Saturday 12th October

Not exactly an exciting name for a title of my post today, but that is the day and date and the best I could come up with!

I did go on the group walk this morning.  I donned my waterproof leggings, coat and of course trusty walking boots and set off.  I think there were only about ten of us hardy souls today, but it was so worth going as we went somewhere I had been meaning to go to for a long time, but never had.  Lovely fields and woods, so close!  Hubby of course cried off...no surprises there again.  He claimed he didn't have any wet weather gear, until I pointed out that we bought the same set at the same time only last year!    We walked just over 10 km today, so that was good.  Unfortunately my abdomen decided to play up part way round the walk and every few minutes I started getting waves of pretty bad pain which did spoil the walk somewhat, but I tried to focus on the lovely scenery.  I have to say I was pleased to get home!  

I have no idea if this is part of the SM or something else, but I have been a bit gippy the last couple of days.  I have had cauliflower this week, which I have always loved, but hadn't had a while. This is pretty much the only thing different I have had, so I am going to stop having it for a couple of weeks, see if the upset guts goes away, if it does, I will then reintroduce it to see what happens.  I also had to reduce my steroid dose today to 20mg, so not sure if that had anything to do with it or not.  I wouldn't have thought I would have a reaction quite that quick.  It will all go in my food/health diary anyway.  

I didn't take my camera today as it was too wet, so no photos of the lovely countryside we walked through, but I hope to go back so will make sure I get photos then.

A quiet afternoon on the settee, with heat packs and Percy on my lap doing a spot of knitting.

Dinner tonight will be some veg and chicken.  I picked the last three Dalmation beans for dinner.  There are actually more flowers on the plant, but I doubt they will set and grow into beans.  

The Long Tailed Tits visited the bird feeder again this afternoon, which was a delight to see, but again I didn't manage to get any photos of them either.

I was remembering back to this time last year.  I stayed at my son's house last year in October while he was away and enjoyed walking most days along the canal and around the fields near his place, (although then was having lots of pain problems with my feet and legs, thankfully that seems to be over) and the sky was blue, and it was quite warm.  Not like the last few weeks where it has been just grey, overcast and very damp!  Seems winter is already here!

Good Morning Monday

Gosh what an amazing weekend we had.  You couldn't have asked for better weather really.  The temperature was lovely and warm, but not too hot, the sky was blue and the sun shone beautifully in the sky.  I spent a really lovely day yesterday sitting out in the garden most of the day crafting.  I'd taken the dogs for a walk in the morning.  I've started doing two walks.  One shorter one with both dogs, and then taking Percy home, who still lacks a bit of stamina due probably to his continued chemo treatment, and then going on a more brisk walk with Stanley.

I had my CT Scan results back on Friday and I am still a little bit shell shocked and not completely sure how I feel about things.  I have a mixture of relief that they HAVE actually found something as you start to question yourself when the doctors keep doubting you.  But also a bit concerned about the fact that they have.

It seems I have something very rare called Sclerosing Mesenteritis (also known as Mesenteric Panniculitis  which can be genetic or an autoimmune disorder.   I was also low in folate, which my bloods have actually indicated for some time if only the other doctors had looked at the whole picture!  So this doctor has started me on a course of Folic Acid for the folate and a two month course of steroids for the SM.  I can't say I am overjoyed at having to take the steroids, I don't like drugs at the best of times...and as I was actually not feeling too bad and haven't done for the last couple of weeks, I was wondering whether I should just try more natural forms, but as I am impressed with this doctor and how thorough he is I thought I had better.  He is going to review me in two months time and retake the scans to see if the SM has improved etc...  I so hope so!  

I now wonder if both these two things, the low folate and the SM have actually been affecting me for some time.  So it will be interesting to see how I go.  I started the steroids on Saturday morning and the folate Friday afternoon.  I haven't slept properly the last couple of nights and I don't know if that is the steroids, or just the heat and thoughts churning around in my head.

Hopefully though we are on the right track and my health will start improving.

I'm going to have to watch even more closely what I eat now with being on steroids, so this is a good time to also focus on that along with regular exercise.

Well I have a list of things I want to get done today, so better get on.  

It is the start of a new week, a positive attitude and a way forward.