Living with Scleroderma

Reflections on the Messy Complexity of Chronicity

Body

Birthday Jaunt

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Covid over (despite a scare last Monday when I developed a sore throat that, fortunately, resolved on its own), Al and I celebrated my birthday last Wednesday and Thursday with a quick trip to New Haven and New York City. My goal was to see a couple of art exhibits, one at Yale and the other at the Neue Galerie in Manhattan. The weather was sunny, the art stunning, the food excellent.

We stayed overnight in New Haven at a hotel that functions solely on electricity and is fossil-fuel-free, the Hotel Marcel, named for Marcel Breuer, a Bauhaus luminary who had originally designed the building as the corporate headquarters for Armstrong Rubber Co. Converted to a hotel with a commitment to sustainability and many curated Bauhaus details, it aims to be the first certified “passive house” hotel in the U.S. by the end of next year.

So, it was a fascinating trip, on many levels. Here are some of my favorite pieces from the Yale Art Gallery (no photos allowed at the Klimt landscape exhibit at the Neue Galerie). Photo above is one of my favorite NYC views, the constellation mural and lights on the ceiling of Grand Central Station. Enjoy!

Edvard Munch, Toward the Forest I, 1897
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Schlemihl’s Encounter with His Shadow, 1915

Joan Miró, Jeune fille s’evadant (Girl Escaping), 1968
El Anatsui, Society Woman’s Cloth (Gold), 2006
Paul Klee, Heitere Gebirgslandschaft (Joyful Mountain Landscape), 1929
Wassily Kandinsky, Mit baumtem Kreis (Multicolored Circle), 1923
Josef Albers, Skyscrapers A, ca. 1929

 

Evelyn Herwitz blogs weekly about living fully with chronic disease, the inside of baseballs, turtles and frogs, J.S. Bach, the meaning of life and whatever else she happens to be thinking about at livingwithscleroderma.com. Please view Privacy Policy here.

Spring at Last

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On Sunday, I walked outside without a coat for the first time this year. What a blessing, especially after feeling so cooped up 10 days ago with Covid. It’s been spring on the calendar for more than a month, but this was the first day that really felt springy.

As far as I can tell, I’m done with the virus. Whatever lingering sinus congestion (mild) is now attributable to allergies (the downside of spring). When I went for a routine pulmonary function test on Friday, at first the respiratory tech was not sure if she could administer it to me, given my recent Covid experience. But fortunately she was able to check with the hospital’s chief of infectious diseases, who agreed with my expectation that, given revised CDC protocols, I was free and clear.

(In case you’re not aware, the new guidance basically says that after 24 hours free of fever without OTC meds and no symptoms, you can go out masked. After five days of masking, you no longer need the mask, which is where I was on Friday, eight days from no symptoms, thanks to Paxlovid.)

I completed the test, which is never easy at this point, but the good news was that my diffusion rate (not stellar) had not really changed—which has been the case for several years now. So that was encouraging.

And a relief after my other health debacle last week—skillfully scratching my cornea in my right eye on Thursday when I was putting in my scleral lenses. I wasn’t sure, at first, why my eye was bothering me with the lens in place, because it bathes my eye in saline. But once I removed it, my eye continued to smart, and going outside in bright sunshine was truly uncomfortable.

Don’t try driving with a scratched cornea. I did okay, but my eye was tearing and I could barely keep it open. Bad idea. Very bad idea. Back home, after flushing my eye with drops, I used some eye gel and covered my eye with gauze and paper tape for several hours, which made it tolerable.

Fortunately, on Friday, before the PFT, I saw a specialist at the local college eye clinic, who assessed it and thought I was on the mend, though he was prepared to do an emergency debridement if need be. Thank goodness that wasn’t necessary. And I was fine by the weekend.

So, all the more reason to be glad to walk outside without a coat or a jacket or even a sweater on Sunday. No more Covid. No more eye pain. Just sun and flowers and blooming buds on our new cherry tree. A good way to begin a new week.

Evelyn Herwitz blogs weekly about living fully with chronic disease, the inside of baseballs, turtles and frogs, J.S. Bach, the meaning of life and whatever else she happens to be thinking about at livingwithscleroderma.com. Please view Privacy Policy here.

Best Laid Plans Department

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And so, despite my best efforts, I did get Covid last week, after all. In fact, I tested positive on Tuesday afternoon. At first, I thought it was just allergies. All the trees have finally bloomed here, and pollen is in the air.

Just to be sure, though, I took a test. When I first looked at the results, I thought I was still okay, but there was the faintest positive stripe. So I repeated it. Same thing. And by evening, I didn’t really need to doubt it. I was starting to get chills, and my throat was swelling.

By morning, I felt truly rotten. No fever, but all the symptoms I get with a virus, especially severe Raynaud’s and joint aches and headache and sinus congestion. My hands felt like blocks of ice, and it took at least a half hour of huddling under blankets and meditative breathing to regain feeling. I called our primary care nurse practitioner’s office, and by midday I’d gotten the go-ahead to start Paxlovid.

This is the second time I’ve caught Covid. Last time was two summers ago, right before we were supposed to go on vacation, causing a total reorganization of travel plans.

This time, it hit right before my 70th birthday and Passover, which begins tonight. So all plans for both had to be scuttled and rethought.

Thanks to my wonderful daughters and husband, my birthday turned out to be a lovely celebration, despite being sick. The Paxlovid kicked in enough for me to feel somewhat better when I woke on Thursday—and discovered in my email a gift certificate from the family, orchestrated by my daughters, for an Air BnB writing retreat, good for anytime I want to go. In addition, my younger daughter had created a fantastic 70th birthday video with greetings from family and friends, including some people I had lost touch with over the years. It gave me a great boost and is a wonderful keepsake.

Al brought home flowers, and later, he picked up a nice dinner from one of our favorite restaurants to eat at home. So, I felt fully celebrated and grateful—and resilient. Take that, Covid!

We’ve had to upend our Passover plans, because we are just barely clearing the hurdle of having to mask in public (five days after you feel better, have no fever and no symptoms). So we are doing a Zoom seder with our immediate family for the first night, and just me and Al, the second. It’s a small and quiet holiday this year. Given my energy level post Covid, that’s just fine. Cooking for just the two of us on Sunday wiped me out.

The one bright side of this, as my Boston Medical rheumatologist said to me weeks ago when we were discussing pros and cons of a spring Covid booster shot, now that I’ve had the latest variant, most likely JN.1, I’ve gained some protection against it. At least, I sure hope so. This virus is not to be messed with, especially for those of us with compromised immune systems.

And so, Dear Reader, I hope you stay well and avoid Covid. But if it nabs you, be sure to ask for Paxlovid. It significantly reduces risks of the virus and really made a huge difference for me. The most recent research says chances of rebound are slim. It makes your mouth taste bitter, but that’s a small price to pay.

Evelyn Herwitz blogs weekly about living fully with chronic disease, the inside of baseballs, turtles and frogs, J.S. Bach, the meaning of life and whatever else she happens to be thinking about at livingwithscleroderma.com. Please view Privacy Policy here.

And So It Goes

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I was planning to write an upbeat post today, in anticipation of my 70th birthday on Thursday. But life has a way of throwing curve balls. On Sunday, we discovered that Al has Covid. So far, he seems to be doing okay, and we expect a green light for him to start a course of Paxlovid. The last time he had Covid, nearly two years ago, it worked well for him. But he still has to lay low. So our dinner plans for Thursday night are postponed.

So far, I’m doing fine, no symptoms and testing negative. I sincerely hope that I don’t get Covid for my birthday. I also hope we are both are in the clear for hosting family for next week’s Passover seders.

I was texting with our older daughter on Sunday, who was very sympathetic about the bad timing of all this, and I remarked that turning 70 is all about taking this kind of downturn in stride—even as I was pretty frustrated when I saw Al’s positive test result that morning. As she rightly noted, a birthday is just one day, but “you can be celebrated all the days!” Very true.

For weeks I had been debating whether to get the recommended spring Covid booster. I had discussed this with both of my rheumatologists, at home and at Boston Medical, as well as with our geriatrics nurse practitioner. All had been ambivalent. The issue is that the spring booster is the same vaccine as last fall’s, although the prevalent Covid strains have evolved. While it’s possible that the booster could help dampen the impact of those new strains, it’s not conclusive that it would make a difference.

Had I gotten the booster, would I be at less risk for getting Covid for my birthday? I’ll never know. However, given my exposure, whether I catch the virus or not, I will build up some more immunity from the current strain. So I guess that’s a plus. But one I could do without.

Fortunately, even before Al got sick, we had decided to schedule an overnight trip to New York City to celebrate my birthday in early May. My original idea, to go this week, would have been too much, too near to Passover, which involves a lot of cleaning and preparation. Now it would have been impossible.

And so, all I can do is wait and see. Getting upset won’t change anything. I’ll make the best of my 70th birthday, regardless, and we’ll celebrate together when we’re both well. Lessons learned from seven decades.

Evelyn Herwitz blogs weekly about living fully with chronic disease, the inside of baseballs, turtles and frogs, J.S. Bach, the meaning of life and whatever else she happens to be thinking about at livingwithscleroderma.com. Please view Privacy Policy here.

Image: Simon Hurry

Routine Exam

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Monday afternoon found me in my hometown rheumatologist’s office. I see her twice a year, so that I always have a specialist nearby who knows my history, in case I need help pronto without driving into Boston. She is chair of the rheumatology department for our local health care organization, very thoughtful, compassionate. She also respects my long experience with scleroderma. Mostly, she listens.

We went over the usual check-list: Blood pressure looks good. How are your hands doing? Any prescriptions need refilling? Has anything changed? I reminded her that I needed her to schedule pulmonary function tests at the hospital, because my Boston Medical pulmonologist needs them when I see him in May. She sent in the order.

When she asked about my breathing, I told her I’d had an echocardiogram at Boston Medical a couple of weeks ago. She looked in MyChart. Although my exams from both local and Boston docs are visible in the online medical record, she could not access the Boston test results, something to do with HIPPA regulations.

Fortunately, I was able to get into my BMC account on my phone and pull up the information for her to review (one of those times when an internet search came in very handy). All normal, pulmonary pressures stable. I asked her about medical terms in the report: What is mild tricuspid regurgitation? Nothing to worry about, everyone has some, the echo is very sensitive. Nice to get that explanation in real time.

I filled her in on the mammogram kerfuffle. I asked her if the fact that I have some calcification in small vessels in my left breast is any indicator that more calcinosis in breast tissue could occur. She shook her head. Never seen that in 30 years of practice. I’ll take it.

I shared the good news that after several months of calcium pits emerging from my right thumb, the fifth shard finally emerged on Sunday, and it seems to be done, for now. (When I pulled the last pit out that evening, I showed Al: Look, it’s just a hole! And the hole, per usual, is finally closing on its own.) That must feel a lot better, she said. Yes, definitely.

I told her about my struggle with dry eyes from Sjogren’s and the great help I’m getting from my optometrist at the local college dry eye clinic. When I saw him last week to report back on new eye drops he’d given me (successful) and have him replace the dots on my scleral lenses that indicate how to orient them in each eye, he reminded me that I need to start allergy drops again, that it’s going to be a bad allergy season this year—the likely reason my eyes keep getting goopy.

We discussed the trade-offs of an infusion for osteoporosis (which I have had for years, like my mom and her mother). Despite not having infusions for over a decade, my bone density remains stable. My original rheumatologist, the one who saw me when all my symptoms erupted, had felt the infusions weren’t really necessary if bone density hadn’t changed.

At issue is whether those infusions can exacerbate bone resorption in my teeth. The unanswered/unaswerable question is whether the risk of losing more teeth and getting very expensive implants in a difficult procedure is worse than the risk of bone fracture if I fall. She said she would defer to my dentist. So I need to follow up with him. (And check the latest research about the effectiveness of bisphosphonates in reducing bone fractures. The answer is—it depends. Here’s info from NIH.)

And that was how we left it. It’s a lot to keep track of, but after all these years, it really does feel routine. Thank goodness, I’m holding steady.

Evelyn Herwitz blogs weekly about living fully with chronic disease, the inside of baseballs, turtles and frogs, J.S. Bach, the meaning of life and whatever else she happens to be thinking about at livingwithscleroderma.com. Please view Privacy Policy here.

Image: Mathew Schwartz