I’m feeling so much better now! I finished my antibiotics on Wednesday, along with my steroid dose increase. I’m also back on my Methotrexate, after having a week break to help to fight my sinus infection. My sinuses are feeling the best they have in a long while, so the antibiotics along with extra steroids have done the trick. I just really hope they stay like this. If you’ve been reading my blogs for some time, you will know how it is a constant battle with my sinuses all year round.
Quite interesting, after posting my blog last week, a couple of other people mentioned how they suffer from chronic sinus trouble. How they used to get constant sinus infections, before getting their diagnosis of Lupus. This is the same story as me. I was suffering from chronic sinusitis for a good couple of years before I found out I had Lupus. I never truly know why I suffer so much, and if it is actually linked to my Lupus or not. I know Lupus can affect any part of your body it wishes to. I do have secondary Sjogren’s from my Lupus and I know doctors say my chronic sinuses could be linked to that. I also know allergies affect my sinuses, i.e. the mould spores that are around this time of year. I don’t know! Just interesting how my journey to diagnosis is similar to other people’s.
We Have Casper Back
I’ve been on cloud-9 all weekend! For anyone who doesn’t know, my partner and I own a campervan called Casper. He’s been having a bit of work done on him since the start of November, so we haven’t been able to get out in him. So this weekend is the first weekend since October we’ve been back out in him. It was so good to be back out on the road with him!
Ok, before anyone thinks it must be too cold this time of year to be out in the van. We do have heating! So many people all week have been asking me this. Our camper van has got very good gas heaters. In fact, they are that good, we had to turn the heating down because we got too hot! The only time it does get cold is at night, as we don’t leave the heating on. To be fair, I don’t even need the heating on either, as our bedding is very warm and I wear fleecy pajamas. Then the heating button is right next to our bed for the morning so we don’t even have to get out of bed until it’s warm. It’s perfect, well apart from this morning when the gas bottle was empty and needed swapping over. At 6 am, poor Alex had to get out of our lovely warm bed and head outside to swap the gas over. It was -2.5C outside, everything was iced over and pitch black! Vanlife isn’t always as glamorous as it may look!
A Gorgeous Sunrise
However, an hour or so later, we were greeted by this gorgeous sunrise captured on our new camera (after our old one broke with a fungal infection back on the NC 500 in September. Yes, cameras gets fungal infections too apparently!):
Feels Great To Be Well For Walking Again
I’ve been wanting to get out for a local hike, with us not having Casper, all November. We live in a beautiful part of the country and have a lot on our doorstep. But every time I had planned to, I either wasn’t well enough or the weather had other plans. So this weekend it felt great to put walking boots back on. We only did a short, easy 4-mile walk as I didn’t know well my body would cope, since I’ve been a bit up and down recently with my health, even though I was feeling absolutely fine that morning. I think partly, I was quite nervous after my hike I did in October when I fell ill along the walk and had to turn back early. I was worried that would happen again this weekend. Thankfully, that was not the case, and I could have walked further if I allowed myself to. Sometimes, I doubt my body, just like sometimes I push my body too much!
Hiking The Monsal Trail
We walked part of the Monsal Trail, near Chee Dale. It’s an old railway line that goes from Bakewell to Buxton, in the Peak District National Park, passing through tunnels and through bridges. It’s a lovely walk, and good parts of it are accessible for wheelchairs and pushchairs. It’s popular with cyclists and runners too. The full route is 8.5 miles long, but you can walk it in little sections as we did. If you are wanting to walk a little section of it, there are lots of nice circular routes you can do, including the one we did, which I will be writing a walking guide in the next coming weeks.
My Joints
I often use poles walking if I’m climbing hills or mountains. Yesterday, I thought the route is quite a flat route so I decided to leave my poles behind in the van. At the start of the walk, my knees were sore. I first regretted not taking my poles out with me. But then weirdly, as I continued to walk, the pain eased off. By the end of the walk, the pain in my knees had completely gone. When they say exercise helps joint pain, yesterday proved it really does! To be fair, I have noticed this before too. The more I do home workouts at home or move my body, the less my body hurts.
I’m suffering a lot with pain in my elbows at the moment too. I don’t know why the pain is worse at the moment. It has been in my elbows for quite a few weeks now. It doesn’t seem to be shifting either! It’s a very dull, achy pain. I don’t know if it’s the cold, damp air having any effect on my joints? But at least it’s only pain, which I can mask with pain relief or even sometimes just by moving my body i.e. like on the walk on Saturday. The main thing is, I’m feeling well with the wolf.
Merry Christmas
Anyways, that’s it from me this week. I’m taking next weekend off from writing blogs. Have a lovely Christmas, stay safe, and I will see you all in the New Year. 2022 is going to be a good one!
Merry Christmas Everyone!
Until next year,
stay safe
Emma
xox
p.s. Before you comment on the post cover photo, I know Casper needs a big bath!
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