I started writing a Debbie and it she got incredibly long. I have to break it up a bit. We’re start by rewinding to…

• 30th April – decided I was definitely flaring but only decided at 5:20pm so had to wait until Friday for help. Talked to vasculitis doctor and he said I should put my steroids back up to 5mg. I’d only made it down to 4mg, but I did it for six weeks. My teeth were still hurting off and on, so I thought maybe I just needed to rest.
• I rested and lived in hope all weekend and finally decided I’d better put increase the steroids on Monday.
• Eleanor’s employment tribunal was on Wednesday, so I spent Monday helping her get papers organised. My heart breaks for her, she has an impossible situation.
• Spent the evening resting and knitting. I finished the back of Weasel’s skirt and started on the front.
• My ear refused to stop hurting so I finally went to the doctor’s on Tuesday.
  • I have an ear infection. I have antibiotic/steroid ear drops which have helped tremendously.
  • I was seen with a student doctor person too and she got to take my bloods. She hadn’t done it in a year, but my regular doctor thought it would be good practice. And I said I was a great person to practice on since I wasn’t afraid of needles and I could tell her where my veins are. She did perfectly.
  • I got my results a couple of days later. I am definitely flaring, my CRP was 10 [normal is 6 or less, my record was 148]. So I am back on 5mg of steroids, I will stay here for two months then we will try reducing again.
  • I took my prescription to the pharmacist’s where they told me that the drops were no longer being made. I went back to the doctor’s only to be told all of them were out on house calls [I love that my doctors do house calls]. I left a message. I had a new prescription faxed to the pharmacy and Weasel went to collect it for me. This was a lot of cycling for me during a flare, my teeth were not pleased with me.
• Wednesday I went to Eleanor’s tribunal with Robin. First time I’ve seen Ralph since I had to stop working in October 2007. Eleanor technically won, but there is no money to give her, so it didn’t do any good.
• I skipped knitting group as I was exhausted from the tribunal and my head/face were very unhappy.
• Thursday Weasel and I made delicious baked chimichangas. Was all I had energy for, but very worth it.
• Friday Stoat invited me to go shopping at my favourite co-op.
  • I had breakfast and noted that the milk was a little warm, so I decreased the temperature in the fridge.
  • We shopped and I got many lovely things like bread flour and chutneys and mustards.
  • Afterwards we went to a local park and had a lovely wander in the sunshine. I met a lovely King Charles Spaniel who looked very much like a running throw pillow.
• I stored the leftover chimichangas in a box and Weasel to put them in the freezer [I am not so good at getting down to the freezer anymore, my knees and back complain]. Noticed that some of the dinner things were a little … thawed. Inspection of the freezer revealed that the metal bits normally encrusted with ice were clear. Realised the fridge had died sometime during Thursday night.
  • We called Stoat and Mal and they brought us their camping coolers at 9:30pm on a Friday night. We rescued what we could and finished up our evening.
  • Saturday morning Weasel called our landlord to ask if he wanted to replace the fridge or if we should do it. He said we could, so I got online and started researching.
  • Our fridge is stored under our stairs in a pantry, it is very short – 1350mm tall. But it has a roughly equal fridge/freezer division and it worked well for us and the space. I found a Frigidaire one that would work for us and the website said I could reserve it!
  • I called Mal with the measurements and they measured the car to see if it would fit. It would, so I went to reserve it only to find that it was unavailable at our local shop and we’d have to travel to other cities 30 miles away to get it. I called the customer service line to ask when the next one would be in and they said if we got to the shop before 3pm they’d be able to arrange next day delivery.
  • Weasel and I went to the shop, found the one we wanted was also available in silver, so we asked if that one was in stock. It wasn’t, so we ordered the white one.
  • Turns out ‘next day’ didn’t mean what we were hoping; it wouldn’t be Sunday or Monday since they don’t deliver then and Tuesday is fully booked. We get our new fridge on Wednesday.
  • Meanwhile, I’ve been creatively using as much freezer/fridge food as I can. Last night’s dinner was grilled halloumi, veggie sausages and scrambled eggs with vegetables. I made smoothies out of the fruit that I’d had frozen. I’m going to make a broccoli soup but I’m stumped about the green beans. They might be a casualty.