One Year Anniversary!!!

Wow, I can't believe it's been a year already!!! On this day one year ago I was walking around in flipflops with bandaged toes recooperating from walking the Athens Marathon!!! I can't help but sit here today and wonder how that was possible based on the condition I am in right now!!! I need to draw from the experience now because I'm really struggling with how in the world am I going to do this again. My mind is saying "get busy, people are watching you and waiting to see how you finsih this" but my body is in react mode and not cooperating at all. The last month has been trying to get my strength back from the life threatening reaction I had to the medication and waiting to see what the next step will be in putting this flare up in remission. But today at this very moment I am remembering the amazing people I met in Athens, all the people that were doing the Marathon to support loved ones that have some form of Arthritis. The friends that were made and ones that continue to follow and support me in my journey to fight Arthrtis are truly a gift. Family and friends that supported me back at home while I was away, the messages, the donations and the hours some spent training and walking with me, it was what got me through 8 hours of walking by myself. So today as the Anniversary of that amazing experience I prepare to do it again because if one person benefits from my hard work and realizes they too can fight this fight, I have accomplished what I want to do "Inspire" !! I think now is a good time for me to pick myself up and push harder through this challenging time and remember why I have chosen to take this journey. There are so many people that are crippled by this disease and aren't able to walk a block, so today I walk that block for them. As hard is it is right now, I will do it! So today I ask for at least one person to read this entry and remember what I accomplished one year ago and donate to the Arthritis Society as I continue my journey and the many challenges ahead. Make the donation in support of someone you know or love that lives with Arthritis!!! The links to "team jordan" are on the left side, your support is appreciated and you can make a difference! :-) Have a great day and I'm off to walk to do the 2km walk to the school to see my kids for lunch! Thank you for your support and generosity to an amazing cause, you help me take the steps I might not have taken this far in my journey!

Calgary Forum Online

The Arthritis Society has published the taping from the Calgary Forum . There is alot of information from the medical professionals so please feel free to pass it along to friends and love ones that might have questions that have been answered in the video.

Arthritis Community Education Forum from The Arthritis Society on Vimeo.

Frustration

Well I hoping to be blogging about all the walking I'm doing and the weightloss that is supposed to be happening but I'm not. It's with great frustration I continue to struggle with this flare up and the medication changes. I have spend the last 4 weeks in alot of discomfort and counting the days until my remicade infusion yesterday, believing I would get some relief. Well that wasn't the case, instead I experienced a severe life threatening reaction 15 minutes into the infusion. I reacted at the last infusion but not as serverely so the Dr and the nurses decided to premedicate with cortisone and benadryl to avoid such a reaction again. That of course didn't help and it is obvious that I am clearly allergic to the medication. So after being on oxygen, observed and monitored for 4 hours I left the clinic and came home. I called my rhumetologist just to find out that I can't get into see her until Oct 27 to evaluate the situation and decide on which medication I will try next. So here I am waiting in discomfort until the end of Oct to try and get some answers. I want to be walking walking walking ... I know it's a year away but I also know how quickly that comes. I have a long way to go with losing the weight that I gained plus the extra I still had to lose before the last marathon. It's been over 6 years since I experienced a full blown flare up and it sucks. So this is my day that I feel like crap and don't want to do a thing, both from the after effects of the reaction and the pain from the flareup. But this is my journey to be an inspiration and so thankfully I have my supporters, family and friends who are helping me cope and continue on. These are the times I rely on all these people to help me over a hump that's blocking my view. To remind me that I can do this no matter. I'm not feeling it today but I also know I don't want to disappoint anyone so "cheers to a better day tomorrow". I think I can... I think I can ... I think I can....

First Donation!

It is such an overwhelming feeling when the very first donation towards my fundraising comes in. It's an exciting feeling to know that people believe in me and the cause I am raising money for. I remember very clearly the person who contributed last year towards Athens and she is a friend who believed in me and gave me that first burst of adrenalin to continue my journey. The person who made the first donation towards this leg of my journey is someone that was an inspiration to me a year ago in Athens, Greece. She was there with her neice who has arthritis and together they finished the marathon. I started out walking with them during the marathon and they were able to finsih before me but they were there when I crossed the finsih line. They were there to share the emotion of completing something that meant so much to me. So I am humbled to have her has my first contributor towards my fundraising goal towards Switzerland. Words can't explain the feelings of gratitude and appreciation I feel when people believe in me and support my journey. Every donation that comes in to the Arthritis Society through my fundraising is an emotional one because I know the person behind that contribution understands my need to continue my journey and make a difference. Yes I want to be that inspirational story people talk about and I want my supporters to be a part of that story. So thank you again to everyone that follows my journey and offers words of encouragement. You're contributions towards my fundraising are a very emotional part of this journey for me and I can't wait to share more.

This and That ....

I'm counting down the days until my next Remicade infusion, it's 2 weeks away. This flare up is trying to get the best of me but I won't let it. I can barely move my wrists without terrible cramping pain in them, in fact typing this post is proving to be a bit of a challenge. So it's a good think I have 13 months to prepare for this marathon because it's already proving to be an even bigger challenge then the last one. I'm hoping that after we get the dosages figured out for the Remicade I will be well on my way to preparing sooner rather than later. This is why having people as part of "Team Jordan" is so important, just in case I need everyone else to complete the marathon on my behalf. Now that being said I'm pretty sure I am going to have to be in pretty bad shape and ALOT of pain to not participate. But for now it's one day at a time. On that note I do have a couple more people that are considering joining the team, so that is awesome news. A friend in Ontario is even considering, so it doesn't matter where you live and which Province you are teamed up with, you can still be a part of "Team Jordan" for the big day!! I have been able to walk and pick my kids up for school so that's 2km there and back. I also mapped out the distance around our acreage and it's about a quarter of a km, so I plan to do alot of laps along the fence line. :-) I'm sure the neighbors will wonder what the new girl on the block is doing and think that I flipped my lid ... but that's okay !! :-) Here are a few pictures from the Arthritis forum I spoke at. I'm still waiting for the youtube video to come out so I can post that. I was trying to post a copy of the notes I wrote for the forum but I'm not sure how to attach them to a post...hmmm see if I can figure it out.

Me at the Podium during my presentation.

Another group photo of all the presenters

Me again!

What's been happening ....

Wow, I'm not even sure where to start. Hind sight I should have just kept blogging cause it's been a crazy 11 months since my marathon. So this could be a long entry. :-) I wish I could say it's been an easy last 11 months but it hasn't. My arthritis has be challenging to deal with. After my marathon I went for a followup appointment with my Rhumetologist and found out that I now have Osteoarthritis in my right hip as well and that my left hip is now considered severe. I've since had another injection in my hip to help with the pain but these days I constantly sound like a twig on a tree branch as my hip snaps each time I take a step or go from sitting to standing. Early in the year I experienced an episode of iritis, which is kinda like a flare up of arthritis of the eye. I had temporary vision loss for almost 2 months before they could get it under control. Since then my Rhumetologist and my opthamologist felt it would be helpful for me to change some of my meds. So I don't do the weekly Enbrel injections anymore, instead I have Remicade infusions every 6 weeks. I just started them this summer and with the transition of coming off the other meds, I've had to deal with some flareups. Most of the pain and swelling is in my hands and wrists and there are days I can barely move my arms away from my body. I kinda forgot what the pain was like since it's been a few years since I've experienced a flare up of the psoriatic arthritis. I did do a local half marathon in April, it was no personal best but it was still a great feeling to be able to finish. With flareups and transition of meds my exercise program has been modified which means my challenge with weight loss and even maintaining my weight has been just that ... a challenge. This is why it's important for me to have people join "Team Jordan" for the next leg of this journey because if I thought doing the first marathon in Athens was a challenge, this one is going to be even more of a challenge. I will need all the support I can get. :-) Last week it was an honor to be asked by the Arthritis Society to be a guest speaker at their Arthritis Forum and tell my story. I was nervous about getting up there in front of all those people but it was also a great feeling to be able to share my accomplishments. The support I received from family and friends that day was amazing and that is something I will always appreciate. Once the presentation is posted on youtube I will share the link on the blog. If you or someone you love suffers from Arthritis I recommend you visit the website, there is so much new information available via web seminars, open houses and the online community forum. There is a link on the left side of my blog. :-) I hope that everyone will continue to follow this next leg of my journey and support the "Joints in Motion" and "Team Jordan". There are links to the left that will get you to team members' fundraising pages. Every donation matters whether it be big or small, so please help support the Arthritis Soceity and the fight against Arthritis.

Continuing my Journey

It's official. I am continuing my journey and I have registered for to complete my second full marathon in Lausanne Switzerland in October 2012. I have so much to catch up on over the last year but I just wanted to share this exciting news. The best part of this continued journey is my sister has decided to join me and share in this exciting experience. Her support means the world to me and so the journey is "Team Jordan". I would love to have others as part of my own personal support team and I have a couple of other people on my radar that are considering it. :-) So if you'd like to be a part of this journey drop me a line. :-) My fundraising page will be up shortly so if you'd like to donate to "Joints in Motion" in support of the Arthritis Society, your support will be greatly appreciated. Again I look forward to sharing this journey with all my readers, supporters, friends and family. Cheers