Sjogrens Warrior Momma

It has been almost a year since I have written on my blog. I even had to make a new one (with the old posts copied and pasted) because blogger had kicked me out of my first blog. So here I am "Sjogrens Warrior Momma." To say it has been a journey this past year is an understatement. Learning about this disease and how it has affected me has been really hard, and I haven't been on here in almost a year to post because I have been trying to find my new normal. It has been hard, really hard. It took about 8 weeks for the Hydroxychloroquine (my medicine I take twice a day) to kick in, and after that the pain was much better, and felt under control. The hard part has been the constant fatigue. It takes over with everything I do, and my bed has become my place of refuge. I sleep, I sleep a lot. It is hard feeling exhausted and fatigued all the time. It definitely takes a toll, but I am grateful Jake and my boys are supportive and let me rest when I need to. This disease is craz...

   April is Sjogrens Awareness Month and what a perfect month to be diagnosed right? Celebrate? Hmmm...well not so much, but being aware is a good thing, and showing awareness is even better. For those of you who know me well you know I love to support things I am passionate about. When one of my close friends was diagnosed with breast cancer I went and bought us all of my family supporting shirts, and dyed my hair pink. Well for sjogrens I did the same. I bought a shirt for my self that says "Sjogrens Warrior," bought a purple butterfly sticker (the symbol for sjogrens) for my car, and I of course dyed my hair purple. I am so grateful that my husband is on board, and supports me in all my decisions.  The other thing that has been surprisingly easy is going gluten free! Jake and I took a trip to Trader Joe's a few weeks ago and shopped all things gluten free. We have been trying things and seeing what we like and don't like. So far we have both been pleasantly surpris...

  Let me tell ya 'bout my best friend (did you sing that tune?) I did...lol! Well, my new best friend is this Healthex Pillow.   It has helped my leg pain a lot! I of course found it on Amazon (my favorite place to shop).   So when I have been doing the stationary bike at about 20-30 minutes into my exercise my legs go numb, and when I get off of the bike I feel like both legs weigh a ton each. I have a hard time walking to our bedroom, but when I make it there I get on the bed, and flop my legs up onto this pillow. I lay there for about 10-15 mins and it really helps the numbness and pain go away (for the most part).  If I find myself being extremely tired during the day I go upstairs and take a break and put my feet up with this pillow. It has really helped the achiness and pain. Sometimes the pain is really bad, and I will go and put menthol lotion on and then plop my legs up onto the pillow. I am just so grateful for this little sense of relief ...

  Wow. Where to begin? I was diagnosed with Sjogern's Syndrome today April 1, 2022..."April Fool's?" Unfortunately  not, but it is the beginning of my journey. I wanted to start a blog to document what I have been going through and any feedback, recommendations and advice are sincerely welcomed.  I picked the word "Warrior" to go along with this disease because warrior means a person engaged in warfare, a soldier, a fighter. It means a person who shows or has shown great vigor or courage. These are qualities I look up to in others, and I want to take this diagnoses head on, give it a fight, and not let it run my life.  I should start by introducing my beautiful or should I say handsome family. I have been married to my husband Jake since 2003. He is the rock of our family and our provider. He has been a State Farm Agent since 2007, and he is literally "Jake From State Farm." Together we have 3 boys. Elliott born in 2005, Oliver born in 2007, and Ar...