AT THE WATER’S EDGE:

Okay, so maybe I’m not holding on quite like *that* anymore…but, you know what I mean.

Today marks two months (or, 9 weeks) since I first started Humira on December 8, 2011.  If you’ve been following my journey, you know that I’ve been struggling to determine whether or not Humira is doing any better than Enbrel did—if Humira really is a “better shield” against my RAD.  After a month of bi-weekly injections, today will mark a month on weekly injections.  This is the week I was supposed to call my doctor’s office if I wasn’t feeling any better, so I could come in to the office sooner and we could look at another treatment option.  Guess what: I think I am feeling better.  It’s subtle, and I don’t know if it’s permanent, but this has been a legitimately better week.  
My wrists have been the primary problem as of late and so far they have shown the following improvements this week versus my average for the past couple months:




– No throbbing or radiating pain without movement
– Extended (though still somewhat limited) range of motion
– Increased strength as evidenced by my opening jars, easily gripping cups, using the pepper grinder and not having a problem with my Costco-sized bottle of dishwasher detergent
– No waking during the night due to wrist pain
–       Being able to give Tom a pain-free high-five (yes, we high-five each other on occasion)


Today is the only day all week that I would say my wrists have really felt sore.  They’ve been a little weak still, and would feel sore with pressure or weight, but that’s about it.  I was a little disappointed today when I woke up with slightly sore and stiff wrists, but then I remembered: it’s Humira day.  Hopefully it’ll kick in and my wrists will keep improving.


On the down side, I have had a few other remaining symptoms—mainly sore fingers, and a new nodule forming on my left-hand middle finger.  I won’t show you, so I’m not mistaken for making vulgar gestures 🙂  Oh, and so you can’t see my monster hands.  My hands are too small to be considered Seinfeld’s “man hands”, but every time I get new nodules I call them my “monster hands” as they seem to be mutating.


At any rate, my March appointment is only a few weeks away.  Unless anything big changes, I think I’m going to hold on to this mild improvement, hope that it continues, and plan on keeping my original appointment as scheduled.