February Status Update #3 (Patreon)

One more update on my recovery. Still positive news!

So, my hands are pretty much back to normal now, at least in everyday use. Straining the wrists or knuckles can still cause some discomfort, but every day things are getting better.

The rheumatologist also called me today about various test results, and said that the primary suspect for diagnosis is currently a type of sarcoidosis (lumps of inflammatory cells, usually forming in the lungs), which is still treated with cortisone, so I'll just keep taking cortisone for the foreseeable future. There's probably going to be some consultations with doctors that specialize in lung and heart issues down the line as well, just to make sure there's nothing else going on, but otherwise things should be settling down nicely now while we wait for the cortisone to do its thing.

An interesting thing to note is that if I indeed have sarcoidosis, it could be the cause of the occasional burning sensations in the chest I started having last year and was hospitalized for a few days late last year. It was thought to be caused by the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in my heart, but if I'm lucky, it's caused by sarcoidosis instead, and I might eventually be getting rid of not just the current rheumatic issues, but the occasional chest pains also, which would be amazing. Fingers crossed! 

Now, I've decided that today is the last full day of rest, and tomorrow I'm going to try returning to doing art again, at least for a few hours. If all goes well, new finished art coming later tomorrow. Again, fingers crossed!