Rae Roy

Christmas was pretty low key this year, which is a good thing. No hospital visits and mostly relaxation. I received an ice cream maker, a tortilla press, bath stuff, and movies. A lot of Star Wars, which is fantastic! I got a few things on Boxing Day. I found Firefly on blue ray for $10. It's a great series and I've been wanting it. Usually it's triple the price! I also started collecting the Clone Wars series because I realized there's so much Star Wars canon I'm behind on. But Christmas has always been more about people for me. Seeing my honorary brother, hearing about my cousin's successful proposal to his girlfriend, spending quality time with my family, seeing old friends - these are the things that make my holiday. But there's always a limit. There's a point where I remember that living at my parent's house for more than a couple of days would drive me insane! I love them all though. On Sunday, I got to visit with old karate dojo teachers and s...

So it was one week ago that I was told I have an autoimmune disease called Sjögren's Syndrome . What is that? Well, like all autoimmune diseases, it means my body is attacking itself. I guess something had to slow me down ;) Seriously though, autoimmune diseases commonly feature symptoms like chronic fatigue. My particular one also comes with joint pain and a high amount of dryness all over the body. The glands that produce saliva, tears, vaginal lubrication, etc are attacked. Eyes get so dry vision is affected and they hurt. Mouth is so dry that things with any bit of acid in them, sting or cause sores. Breathing can be difficult because the internal organs like lungs get dry inside too, causing symptoms of asthma. I don't know why the skin is dry too. Perhaps sweat glands? I need to read more about it. People with autoimmune diseases are also hyper-sensitive to chemical toxins. Interestingly, doctors say that all autoimmune diseases have triggers. Often an environmental toxin...

I've been rather distracted as of late while waiting on medical test results. I was writing, but not very much. I'm not a New Years resolution type of person. I'm a goal-oriented type. So here's the writing plan for 2016: 1. Finish the second draft of The Blood Waitress Club. It is a tale of a team of roller derby girls who happen to be vampires. 2. Finish the first draft of Scion. This one is an alien conspiracy involving a particularly skilled boy. 3. Do whatever is needed to get The Page & The Magician to publication. It's my urban fantasy romance that's set in Ottawa. This one is currently in review by a publisher, but they could decide it isn't actually something they're into, or that it needs a lot more work. 4. Polish some of my short stories and send them out into the world. 5. Attend Ad Astra and Can-Con. That should keep me busy. Ciao, R~

My last post was a rather emotional one. Sorry for that. After seeing the rheumatologist, much weight has been lifted. The appointment was annoying though. It was for 10:20 and I didn't get to see her until nearly an hour after that. They overbooked. Then, when I finally see her she is going through the results in a painfully slow way. She mentioned that my white blood cells are low. So I'm freaking out in my head, wondering where she's going with this. Low white blood cells happen with Cancer, but also with autoimmune disorders. It's not Cancer! As she went through them, she said it's not Lupus either. It's also not Rheumatoid Arthritis. It's  probably Sjogren's Syndrome. Why probably? I've had problems with my salivary glands since I was 14 years old and dryness in other areas. Chronic dryness in the mouth that causes a high frequency of cavities. Now my eyes are often dry, but not gritty. Anyway, it causes joint pain also. Back to the probably. I...

I'm writing this post two days before my second meeting with the rheumatologist. As I await news, I can't count the number of times I thought about mentioning it to friends. What would I say? "Hey guys, I'm going through this scary thing right now. I have no clue what I need right now, or really even what any of it means for my future, but just putting this out there." When you're waiting on this kind of news though, you really don't know what to say. With a high amount of inflammation in the body, they usually check for Cancer along with other things. I'm nervous. Anxious. I want to know, but I wonder if remaining ignorant has perks for my mental health. I feel like if it's not my worst fear, I can probably handle it. Regardless, life changes are ahead as some of the other possibilities include Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus. It's possible I have both. Aside from inflammation, my joints and tendons hurt. The joints ache, while the tendons feel...

On Friday I traveled down to a friend's place in Oshawa, Ontario. We ate. I excitedly ran about giving her and her daughter gifts. Or tried to. New socks plus excitement led to me falling down some stairs. It wasn't something I needed. At least her daughter loved the gift. After that we climbed into the hot tub for some girl time and relaxation as Saturday was a big day for us. Early Saturday morning we left for Etobicoke. We arrived at the Olympium and lugged all our gear inside. The next step was finding out where we were going, which was much easier to find than the last time we traveled to a seminar together. The seminar was fantastic! I received some key tips that I think will help fix my grip once and for all. Hopefully I remember them. I wrote the most important ones down already, but I'm remembering some right now that I should scribble down. After the seminar, we hurriedly ate lunch and returned to the room for grading. During the seminar, I became quite sore, espe...