A Young Wife’s Tale

David and I are home for Christmas! It’s so good to be back in Texas. This summer when we were here on vacation, we rescued a stray, and we’ve done it again this time. We’re still waiting for animal control to be open so we can take her to the shelter. My parents have been [...]

If you follow me on Twitter you know I was really sick over the weekend. Friday afternoon, I started having trouble with my right eye. Eventually, I realized it was conjunctivitis, also known as pink eye. I have never had conjunctivitis, even as a child. David thinks I got it from 3D glasses at the early screening of Tron we went to. Eww…

So, Friday night we picked up some over the counter eye drops with a homeopathic remedy for pink eye. David was feeling pretty good, and around seven o’clock we worked out together. By eight o’clock my throat was hurting. By nine I had body aches and a fever. I took some ibuprofen, but I continued to get worse.

Saturday morning, I woke up very sick. David had to bring me food and help me get dressed and out of bed. Usually, it’s the other way around. I’m the caregiver. The well spouse.

‘Tis the season for parties, gifts, family, friends and everything that goes with the holidays. For many, this time of year is stressful, and for people with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, feeling overwhelmed can make their conditions worse. Here are tips and guidelines from the National Psoriasis Foundation to help you enjoy the festivities.

Know what stresses you. Is it particular people, travel, obligations or maybe finances? Knowing what triggers your stress will help you manage them. Then you can focus on minimizing your exposure to them.

Know how you respond to stress. When you feel pressured, do you get overly emotional, overeat, skip meals, focus on sweets, sleep poorly or get frustrated? Learn to recognize your own personal “stress signals.” Your goal is to catch them early, before you begin to feel too strained.

David and I became active on his company’s health insurance Saturday. We had been on the contract company’s health insurance, and the last two months we were on COBRA. I’m really happy to be on the new insurance. The benefits are a lot better.

Now we just need our insurance cards. David’s out of a few prescriptions, and I’m anxious to get on the health insurance company’s website to search for a new rheumatologist.

There’s a couple at our church here in New Jersey with a daughter who has multiple health problems, including lupus, seizures and a form of arthritis. As it turns out, they took her to David’s rheumatologist, the one who doesn’t think he has psoriatic arthritis.

Our Shop Rite ran a special where if you spent $300 there during a certain time period, you got a free turkey. I got the biggest free turkey I could find. That’s right, I’m making a 20.49 pound turkey for two. We will have lots of leftovers, and I’m planning on turkey pot pies and lots of good stock.

Typically, David and I watch all of the extended versions of the Lord of the Rings movies around Thanksgiving. This year, we decided to switch things up and have a Star Wars movie marathon. ‘Cause we’re crazy cool like that.