I’m trying to make a point to move more because it helps with the ankylosing spondylitis. Tap Dance class is going great! It feels so great to be dancing again! I’m also ready to start swimming again now that it’s hot outside again. I still need to work on practicing violin more. I don’t know what my problem with motivation there is. But I need to figure out so I can get to work. Oh well. Need to work on that.
I find this lady incredibly inspiring. And she happens to be from Austin! So I’m planning on going to a workshop she has coming up.
Okay, so this is the start of my new revamped blog. I’m aiming to make this a positive place where I talk about stuff that interests me.
Yesterday was Cushing’s Awareness Day, so in honor of that I posted lots of links about Cushing’s. Hopefully I helped people become a little more aware of what this disease is and it’s effects on people. There has been a 30 day cushing’s blog challenge going on this month, but I’m a little late getting started. So here I am.
What’s new with me?
Let’s see…I’m starting tap dancing classes next week. I have tendonitis in my ankle though, so hopefully I can still do it. I’m really excited–I haven’t danced in almost 10 years! I took ballet, tap, jazz and gymnastics all through growing up and into my 20’s. Then I got sick and had to stop. Dance has always been a passion of mine and I’ve really missed it. Turns out there’s a really good dance studio near where I work that offers lots of adult classes! I’m resisting the urge to dive in head first and sign up for everything, so for now I’m just taking tap. I went out and bought myself a new pair of tap shoes and some workout clothes and I’m really excited for my first class coming up! I’m also a bit nervous because I’m really out of shape due to muscle loss from cushing’s and having been so inactive (not by choice) for the past several years. But I’m going to take it slow and work my way up to being active again.
What else? Last summer I was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis, which is an autoimmune disease that attacks the spine and peripheral joints. Apparently lots of cushing’s patients are diagnosed with autoimmune diseases after they’re cured from cushing’s. The thinking there is that the excess steroids the adrenals put out in a cushing’s patient self-treat the autoimmune disease and then it shows up when the steroids are gone. That’s what happened to me anyway. So the doctor says that we’ve caught it early, which is really good. He’s started me on a class of drug called TNF Inhibitors (Humira, Enbrel and Simponi are some examples). If I can stay on the TNF Inhibitors it will stop the disease progression and I should be ok. Another key thing in staying healthy with AS is staying active, because not moving causes more pain. So that’s another good reason for me to start dancing again.
Music-wise I’m doing well. I’ve been taking lessons from an amazing professor of violin who has helped me regain some of the technique I lost in the years I was sick. I still have a long way to go before I’m ready to take an audition, but I’m working on it. I would like to play more gigs that I do right now, but I’m working on that too.
So that’s what’s going on. Starting new things, working toward making myself healthy in mind and body. Generally good.
Stop The Violins 