party last month, that I decided to have my own. I invited a few ladies over and told them them bring the supplies to complete one Pinterest project (or a craft project if they didn't do Pinterest). I had a blast with these ladies, eating, chatting, and getting crafty :). Great way to spend some hours on a Saturday afternoon! (I'll post separately on my project...)

Daniella, painting a striped onesie for a birthday gift for her neighbor

Leslie started with some gray yarn...and look how far she got: almost a whole hippo hat!

Colette covering some old lampshades with some cool fabric

Book droolage

Yup, another book that deserves a dedicated post.

Jesus + Nothing = Everything by Tullian Tchividjian

I don't think I've ever underlined, bracketed, and side noted a book more - it looks like it was attacked by a Smurf (um, I used a blue pen...Smurfs are blue...anyways...).

Back in the fall, my church was going through Colossians and during one of the sermons, the pastor said "Jesus plus nothing equals everything". At the time, I was doing my own little side study on the fullness in God, so this statement was quite appropriate (mind blowing) for me at the time. And then I discovered a book had just been released with this same title AND it was based on Colossians. Oh, how excited was I!? (very, in case you were wondering).

I find myself often putting more importance and emphasis on things rather than on God. And this book addresses the question "why do we need anything more than what we already have in Christ?". Hence the title: Jesus + Nothing =Everything.

Here are some of the underlined snippets. I encourage you to read this book.

"Our performancism leads to pride when we succeed and to despair when we fail. But ultimately it leads to slavery either way, because it becomes all about us and what we must do to establish our own identity instead of resting in Jesus and what he accomplished to establish it for us"

"As A.W. Pink once wrote, "The great mistake made by people is hoping to discover in themselves that which is to be found in Christ alone"

"Progress in obedience happens only when our hearts realize that God's love for us does not depend on our progress in obedience"

"We're always to soak first in what God has already done before we set out to do."

"When we're captured and captivated by who Jesus is, we'll be empowered and equipped to resist the constant temptations to settle for anything less"

"The hard work of Christian growth, therefore, is to think less of ourselves and our performance and more of Jesus and his performance for us"

"Christian growth, in other words doesn't happen by first behaving better, but by believing better - believing in bigger, deeper, brighter ways what Christ has already secured for sinners"

"Real freedom happens when the rich resources of the gospel smash any sense of need to secure for ourselves anything beyond what Christ has already secured for us"

"The gospel grants us the strength to admit we're weak and needy and restless - knowing that Christ's finished work has proven to be all the strength and fulfillment and peace we could ever want, and more"

"When you understand that your significance and identity and purpose and direction are all anchored in Christ, you don't have to win - you're free to lose"

"sin turns us inward and the gospel turns us outward. The gospel causes us to look up and out, away from ourselves. It turns our gaze upward to God and outward to others, both to those inside the church and those outside it"

"In fact, real spiritual growth happens as we look up to Christ and what he did, out to our neighbors and what they need, not in to ourselves and how we're doing"

"Our natural tendency is to focus on ourselves - on our obedience (or lack thereof), on our performance (good or bad), on our holiness - instead of on Christ and his obedience, his performance, and his holiness for us"

"This means that for Christians, the level of passion with which God loves you is not determined by the level of passion with which you love him. The Son's passion for you secured the Father's passion for you"

"The determining factor in my relationship to God is not my past or my present, but Christ's past and his present"

"This freedom Jesus secured for me is not freedom from pain and suffer; rather, it's a freedom in pain and suffering"

"Where are we focusing our efforts? Are we working hard to perform? Or are we working hard to rest in Christ's performance?"

Chevron curtains for the guest bedroom!

Remember the mood board I created for the guest bedroom?

Here it is to jog your memory

Well, I finally tackled the chevron curtains!

I used Merete curtains from IKEA (white canvas, $29.99 for two panels). I washed, dried, and hemmed them and then came: the chevroning.

I laid out a plastic drop cloth and then covered it with a canvas drop cloth. Turns out, I didn't really need the plastic one, because the paint did not soak through the curtain, but definitely better to be safe than sorry when painting on wood floors!

After figuring out the measurements, I marked the curtains, blue taped everything and then used a smooth foam roller to apply the paint (it's Behr's indoor flat in Jamaican Sea, it looks baby blue in the pictures but you'll see it's a tealish color when it dries)

Finished curtains!

Now, the curtains aren't perfect...I seem to get paint everywhere, so there are some smudges and also some places where I need to touch up the paint because you can see a bit of light...but in this picture, they look pretty good to me :).

Barnaby

Back in December, my roommate said she had heard something in the attic - I looked but saw nothing. She heard something several times and I just decided she was crazy ( :) ). Well, one Saturday in January, I was sitting in my room and noticed that both my cats were staring at the ceiling (anyone with pets knows it is unnerving when pets stare at nothing). I turned down my music and sure enough, I heard SOMETHING galumphing about in the attic. And it sounded big. So I sat there, staring at the ceiling for about an hour, working up the courage to go up there and check it out.

Armed with a piece of wood dowel (scary right?) and a flashlight, I climbed up the attic stairs (while talking to the critter mind you, "hey critter, don't come fly at my head please", "hey critter critter, keep your pointy teeth away from me"). I popped my head up into the attic and closed my eyes, imagining the scene from "Christmas Vacation" where the squirrel comes flying out of the Christmas tree. Nothing came flying, so I continued climbing up further into the attic, still talking to the critter, and peered into the corners of the attic with the handy flashlight and I SAW HIM: a little masked bandit hiding in the corner staring right at me. I managed NOT to fall down the attic stairs (although I may have nailed a fireman's slide on the first try).

The next day, I did a walk around of the house to determine how an animal that big could have gotten into the attic and found this:

Yes, the raccoon was actually a saber-toothed raccoon and gnawed through the eaves of my roof to gain access. That's a pretty desperate saber-toothed raccoon.

I borrowed a humane trap from a friend who had recently had a raccoon in his attic as well (really raccoons? It's not that cold in Houston...) and I attempted to trap Barnaby...oh yeah, I named the raccoon Barnaby, figured if he was living in my house, he might as well have a name.

Alas, Barnaby did not fall for the trap. I ended up keeping the attic light on for several nights and didn't hear any noises. On the day that the handyman came to repair the roof, I went up into the attic and looked around and made a lot of noise just in case he was still up there. After the hole was sealed, I left the trap up there for a bit, just in case.

Almost two months later, no Barnaby. Ahh...home-owning adventures :)

"Fantastic Voyage?" Sorta...

The post title is a throwback to the 1966 movie "Fantastic Voyage" - where a special submarine and medical crew are miniaturized and injected into this guy's body to repair something...I've never seen it, only heard the references (yeah, it was either "Fantastic Voyage" or "Invisible Enemy", which is an old Doctor Who episode, as the post title - I figured I'd have more bites on the F.V. :) ).

I almost posted pictures... but I think that would be crossing the line...I mean, who really wants to see the inside of my stomach?

On Friday I had an EGD (esphagogastroduodenoscopy) done - where they knock you out and stick a camera down your throat to look inside your stomach. On top of the flare I have been having, I've developed some intense stomach pain, so the investigation has commenced. Thankfully, the EGD was normal - I got to see cool pics (after the procedure of course. I was awesomely unconscious for it...) of my esophagus and stomach and stuff. Everything checks out clean...which is both relieving and frustrating because, where is the pain coming from? The gastro doc is having me get a CT this week to see if that will show anything. Huge praise is that I didn't react badly to the anesthesia as I have in the past - the plastic bowl/bag strategically placed in my friend Amanda's car for the ride home was NOT needed :). I think she might be more thankful than I am...

In the meantime, I'll admit I'm having a rough go of it, so prayers are appreciated. I appear to have picked up a sore throat/cough bug, so that in addition to the stomach pain, in addition to the fever/joint pain from the flare is just not much fun. So if you ask me how I am doing and get a subdued "eh"...well, I'm just being honest...I can only wear the "everything's hunky-dory peachy keen" mask for so long - it gets tiring and it's not honest. So working on the balance between being honest, but not complaining. I've been spending more time praying for others - I find that helps take my thoughts off of me and avoids that self-pity cycle that can be easy to get into.

I am HUGELY thankful that my stomach has starting growling again and my appetite seems to be picking up. Praise God! And that even though I don't feel well, I am still able to get things done at work and at home - a HUGE blessing. It definitely helps mentally and emotionally when you can still be productive. And God has been teaching me more and more about how His plans are different than mine, and better, even though I can't understand exactly why things have to happen they way they do. And that He will sustain me. I am learning more about not stewing on the "why is/isn't this happening?" and more on just resting on "I AM" and the fact that "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).

Whew, but SO ready for this particular trial to be over. And that's being honest :)

Gratitude

A sweet friend sent me this song as an encouragement, which it has accomplished...lyrics are below and you can listen to it here.

Gratitude by Nichole Nordeman

Gratitude

Send some rain, would You send some rain?
'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again
And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade
Would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud?
Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down
Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid
But maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case . . .

(Chorus)

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to thirst for You
How to bless the very sun that warms our face
If You never send us rain

Daily bread, give us daily bread
Bless our bodies, keep our children fed
Fill our cups, then fill them up again tonight
Wrap us up and warm us through
Tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs
Let us slumber safe from danger's view this time
Or maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case . . .

(Chorus)

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
A lesson learned to hunger after You
That a starry sky offers a better view if no roof is overhead And if we never taste that bread

Oh, the differences that often are between
What we want and what we really need

So grant us peace, Jesus, grant us peace
Move our hearts to hear a single beat
Between alibis and enemies tonight
Or maybe not, not today
Peace might be another world away
And if that's the case . . .

(Chorus)

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
For lessons learned in how to trust in You
That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream
In abundance or in need
And if You never grant us peace

But Jesus, would You please . . .

180 degrees

I had a 180 degree moment this week.

Background (potentially background overkill...)

I am still flaring and this past weekend, started having some intense stomach pain, so I headed to my regular doctor on Tuesday. I'm on the low dose of steroids, which can cause ulcers, so I thought maybe that was the problem, even though I have been on oral steroids a TON in the past and never had any problems. She agreed the pain was definitely my stomach (versus connective tissue, because I have had problems with connective tissue inflammation in the area that the pain was in) and expressed concern about the pain combined with the weight loss I have had, so she said I need to get an endoscopy of my stomach done. So I have a consultation with a gastroenterologist next week to get that scheduled. She prescribed an acid reflux med and an appetite stimulant. But, I am SO tired of swallowing medicines, that I've decided to hold off on the appetite stimulant and see if acupuncture can help. Yup, I am back under the needles. I had 30 (!!!) in me on Thursday. The last time I was flaring, the needles helped break the cyclic fevers I get when I flare, which helps SO much in making me feel better ('cause really, you just feel so BLAH when you have a fever). I had needles in my stomach too, and those HURT going in, so that's an acupuncture-y sign that something is going on. And my stomach started growling again when she put them in...so hopefully a good sign of things to come. I see the acupuncturist next week as well, so I am hoping to get the same fever-eradicating results as last time :). Oh and my rheumatologist decided to double my dose of one of my immunosupressive meds. So needless to say, I was mentally, emotionally, and spiritually maxed out on doctors, pills, and the "House- esque"-ness of my situation by mid-week.

End background overkill.

But the title of the blog comes into play this past Thursday, as I was sitting in my car in the drive thru pickup line at Walgreen's to get the acid reflux medicine. Originally, the prescription my doctor wrote wasn't covered well by my insurance and I wasn't going to spend that much money on something that may or may not fix the problem. So, this was actually round two at Walgreens for this med. The pharmacist told me the total and it was even more than the first prescription and that it was so expensive because I had reached the limits on my insurance. That made me pause. 1) I have really good insurance, so that just sounded weird and 2) fleeting panic on what would happen if my insurance REALLY was maxed out. And then my brain kicked in and I started asking a series of questions about my prescriptions on file, had them rerun some insurance stuff, and finally requested that they remove the first acid reflux med request from my file and voila! the new med cleared (cost me $5, yay insurance!). As I was driving away, I found myself thinking "wow, that's just great, cluttering up my brain with all sorts of prescription/insurance-y info, wish I didn't know this stuff"...and God just turned my thoughts and my attitude 180 degrees. I became THANKFUL that I knew what questions to ask and what suggestions to make - it probably saved me about an hour on the phone with the insurance company the next day trying to figure out what the problem was.

I am so thankful that God is faithful to continue to do the work He is doing in my life even when I am not open to His teaching. Reminding me that He is Sovereign. Increasing my dependency on Him. Reminding me that He is all I need.

"And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" - Philippians 1:6

Recent reads

Here are my recent reads:

1. Thunderstruck by Erik Larson

I was disappointed by this one from Erik Larson (whom I usually RAVE about). A non-fiction account of the development of the wireless radio (the Marconi system) and an unsolved murder and how they are intertwined. The nerd in me had a couple of "!!!" moments:

1) I was fascinated by the story of Titanic as a kid, I watched the PBS special when they discovered it and was hooked. I've probably written at least six research papers on it throughout junior high and high school. The Marconi system was used on the Titanic to wire the Carpathia and the Californian for help, so learning more about the device was kinda cool.

2) Marconi interacted with Tesla and Kelvin. TESLA and KELVIN. ::enter nerd moment:: Even though I couldn't stand my Electricity and Magnetism (E&M) Physics class in college (seriously BLECH), I cannot imagine sitting in a room with all those amazing minds and dialoging about your recent scientific discoveries.

I had a really hard time getting into the story and had to force myself to finish the book - it just wasn't gripping and the stories weren't as melded as they have been in past Larson books. You can skip this one.

2) The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan

My accountability partner, Jessica, and I, decided that we have finished this book :). We loved the story of Christian, but both of us are struggling getting through Christiana's story. Christian's story is all pen-marked up, me circling amazing nuggets of truth and Scripture applied. Christiana's has one pen-mark - I'm just not feeling it. I only have about 50 pages left of her story, so the perfectionist in me WILL finish it soon, but I decided to go ahead and blog about it (I'll wait to update Goodreads ;-) ).

Even though this book was written 350 years ago, Christian's story struck home in so many areas. And it was so awesome to see how Jessica and I were underlining the same parts! - God used this book to deepen our friendship and opened up opportunities for us to share the paths that God has led us on up to now - the growing times, the stumbling times with each other. Truly amazing. Each discussion of this book just led to us praising God for the work He has done in our lives. Highly recommend reading this book.

3) In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson

To go along with my recent foray into World War Two history (ahem, Churchill), I thought this would be an interesting perspective. This one also took me awhile to get into, but it definitely picked up in the second half as Mr. Larson found his stride and his gift for making history a page turner kicked in. This is the account of the US Ambassador to Berlin during the time Hitler was rising to power. I learned a lot - the early Hitler stuff that isn't covered in school. And it was so thought-provoking - what are we turning our eyes from now because it is uncomfortable or "that couldn't possibly happened?". Ponder away. A weak beginning, but a respectable ending. Of the four Eric Larson books I've read, this one ranks 3rd.

Project Chandelier

So a couple of weeks ago, I found an old brass chandelier on craigslist for $10 to replace the perfectly-nice-but-not-me-Tuscan-style light fixture in the breakfast nook.

I bought spray paint, a piece of longer chain, and updated light bulbs.

Lots of dust on this lamp

Before shot

Cleaned up pre-paint

Makeover time!

So long Tuscan fixture!

And...DONE!!! I absolutely love how it came out.

And the after! I still have to add the swag kit to center the chandelier over the table, but I have to extend the grounding wire before doing that...should have that taken care of in the next week or so.

Back to square one?

It might just be back to square one. With respect to treating my disease that is.

I started flaring again last week and just happened to have my standard every 3 month rheumatologist appointment scheduled for today, so the timing worked out well. I hate when I make my rheumatologist get a sad face- he just sits there and listens to me list off my physical complaints and his brow gets more furrowed and the corners of his mouth turn down more. Just not fun. I appreciate how dedicated he is to getting me feeling better and that he really listens to me.

As you loyal blog readers know, my disease has been really unstable the past two years. I’ve been flaring more than I have been in remission. My doctor and I finally said the words I was loathe to hear at today’s appointment -“the meds aren’t working, we need to try something new."

A new drug was just approved last March for the treatment of Lupus - which I don’t officially have, although I have a ton of symptoms of it. That’s the tricky part about autoimmune diseases - there is so much overlap of symptoms that it can be very hard to figure out the exact name of your disease (for instance, for about 4 years, my diagnosis was Mixed Connective Tissue Disease - then I presented much more solid symptoms of Sjogren’s and Raynaud’s - so it changed to that - but lately I have been presenting lupus and other autouimmune disease symptoms - so it’s a constantly changing beast). This new drug sounds really scary. I should be used to scary drugs, considering the cocktail I take now, so for me to say it sounds scary, well, you get what I mean.

If we did decide to go with this new drug, I wouldn’t start until the summer because of the trips I have scheduled. I am willing to wait until after the trips because I am not horribly uncomfortable or incapacitated. And I really want to go on these trips. The side effects of the medication and how it has to be administered (via IV) would prevent me from traveling to remote locations until we see how my body reacts to it. And I get the feeling that my doctor wants to mull it over a bit longer too, so we aren't rushing into anything at this time. They took a TON of blood today and we are still trying to figure out why a year and a half ago my body stopped responding to the steroidal treatments that we were using to stop the flares. I’m thankful for the time to think this over and also look at other options and possibly get a second opinion, as much as I trust my current doc.

So for now, I maintain the usual medicine cocktail and we added a low dose of prednisone (steroids) to help as an appetite stimulant (since we're pretty sure the steroids won't do anything with the inflammation due to my apparent immunity) - let's just say I've lost a decent amount of weight over the past few months and I don't want to end up looking like Skeletor :eww:

So here's to this flare being short lived. And I would greatly appreciate prayers for wisdom for me and my doctor on what to do next. Also, can I just say how thankful I am to live in an age where we have these medicines to help keep us feeling well? Read in a Melissa voice: "I am thankful" :)