Hope,

I have the full gamut of autoimmune stuff. In 3 years, I have torn both rotator cuffs, gotten bursitis in both hips, so many times the ortho wants to remove the bursae..(no way). Oh, and a few bones are eroding....not to mention joint deformity. I don't have RA tho.

I have diffuse esophageal spasm, AND nutcracker esophagus on occassion. I have arrhythmias and structural cardiac issues (but apparently not life threatening-and I assume we all have some stuff that is as they say around here, 'cattywompus'.)

Most of my teeth are crowns....I had punctal plugs until something happened and I developed a cavernous nasolacrimal duct that can be played like a bagpipe by pushing on my eyelid. That may be due to my car accident 20 years ago and the suspected lafort fracture that they never found....hmm. My bili is high, and I am watching my bmp these days for kidney stuff.

Oh, sing an ode to autoimmunity....

All that said....nothing causes as much misery as SFN. That and my two herniated discs....ugh.

Back in the olden days, they would say, 'My rheumatism is bothering me'....and that would be enough. I am content these days to say I have an autoimmune disease or connective tissue disease with neuropathy.

On children, I just got news that one of my kids is moving back in with us temporarily, with her 2year old.....oh boy. Come Fall I will be caring for my 1 year old grandson, when his mom deploys....oh boy. If grandkids make one happy, I ought to be in 7th heaven....or 6 feet under (just kidding-I plan on living in an urn after I depart this world anyway.)

I was a nurse before I became a farmer....I like being a farmer better. I don't have to think much when digging in dirt. I can wear my ipod. I don't have to worry about sterile technique. I work with animal manure, which for some reason is more pallatable than the human variety. And I don't have to call doctors. Note, my chickens just learned to fly, and somehow, this time when I counted them....there is an extra one....I still have no explanation for it. I have 6 rhode island reds, and I ordered 5. I have a grand total of 17 chicks. Now I need one more name! I busy myself with trivia which I can make seem important...like naming a chicken. It makes me forget I hurt all over and can't take another pain pill for 2 hours.

It is always a shock when we get neuropathy. I would be lying if I didn't say, 'why me?'. But the fact is, it IS me....can't change that. There seems to be no real clear causation even when one IS diagnosed with another disease. And there is no more disarray in any field than rheumatology. You can get a new diagnosis every week! I believed if I could find a cause, then we could treat that cause and voila, stop the neuropathy. Hmm, so far, that hasn't panned out the way I planned.

I can tell you that the more I have wailed the more people stay away, so, I have learned by experience, like many others, to reply, "I'm fine" when any one asks about my welfare.

I keep telling myself that is true...because in the long run, what is important, is that we believe we will be ok.....it is just a different kind of ok.