Had an early morning appt. today for the second of my three injections. Everything went well. For some reason it was a little more painful/uncomfortable than normal. I think the doctor (not my usual one) wasn’t as gentle as before, but it’s not too bad and it’s done now! Only one more to go! My hubby made the trek with me and afterwards we had breakfast out. I haven’t been able to eat much the past few days with the stomach bug, so I was ready for some real food and it was delicious. The company was even better, of course. I’ve dropped 10 pounds this week! I have no doubt that a significant part of that is some of the excess fluid I was carrying because I can tell a huge difference in how I feel. I’m not nearly as out of breath when I move around, I can get up and down much easier, my joints don’t hurt so much, I can breathe better in general…There’s no doubt the fluid is the major factor in my discomfort over the past year. I’m going to work really hard to avoid retaining fluids as much as possible! So far I haven’t really had too many side effects with the high dose of prednisone. My face and chest are much redder than normal again. Yesterday I was awake all day and had problems sleeping during the night. I actually expected that all week. I guess being so sick overrode the steroid effect on those days because I slept a LOT on Tuesday and Wednesday days AND nights! Another sign that I’m feeling better, I guess! It has suddenly dawned on me that this is a holiday weekend. It seems weird not to have any plans, but I don’t really mind. We’ve never celebrated any holidays as religious days, they’ve always been celebrated as family gatherings and traditions. Because my hubby and son have work schedules that do not take time off for holidays it has always been a challenge to make family plans with everyone. This year Kinsey is in Florida, Chet works, Cory works, and Cody and Jessi are heading to North Dakota to celebrate with her family. I guess that leave me, Nicole and Owen! I know she has plans with her side of the family in the evening. Weird this year! I usually try to do something, but between being sick and everyone having things going on and everything ELSE that’s been happening it’s going to be more laid back! The truth is it might be nice to have such a low-key day this year. It takes a lot of energy to communicate and be in groups right now and I’m still recovering from being sick and just using more mental and emotional energy to adjust to everything. Trying to put together a big family dinner, too, might have been too much. We have lots of big family plans coming up in the next months, though! A first birthday party, graduations and trips to OK and FL and showers, and a special wedding……….fun times! 🙂 I’m really looking forward to it all!