That's quite a bit!

This morning, I got a call from a lady in church. Her children are all grown, but she was kind enough to offer to watch mine. Such a relief! My kids have a serious needle-phobia and are easily reduced to tears at the sight. Her house is a little bit of a drive, so we left early so I could run some errands. I went to the bank and then called 411 to find the nearest post office since our GPS doesn't list any. They didn't have any listings for the town I was in, so I asked for the Ardmore one. The connected me to the Ardmore one and I asked for the address. She said it was on 30 Ardmore Ave. I plugged it into the GPS, and though it said it was further away than I thought normal, I started driving. When we finally got to the 'destination' it was a house. Apparently the Ardmore post office on Ardmore Ave isn't actually in the town Ardmore. Argh. So, now it was too late to go to the PO, so I dropped off the kids and went to my doctor's appointment.

The doctor agreed that my knee was noticeably bigger and more swollen than my last appointment. The meds I'm on aren't working so great, eh? She numbed it with a spray and then proceeded to drain it. Ouch. Not my favorite experience, I confess. So, I tried to relax and breathe deep and the doctor said, "Wow. There is A LOT of fluid in here. I'm going to need another syringe." She finished draining it and gave me a cortisone shot. I looked over and she had 2 fat syringes completely full. It was a total of 40 cc's. Um, that is a lot of fluid. I can see my knee again! She said "No wonder you are in so much pain! This should really help." Then she went to analyze the fluid. By doing this she could tell if the inflammation was a result of injury or rheumatoid arthritis.

It's kind of a good new/bad news deal. Good news, I can get back to my racquetball and workouts and live my life as normal. Woot!! Bad news, the pain and inflammation is a result of rheumatoid arthritis and will be a part of me for the rest of my life. Well, okay then. At least I know what is wrong and I can do something about it. She did some more blood work today and at my next appointment we'll decide if I should start on an RA treatment for one joint, or wait until the others go bad.

I'm glad I can start working out again. Even if it hurts, at least I know that my working out isn't causing the pain or making it worse. That would stink. So, BRING ON THE RACQUETBALL! :o)

After the doctor, I managed to find a PO, got a little gas for Odie who was on fumes (thinking of you Lar ;o) ), and dashed over to get the kids. Roo asked for the dead frog found in their pool, so I now have a dead frog in my fridge, waiting for daddy to get home. LOL! Oh, and I returned Chuck, which I watched for the first time last night. Pretty cute show!