Membranous glomerulonephritis. Round 2. Week 1.

One of the more noticeable changes is the one on ones appearance. Medication is not easy on the looks. But fortunately, I'm not too vain to medicate. This is me, day 0. Without makeup I might add, but surely you already noticed :P

Day 0

Week 1: 

Medication: 150mg cytotoxins (Cyclosporin), 64mg cortisone and other assorted goodies.

He spoke gently, tilted his head in an attempt at sympathy.

Am I distressing you? he asked as my blood pressure measured 175/110 (True number, btw). Me distressed? Why doctor, whatever do you mean? How could I possibly be distressed? Being told I'm back at ground zero after a year on, and just four months off, meds can't possibly be distressing can it?

As he droned on on the new and improved side-effects of the planned medication; this time almost guaranteeing diabetes, I more or less zoned out whilst he told me of the weekly blood-sugar and blood-pressure appointments, the bi-weekly other testing, what to look out for, and other signs to check. As of yet I'm not sure I got it all. I can pretty much guarantee I missed some major important stuff. I know I missed the 'take it easy and relax' part in particular. Oh, and breathing. Forgot about that too :)

I got two months of sick-leave to start with. The plan is to half the cortisone within a month.

The side-effects I experienced during week 1 were: Nausea and cold sweats about 1,5-2 hours after taking the meds, and a complete inability to concentrate on anything more than a few seconds.

Tip: Eat a sturdy but healthy breakfast before taking the pills. I skipped breakfast the first day, and all those meds on an empty stomach hit me hard. An all time low energy level is to be expected, so I've started drinking a Green spinach smoothie every morning to get the extra energy I need. The smoothie recipe I use comes from here.
You'll also want to get a deep cleaning, but non corrosive facial, and if you like me got some grey hair, a coloring. Those won't be possible later on.

Sincerely,
Pepsi-Mama

Membranous glomerulonephritis. Round 2.

In December 2010, I went to the doctor's, having legs swollen to the size of three trunks. It took 6 months before I got my diagnosis: Membranous glomerulonephritis. Treatment with high doses of cortisone started immediately.

Now I'm undergoing Round 2, because after only 4 months off meds, the Membranous glomerulonephritis is back. This time the coctail is cortisone and cytotoxins.

So, that's what these posts will be all about. Battling the Membranous glomerulonephritis. Round 2.
A kidney disease I'm told is kind of rare, and for which in my case, they do not know the cause of. Apparently it's not that common, at least not here in Finland. 

I'm planning on posting photos and weekly comments on the side effects I'm experiencing. 
Please realize that everyone responds differently to their medication, and that this is merely my experience, NOT a foretelling of your journey should you receive the same diagnosis and treatment. Drug intensity, duration, and personal reactions varies. Still, my hope is that by telling you my story, I might offer some insight on what's to come and provide helpful hints.

Sincerely,
Pepsi-Mama

Sant

Duktighetshysteri, läs mer här!

Ventilating

Me and you and you and me
No matter how they toss the dice, it has to be
The only one for me is you, and you for me
So happy together

Bull.

The Turtles were full of it.

My boyfriend of five years and I have been living together for 10 months now, and let me just say I have no idea how people do it without losing their mind. Don’t get me wrong now, I love him dearly. I just want to kill him and string him up in the garage sometimes.

Our problem; Communication.

We think we’re clear and precise

 …and we’re obviously not.

Bitching on the down-sides of living with the man you love is easy when he’s not around to disagree, so to even out the Karmic repercussions; here’s a short shout out for the up-sides: 

• Bulging arms and other assorted eye-candy readily accessible 24/7.

• No problem working with heights anymore. Or cans. Or the heater.

• Always a partner in crime ready for whatever dumb idea I should come up with.

• Toasty warm feet.

Sincerely,

Pepsi-Mama

Things worth believing in

Secondhand Lions – Uncle Hub’s Speech:

"Sometimes the things that may or may not be true

are the things a man needs to believe in the most.

That people are basically good;

that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything;

that power and money, money and power mean nothing;

that good always triumphs over evil;

and I want you to remember this, that love…

true love never dies.

You remember that, boy. You remember that.

Doesn’t matter if it’s true or not.

You see, a man should believe in those things,

because those are the things worth believing in."

This was originally a part of Marelisa's post. The woman is wonderfully inspirational! If you'd like the whole thing, the link is here! Make sure to watch the Britain's got talent video she posted - I cried my eyes out, it was so beautiful!

Embrace your inner weirdo

Read something lovely here today, and wanted to share!
(make sure my daughter reads it later on)

After

Six shoppingbags later this is the result. Could use a bit of further weading, but for now, I'm content.

Inspired or just temporarily insane?

Inspired by Joshua Millburn’s post on the minimalists, I’ve decided to give myself a new project, or rather, I’ve finally gathered the courage to tackle a problem I’ve been postponing for some time. (Thank you Joshua for the inspiration to do so!)

In June last year, when I bought the old house I’ve renovated, I decided the house would embrace minimalism. We happily didn’t plan for a kitchen table or dining area, discarded the idea of a living room table in front of the sofa, planned to only keep a bed and a closet in the bedroom, and all those thing has worked out great. During the spring I had cluttered my kitchen and my living room, gotten rid of tons of paperwork and photos, old DVDs, CDs and even a large part of my books. We allowed for 3 bookshelves in the new house. Those would have to contain my books, the remaining paperwork, memorabilia and all our electronic gadgets. It looked like this (picture below) until a few weeks ago.

What happened then? I received my order from the book sale, and what do you know...
There’s not enough space for the new entries.

(Color-coordinated? Seriously? Sure, why not!? Tried by genre, but that just messed the bookshelves up into a kaleidoscope of colors and sizes)

So the new project is this: Clear those shelves up.
Pms should make that a walk in the park. Expect a post with the after picture shortly.

Lifelessons provided by the web

Sommaren 2011

Sommaren 2011, en händelsefull sommar. Tyvärr var jag för speedad av mina njurmediciner för att komma ihåg särskilt mycket av den. Men en del av resultatet av den sommaren omringar mig.

Jag köpte ett hus, oanandes om att min diagnos skulle komma dagen efter och medicineringen påbörjas genast. Trots den, eller kanske mer tack vare den, tog den invändiga renoveringen bara fyra månader. Go, go, go!!