I was really sad that I didn’t get to participate in National Chronic Invisible Illness Awareness Week this year. I didn’t even get to do much promoting. Here’s what happened.

The week of September 12-18, National Chronic Invisible Illness Awareness Week, David started getting red welts or hives on his torso. Just a few at first, and I initially thought it was the psoriasis. I immediately went into panic mode, assuming the Humira had stopped working on his Psoriatic Arthritis, and that he was going to start having the terrible flares that leave him bedridden again. David quickly figured out it wasn’t psoriasis. He took Benadryl, and the hives went away.

The next day they came back, only worse. He saw our family doctor who gave him some allergy medicine. I make our laundry detergent and cleaning products, and nothing new had been introduced. David wasn’t using any new shampoos or soap.

This went on for days. Allergy medicine would clear up his skin, but the welts kept coming back. Then one afternoon while I was at my part-time administrative assistant job, David started having trouble breathing. The allergic reaction was making his throat close up.

I took him back to our family doctor, who sent David to an allergist, but recommended we call David’s rheumatologist before we got to the allergist. The rheumatologist was concerned it might be the Humira. The rheumatologist thought this horrible allergic reaction could have been cause by Humira, the medication that keeps David’s psoriatic arthritis in remission. He wanted David to skip a few doses of Humira. I felt sick.

Thankfully, the next day, the allergist told us she was almost certain David was not having an allergic reaction to the Humira. She even said that if David was having this reaction because of Humira, she could help him manage the hives since the Humira helped him so much. It was such a relief to hear her say that!

The allergist kept David on some anti-histamines for awhile, but we never did figure out what was causing the terrible allergic reaction. The hives went away after a few days, and David hasn’t had any more incidents of his throat swelling.

We’re so thankful the allergic reaction stopped and that it wasn’t Humira. But that’s what happened during Invisible Illness Week. It’s always something with us. I guess that’s why we call it chronic.

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The Aftermath or My Recovery from David’s Flare Up Part 2

I’m getting the house under control. I just dusted the whole house, in the hopes that it would make my throat feel better. My allergies are always severe in the fall, and they’ve started up early this year, probably due to all the rain we’ve been having here in Dallas. And of course, rain aggravates David’s arthritis, so he’s hurting, but the ligament does seem to be better.

I really wanted a few days where I was just at home doing nothing but cleaning. But, life goes on, and I’m not getting any days of staying at home. Still, I think I’m getting there with the house. We’re getting back into our “normal amount of arthritis pain” routine. The dishes are cleaned up every night. A load of laundry is done every day. I clean something every day. I’m hopeful that by Thursday I’ll be caught up.

The real challenge is meals. We’ve gotten off of David’s diet. We’re back to eating lots of meat, and too much junk food. Dinner tonight was a pizza. I had planned to cook a healthy, vegetarian dish, but it’s so easy to give in when David calls on his way home from work and says, “Gee, are you sure you don’t want me to pick up a pizza?”

To me, diet is one thing we can control. We have no control over the weather or David’s arthritis flares or his ligaments. But, we can make healthy food choices. Lord willing, we’ll be back to healthier choices tomorrow. That’s my goal anyway. I was especially encouraged by the podcast from the National Chronic Invisible Illness Awareness Week conference about Simplifying Your Home and Housework. You can listen to the archived radio shows here or download them on Itunes. After listening to the show, I sort of started meal planning by making a list of all the meals I cook regularly. Just that helped clear my mental fog. I started thinking, “Oh, yeah! I make a great mushroom risotto that David loves! I can get back to cooking.”

Good grief. It’s not like he was even in the hospital. He was only bedridden for a few days. How do people do it? I mean, it could be so much worse.

Things are getting back to normal. David was finally convinced to cancel our open house scheduled for Sunday. Thank goodness! Our house will be off the market on September 30. This has taken a lot of pressure off of me. That, and the hope we’ve been given with the Humira has helped me tremendously.

David is still not sleeping well. Hence, I am not sleeping well. And with that, I’d better stop. I’m really tired. This isn’t the greatest blog post I’ve ever written. I just wanted to let folks know that things are looking up for David and me this week. I hope you’re having a good week to.

Thank you so much for all your prayers. God is good.

Love,
A Young Wife

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• My Dirty Secrets About Chronic Illness
• How to Cope When Your Spouse Has a Chronic Invisble Illness
• Chronic Illness

It’s National Chronic Invisible Illness Awareness Week. Check out this website for more information.

Over the years we’ve heard some cruel comments about David’s arthritis.

Before David received his diagnosis, I went to Sunday School by myself one Sunday. A man asked me where David was. I told him that David was home because of back pain. His response, “Well my back hurts all the time. I’m still here.” We don’t go to that church any more.

That one was probably the worst. David doesn’t get his feelings hurt like I do. In fact, often, I’ll be upset about some hurtful thing someone has said, and he’ll be like, “What? Who said that? I didn’t hear that.”

Ha, ha, rude people. My husband isn’t even listening to you!

Most of the negative things people say aren’t meant to be mean or rude. They’re just said out of ignorance, such as people saying I shouldn’t be doing David’s work around the house.

Sometimes loved ones will even make comments that sting. Usually, if it’s someone we’re close with, I’ll try to explain the situation. Everyone knows David has arthritis, but sometimes I have to explain in nitty, gritty detail how bad it is. But, a lot of people, even people we love, just don’t get it. If you have a chronic illness, tell me, when and how far do you go trying to explain your situation to ignorant folks?

We’re prepared for an onslaught of negative comments once we get the handicap parking permit. David doesn’t look sick, hence the invisible illness. I’m sure we’ll get all sorts of busybodys telling us we’re going to jail and hell for using the handicap parking reserved for the elderly people that really need it. I need to craft a standard response to these comments. Any suggestions?

I guess I could take the high road and not get down to their level and say, “My husband has debilitating Psoriatic Arthritis.” But wouldn’t it be so much more effective to hand them a phamplet on National Chronic Invisible Illness Awareness Week? Or a Pamprin?

How about this, “Jesus loves you and me and my husband. I don’t know why he has arthritis, but maybe it’s so that we can tell people like you about how he died on the cross for your sins. Have you heard the good news? Are you a Christian?”

Then David would probably tell them that the permit is really for me because I have a mental handicap.

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