The Old Bat

My friend, JeanneD & I are old friends. Not in the amount of time measured on earth-but we are soul sisters....two of a kind. She is sure she was a transplant from the Roswell Incident (look it up) and I think I was just born weird. We were talking the other day about being old bats...laughing about it actually. . I hope she doesn’t mind that I am sharing our "old batisms" with you (kinda like a baptism-only different) -Got you thinking now, don’t I? We were talking about the aches and pains that come with age. I won’t mention hers because she might beat me~verbally, that is. She has a way with words that is unsurpassed.

But, yes indeedy, there are a few of us old bats left. This one has one bad wing that swells and aches and swells and aches As I was telling her, I went to my regular (or not so regular doctor-I couldn't tell by looking at him) and he poked and prodded and sent me off for an ultrasound and poked some more and scratched his head and did the SED rate (blood test). When those results came back he about fell off his chair and said, "I had NO IDEA" - I said, "I told you so"...so we did some more pokes and prods and finally, aha...the light at the end of the tunnel- it's coming...it’s coming..... If I WERE A MAN- IT would be called Ryder's Syndrome...however, it has never been diagnosed in a woman. Well-as I told him-my father always said I thought like a man-did that count? Nope! That wouldn't do...must poke and prod some more...meantime I am sitting upright in a chair to sleep with an ankle (one week) and a knee (the next week) and then a toe ,etc. etc., etc...start counting the body parts...that would SWELL & bruise and OMG the pain....anyway...this went on for a year....labs went to Stanford University hospital...hmmm...sed rates are REALLY high-Really? No kidding! oh..well...let's try to get those down to normal. (Normal is 3-5- Mine was over 60) (Right now I stay with it in the teens) 9 means you are in pretty bad pain (or good pain if you are a pain doctor)...well, long story short...nothing worked....except- praise God- an old inflammatory that they don't like to use anymore because it makes your stomach bleed....give it to me...I can make more blood. So....15 years later I have :"flares"~ that's what we call them now~"flares" that come and go. When I flare they put me on the old standby to get it under control until I can manage with 8 hr Tylenol. With inflammatory arthritis you are not supposed to eat any citrus (are you reading this -it’s medical information from an Ask-The-Dummy-Course) or nightshade plants. (peppers, eggplant, tomatoes & yes, potatoes for some people) . I can eat the potatoes and a little bit of tomato once in a while- I can't touch peppers or citrus or I flare almost immediately. Eggplant was not a loss for me-I never met an eggplant I really liked. I get by-I feel great most of the time......well, I think my pain tolerance level is higher than most-it must be-I've had good practice-I married MyHero and I’m still part of the same family, right?

The achiness seems to be worse in Winter so I am always looking towards Spring. I can’t wait- Spring is coming-soon it will be time to come out of the bat cage for the Season. My friend, Jeanne, is holed up in her bat cage too. I haven’t "talked" to her in a couple of days. Are you staying warm and dry in there? Do you get enough to eat? I always heard that bats liked insects and sex (see how that almost rhymes)? I'm not sure if that's true....but Jeanne should know~