A Little Update

So every few months  I get to post a project and keep saying that I will be back soon to keep checking in...and well months pass until I post again. As some of you know, I've battled with rheumatoid arthritis for about 7 years now. When my son was 6 month old I started with a flare-up in my right right wrist. Unlike with other flares, this one was not responding to steroids. We added new medications but still wasn't working. I would feed my son with tears in my eyes and my hand shaking from the pain. I'm also an ultrasound tech and I would scan in practically the same way. Years have passed and we couldn't get this inflammation down so my rheumatologist finally referred me to a hand surgeon. He was able to get the inflammation down after several steroid injections. The problem I have now is that the chronic flare has displaced my ulna and now it rubs against my metacarpals. My wrist literally clicks as I try to write a simple note. And typing this post has increased my pain level from my standard 5 to easily a 6 pushing 7. So as you can image, craft projects have been put on the back burner.  But next month I'm going in for surgery to have the ulna shortened. I will be in a cast for 6 weeks and cannot work for a total of 12 to fully recover. I'm hoping that once I am completely healed I can get back into my crafting. I miss making things and sharing those how-to's with all of you. Please bare with me and I hope that by this Fall I will ready and raring to go, pain free and full of projects to share with you. Thanks for stopping by.

Pinspiration Sunday: Christmas Card Holder

So awhile back on Pinterest I saw a pin of a picture holder made from an old frame. And I thought it was really simple and cute and maybe one day I would make it. Then Christmas season came. Now I always just tape my cards to the closet door in the living room because I really had nowhere else to put them. But this year I remembered that pin I saw. I had this hideous picture from a gift exchange at work. It’s kind of a joke that started before I came to work at this hospital but I wasn't disappointed when I got it cause all I thought was, “I bet I can make something out of this”. And now I have.

Here’s what I started with:

I took the backing off and removed the picture and glass. Next I sanded the frame down.

Then I mixed some paint up to get a nice minty green color. I painted the entire frame and allowed it to dry overnight. The next day I sanded it down again to get a distressed look. Once I had it sanded to my liking, I cleaned it off then put a coat of Mod Podge on it. I allowed that to dry.

Next, I took twine and tied 4 strings across it. To help the twine stay in place I put a dab of hot glue on the back side of the frame. I originally wanted to keep the staples in on the sides that helps hold everything in place and tie the twine to that but one had fallen off. I tried to tack it back in but unfortunately because of my Rheumatoid Arthritis I have recently become very weak in my right hand/wrist (which is my dominate side) so I have to adjust my crafting to accommodate my abilities. But I really like the ties on the front of the frame anyways.

 So that’s it. To hold the cards in place I have super small clothes pins from my son's first birthday bash. This project was 100% FREE because all my supplies were just lying around. I do think that this frame will ultimately be too small for all the Christmas cards we get so maybe next year I’ll redo it with a bigger and thicker frame I pick up from my thrifting. But until then, this will do.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my project!

Rheumatoid Arthritis

I know this is a blog about crafting and what not but I just wanted to share some info about RA and the medication, Enbrel, used to treat RA. For anyone who is not familiar with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), it is a disease where your immune system mistakenly attacks healthy joints. This causes pain, stiffness, swelling and if the inflammation continues for too long, it can cause bone erosion. Why am I talking about this? Well it's been nearly 4 years since I was diagnosed with this disease. I was put on several medications (Plaquenil and Mobic) to help control it and if a flare up would occur, I would take a Prednisone dose pack (a 6 day supply where you take an overload of steroids to quickly calm the inflammation). And that worked for a very long time...until last June. Last June I had a flare up in my right wrist....now I'm an diagnostic medical sonographer (which is the really fancy (and I will say, well deserved) title of a board certified ultrasound tech) and I need this wrist to be inflammation free in order for me to do my job. Well I took my dose pack...and that didn't work. So I took another....and that didn't work. Had an injection...and that didn't work. Took ANOTHER dose pack...and (I'm sure you've caught on by now) that didn't work. Then came adding new drugs....so we added long term use of Prednisone,  Methotrexate and folic acid (the folic acid doesn't do anything for the RA, it's used because the MTX depleats this vitamin and this drug can do some damage to the rest of your body so monthly blood work has to be done to watch liver functions). First I took 4 pills once a week...then 6...then 8...and still no improvement. Had an MRI just to verify that this was a RA problem and not something else...and guess what?!?! It's an RA problem. And since I had had this inflammation for months (this was now October) there was bone erosion too. So the next step? The miracle drug known as Enbrel (this is a crazy wicked drug...I say this because this drug completely destroys your immune system...I was told to tell my primary care physician that I started it because I would need to get in for check ups at the first sign of sickness). Enbrel is a once a week injection...ugh! I hate needles...but I could not go on with the pain any longer. After jumping through hoops for my insurance company...I finally had my first injection in December. The injection hurts while the medicine is going in...but the few seconds of pain (approx. 15 sec.) seemed worth it if it was going to work. After a couple weeks, my flare up was better....but then came problems with the injection...I started getting a wave of pain throughout my entire thigh of the leg I was injecting, that would last about 90 seconds. This pain made child birth seem easy...honestly...I know. That's not the worst of it...then I had the injection site reaction. This happens to be the most common side affect of the Enbrel. I would get these VERY large, red, hot, swollen and itchy rashes that lasted for weeks. I was told to treat the site...so I tried....I used hydrocortisone cream...no improvement. I tried calamine lotion...nothing. I went back to the doctor and he had me do this....one hour prior to injection take 500mg of Tylenol and one Benadryl then after I administer the shot I am to ice injection site. Now this helped with the pain that I got right after I gave myself the injection, but I still had a rash. I looked through my medicine cabinet one day and saw my jar of Tucks I had after I delivered my son. I read the package...it says it helps with swelling and itchy irritation...hmmmm...I thought. 

And so I tried it...I rubbed the area with a pad each time I went to the bathroom...and sure enough, it worked! Now I use these and within 2 days the rash is gone...and it never gets too big and NEVER itches! IT'S AMAZING! I told my doctor and he was as surprised as I was...and he told me that he was going to share that information with other patients who are having the injection site reactions. So I thought I would share this with all of you. Hope this helps anyone out there who is having problems.