Victory Lap

It's been a super year and I'd like to take a victory lap. I've conquered lots of obstacles, and I'd like to share.

On the arthritis side - I am off prednisone. For those who have been reading for a while, feel free to celebrate right along with me. That sentence is enough of an accomplishment that I could stop right there. But wait, there's more! I have had some shoulder surgery (humeral head replacement) to get some pain relief. It was a bit of process to get there, and I am now feeling just great. I am on Actemra and that is all. My drug list is down significantly, I'd say!

One of the harder things for me to write this year was a profile for RA Guy's "Real Profiles of RA". It's an insightful section to his amazing web site, where folks like me with RA from around the globe submit pictures and write about their RA experience. It was hard to answer "How has living with RA helped to improve your life?" Umm, it hasn't. And I left my draft at that for about 4 weeks, but it was peculating the background.. It's easy to see what it has taken away from me. It's harder to see the positives. I eventually found my answer, but it was instinctive for me to get there.

I am married to a hockey fan, and John was telling me about 24/7 - HBO is following two hockey teams behind the scenes leading up to the outdoor Winter Classic hockey game. Ok, all this to say the Philadelphia Flyers listen to "Knock Knock" by Mac Miller when they win. I've had a super year, so this is my victory song! Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas and a health-filled New Year.