Nails Again

I'm down to 10mg of Prednisone. Every week the drop makes me feel a little bad (headache, nausea) for a couple of days, but then I recover.

Although, I have actually been doing a pretty good job not biting my nails, one of them got infected again. My pinky nail broke off and I really don't even remember biting at it, but I must have. In any case, Dr. Awadh had given me refills on my Augmentin prescription and so I got it refilled. I've been taking it for over a week and it makes me feel pretty bad. I've been sick to my stomach and have lost my appetite some. Losing my appetite is a good thing I guess, since I've gained so much weight on the prednisone.

At least Miss Amelia has been sleeping though the night again. :)

Boston

Our trip to Boston went well. Amelia was quite good in the car. She really only cried when she needed fed or changed and once I figured out how to feed her a bottle while she was in the car seat, we made much better time.

It was great to see Ross' parents. His dad was just able to start eating again. He even had a hamburger while we were there. Ironically, I was feeling pretty nauseous and couldn't get my hamburger down.

We were really excited that we got to visit the ocean with Amelia. She squealed (we don't quite think it was in delight) when Ross dipped her feet into it.

Feeling More Functional

My increased sleep seems to really be helping my functionality. I was able to do a ton of stuff today, even after Amelia woke up wicked early this morning. I feel much more mentally alert. I figure I'm getting a lot more REM sleep.

I am really contemplating if I am ready to move back home. Now that most of my WG symptoms have decreased, I am doing most of my own work at my mom's house. I am not really napping during the day anymore. I cook lunch and help with dinner, clean up after everyone a lot and have been doing most of our laundry. I also am helping my mom with her business now some. I feel that if I am well enough to be working with her, maybe I should be at home trying to get our stuff unpacked from our move and settling into our new house. It's hard though because I am worried I will get to feel worse on the Cytoxan. I am usually nauseated a bit in the afternoon, but not so much that I have to lay down. Since today was the first day of my new 200mg dose, I probably need to hold my horses and see how I am affected.

Nausea and Exhaustion

I think I am feeling a little more nauseated every day. I woke up this morning and sort of felt sick to my stomach even before I took the Cytoxan. Taking the Compazine with the Cytoxan hasn't really helped compared to taking it after I start feeling sick. I was pretty ill for a couple hours today, but started feeling better after lunch.

Amelia has maybe outgrown her swing which is unfortunate. She keeps trying to rock forward out of it and would have landed on her head if I wasn't there. It is really close to the ground, so her falling out of it isn't quite as scary as it sounds, but I still think that she is probably done with it. I hate to quit using it though because she takes her naps in it. I tried to put her down for a nap in the crib today and she kept startling herself back awake. Finally, I got the idea to swaddle her like we do at night and that helped a lot.

My mom was gone a lot of day and I didn't really get a break taking care of Amelia. Then around 9pm, I really crashed. My back started killing me and I just couldn't hardly keep my eyes open. I laid down on the couch, but didn't sleep for about an hour while my mom held Amelia. I feel better now, but the sudden exhaustion was hard.

Swaddling is Critical

Amelia woke up really early this morning. She started crying and when I looked in the crib I could see that she had gotten out of her swaddler. Normally she sleeps about 9-10 hours, but anytime she breaks out of it, she wakes up early. I know I am crazy lucky to have a 4 month old baby that sleeps almost every night for 10 hours in a row. How ironic that I am up every 90 minutes to pee, huh?

In any case, she did go back to sleep after about an hour (as did I) and we both slept in pretty late. I actually wasn't too fatigued today, which was really nice. Only once did I think about laying down for a nap, and of course I couldn't because Amelia was awake and ready to play.

I had some nausea before lunch again today, but it wasn't bad. I didn't take a Compazine. I really think I would end up less sick if I would eat lunch earlier, but I never seem to have time. It's hard to eat until Amelia goes down for a nap and sometimes that isn't until 2pm. Today when I started feeling sick I ate a spoonful of peanut butter and that seemed to help.

I finally got my nails painted tonight after Amelia went to sleep. The first time I quit biting them, having them painted all the time really helped. I am hoping that helps me stop biting them again. Unfortunately, it has been so long since I painted them (since before Amelia was born) that my correction pen dried up. And my nails are so short, I really have paint on alot of the skin. They sort of look like a mess. Maybe I can get a new correction pen tomorrow or the next day. It's much easier not to bite 'pretty nails'.

If the paint doesn't work, I am going to have to try some sort of behavior modification techniques like journaling or something.

Well, it is just about midnight and I am actually tired again so I should get right to bed. If I miss my 'tired' window, I will be up till 2am again.

Nasty Habit

I went to labs today and dropped by Dr. Awadh's office since I knew he had clinic this morning. He looked at my finger and said that if the swelling hadn't gone down by Wednesday I would have to come back. Looking at it tonight though, I actually think it is better. I really don't want them to have to lance it or anything.

Dr. Awadh also was like, "Have you quit biting your nails?" I said, "Now, I have." But I keep finding my fingers in my mouth. I take them out, but it is really hard habit to break. Ross was supposed to bring my fingernail polish tonight so I could paint my nails, but forgot. I don't usually bite them if they are painted, but it is hard to keep them that way. Hopefully I can get them painted tomorrow.

I didn't take a Compazine today. I was driving myself to labs this morning and started feeling sick, but didn't have one with me. The nausea went away after 15 minutes or so. I had a few more waves of it today, but nothing like last Friday.

(Ugh.. just caught myself biting my nails again! stop Stop STOP!! Ughg!!)

My fatigue has been pretty bad today. I was rocking Amelia to sleep tonight and about fell asleep in my mom's rocker (which is not very comfortable). After I put her in her swing to nap, I barely made it into bed before I passed out. I feel like I just suddenly get incoherent from exhaustion sometimes now.

I just read an interesting article about a young woman with WG from Self magazine.

My exploding finger

The following is pretty gross. You have been warned.

Tonight I made myself some tea and was squeezing honey into it. I had to squeeze the honey bottle pretty hard and all of the sudden my infected finger 'popped' and sprayed stuff all over the counter. I guess it had gotten so swollen, all the puss finally pushed through a weak spot on my skin. It didn't even come out the nailbed. It actually ripped a hole in my finger. I washed it with soap and water and put some neopsorin on it. I think it looks better than it did before now though. It was awful, but I have to laugh about it because really what else can you do?

I have had to take a Compazine the past three days for nausea.

My lungs have not felt excellent. They have had that 'breathing on a winter's day" feeling the past few days.

Nausea

Really icky day. I felt so nauseated, I took a Compazine today which ended up making me really drowsy. I spent most of the day in the glider with Amelia on my lap. Today was the first day that I have really felt pretty sick. I am guessing that the Cytoxan is starting to work.

I called Dr. Awadh regarding my fingernail infection. He put me on Augmentin and told me to go to the ER if I got a fever, chills, or my finger started looking worse. I am supposed to call him Monday morning to report on how it looks. So far, it is about the same.