ULOG 36: Freewrite Day 409 Quarantine
Quarantine is a fact of life when you are immunosuppressive drugs. I took them for many years because I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. These drugs stop your body from fighting so that it does not attack whatever it is (unknown) that is causing your pain, exhaustion. and joint deformity.
These drugs work as far as that goes. But they are very expensive and make you feel sick in other ways. Some of them are called biologics, and some are called “low-dose chemo.” One of my doctors told me after years of taking the chemo drugs. “If you take them for years, they are not low dose, and that is why you feel sick.” Thanks Doc.
On these drugs, your hair thins, your skin and nails become weak, your stomach is upset 24/7, and your mind is in a fog. You have to take handfuls of pills and shots for the good effects, and more handfuls of pills to support your body from the bad effects they cause. But hey! If you need an organ transplant, you body will not reject it. Better safe than sorry.
Worst of all, you catch every single thing that someone else is sick with. So you need to stay away from people.
I was sick all the time and hospitalized many times while on these drugs. I was in the ER, the ICU, the regular hospital, and the skilled nursing home often. I have been in the quarantine area of these places many times.
People have to have masks and gowns and booties to treat you, and you cannot have visitors unless they think you are going to die. In that case, people can come in to say goodbye and you get to see all the random religious leaders who stop by. I am up for all prayers and blessings by any one of them no matter what their faith.
I caught diseases that normally only attacked plants and had to stay away from children. A common sight for my eyes was waking up in a hospital bed with drips in both arms while they tried antibiotics, anti-virals, and fluids to save my life. I would always say, “Thank You God, for the chance to wake up for another day.”
Finally I got off all of this in about 2013. I decided to take my chances with the disease and stop dying from the cure. Now I treat myself with diet, exercise, and rest. But I now watch my joints deform and have to rest many times a day to keep going.
What does not kill me, makes me stronger.
My post is for the #freewrite daily challenge by @mariannewest. Freewrite is a great way to post on steemit when you do not think you have the time, or talent, or anything to say. It’s a great way to start regular posting on steemit. I know you can do this too! Here is Marianne’s freewrite prompt post for today. Give it a try and surprise yourself.
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What a vicious disease!! Hugs to you, my friend...
Thank you so much. I have it better than so many people.
Howdy fitinfun! wow this is powerful. If people who are on all those drugs read this post it would be a great encouragement to them. I don't know why anyone wouldn't choose to do what you did after awhile.
It's a trade off. The drugs do help the pain and deformity. This can get to be very debilitating. I was a severe case in the reaction to the drugs and it got worse the longer I took them. It depends on how sick you want to be, and with what symptoms.
Sometimes when I watch my deformities coming on, I want to get back on the drugs, but so far I haven't. My exhaustion is really getting bad too, unfortunately.
A few years on and off might be good, but sometimes they kill you right out of the gate.
oh man fitinfun..there isn't a happy(well I know that's not the right term)medium for just some of the drugs?
Not really - you do not know when they will get you. You can take them without problems and then be sick or dead in 24 hours from some bad effect. It happens in my groups fairly frequently. All of them are toxic and some way. Not all of them work for all people, so in the beginning of treatment, they try them one by one. Then it might work for a while and then stop working. It's very frustrating.
oh man! This is very painful to hear but I'm glad you explained it so well. I would do what you are doing, exactly. If one of those drugs could cause your body to have a lethal reaction to it at any time I'd never take them again I don't think. Does that great church that you go to believe in healing and see cases of God healing people? We've seen hundreds of people healed over the years from everything from Aids to broken backs to cancer to anything.
Yes, my church does believe that and promote it. There are many examples of healing that has happened there. My Sundays are very positive and uplifting now and give me strength to carry on.
When I first got on all the drugs, I had no idea of the risks. My symptoms came on hard and fast and I just wanted relief. More recently people are often looking up the risks first. They get to my support groups scared and asking the rest of us if they should take the drugs or not. At least that is a bit of progress.
Howdy tonight fitinfun! It's like those drug commercials on tv where they list the potential side effects and you can't believe how bad they are, but those drugs you took really DO all those things! I'm thankful for your church, I thought they were a wild bunch, that's what it takes, wild faith! we are too.