February Status Update #2 (Patreon)

'ey all. Time for an update on my situation. If you missed the previous update, I've basically been out of the game for about a month due to a health issue with swelling, inflammation and joint pain in my arms and legs, which kept getting worse.

This time I have some positive news, finally!

Last week I finally got an appointment with a rheumatology doctor, and at the regional hospital to boot (much better doctors than in the local), and finally got some clarity and remedy to my situation. First off, the original diagnosis (erythema nodosum) was inaccurate, though I don't blame the doctors as the symptoms did fit for the first couple of weeks.

The rheumatologist examined and scanned my wrists and concluded that the inflammation and swelling is in the tissue around the joints, so it's curable, and that there's no need to be alarmed. The exact diagnosis is still not clear, as it could still be any of several rheumatic diseases, but the initial suspicion is on vasculitis. Either way, for most symptoms of this kind the medication is cortisone, in form of pills in my case. Possibly something else too if the diagnosis changes. The x-ray of my lungs also showed something that hinted at a possibility of being a type of sarcoidosis, but that can be medicated too, if that turns out to be the root cause. I should know more in a few days after some more tests and x-rays.

In any case, I've now taken cortisone for about four days, and it's helped a lot. My right hand is almost back to normal, inflammation seems to be largely gone, swelling is down by about half, and joint pains are almost gone. No fever either. The only things of real bother are the left half of my left hand, and right foot, which still have some stiff slightly swollen areas. Neither really hurts but there's a bit of discomfort in some situations. Still, with my right hand doing so well, I believe I can try putting a few hours into art in the coming week, see how it goes. Still aiming for the same goals as listed in the previous update for this month. Start of March will likely still be slow, as I'm going to be taking things easy until I feel the left hand is functioning normally again.

All in all, I feel my mood has improved a lot and I'm looking forward to getting back to all the butts soon! As always, thank you for your patience and continued support!