The high of my week was starting to see a difference in my pain levels. It took 8 weeks, which is the timeline my rheumatologist gave me, so I guess I’m not special at all. Heh. I woke up on Tuesday morning and realized I had slept on my left shoulder… and it didn’t hurt! I could do arm circles with both arms (something I haven’t been able to do in months). I could use that arm to leverage myself off the floor, and didn’t have any pain. It’s amazing! My sausage finger still isn’t 100% but it’s a lot more flexible than it was a week ago and I can alllllmost make a regular fist. It’s also a lot less tender than it was earlier this week. PROGRESS! The next step is getting bloodwork done (in two weeks) to find out if my inflammation has decreased, and then we can finally start discussing weaning off prednisone. (It’s a wonder drug, but I’m feeling really self-conscious about the prednisone bloat that’s happening.)
The low of my week was ripping my beautiful reading chair! I am so upset with myself, but I’m hopeful it can be fixed. I was getting up from my reading chair last night and heard a weird sound… and when I looked down, I had fully ripped part of the seam near the arm. ChatGPT told me it can be fixed with some strong upholstery thread, so I guess I’m going to learn to sew?! Fingers crossed this isn’t the end for that reading chair. I love it so much!
I’m currently reading two books. In print, I’m reading The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie, which is the first book in her Hercule Poirot series. I’m only a few chapters in, but there are so many characters that I started keeping a list. On audio, I’m listening to How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin, which has been super engaging so far!
A blog post I loved was Sarah’s quarterly book post, detailing all of the great upcoming releases for Q2 of 2026. I need to sit down with it again and start adding books to my Goodreads TBR!
A show I watched this week was House of Villains. I wanted something easy to watch on Wednesday evening when I wasn’t feeling great, so I turned on season 1 of this show. It’s mindless and a bit silly. I’m not sure I’m going to keep watching because I’m not a huge fan of reality shows that have a lot of fighting and conflict, but we’ll see.
The best money I spent this week was a tip for my massage therapist. I haven’t gotten a massage since January, when I was still dealing with terrible joint pain and hadn’t started prednisone. I told my therapist all about the pain I was experiencing and what areas to avoid because they were a bit too tender at the moment. So it was great to see her again, three months later, and tell her my pain had decreased significantly and all I was looking for was a relaxing massage! She was really happy to see me in a lot less pain, and I was happy for a massage that put me right to sleep. Ha!
My plans this weekend include a low-key evening in tonight (will I watch a movie, or will I keep saying I’m going to watch a movie and then opt for stupid TV instead?). Tomorrow, I have a writing date with Mikaela, where I should be able to finish up my character studies. I’ll probably run some errands and handle some admin tasks afterward. And Sunday, I am meeting up with two friends for a READING CRAWL. We got this idea from an Instagram Reel months and months ago, and we’re finally going to make it happen. I’ll have all the details about this reading crawl on Monday!
What are your weekend plans?
A decrease in pain! Best Friday update ever!
It’s been a long time since I read Styles, but from what I remember, I liked it. I’m solidly Team Marple and never really got into Poirot, but I do have good memories of that book.
I have one hike left in the hiking challenge, so that’s my big event of the weekend. I’m laying low because I’m going to leave for a trip next week. I’ve been home for a while! I will live vicariously through your reading crawl recap. That sounds like fun.
Oh, that’s funny – I’m more of a Poirot girlie than Marple. I’ve only read one Marple, though, and I don’t know if it was a good representative of that series. I need to read more!
Way to on meeting the hiking challenge! That’s awesome!
WHAT IS THIS READING CRAWL??? I can’t wait to hear more details.
I’m so glad you’re feeling better! I wonder why it takes eight weeks (I guess in order to understand that I’d have to take a deep dive into PA and how the meds work in your body…) Anyway… very glad you figured this all out and are managing it effectively.
I LOVE it when people come in for a massage and report that they’re feeling much better! I’m glad you enjoyed it and got to relax.
Okay, I looked it up! Here’s what ChatGPT had to say (so… I should probably confirm this with a reputable source, lol): For Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA), drugs like Methotrexate take 8–10 weeks (sometimes up to 12) to show noticeable improvement because of how the drug works inside the immune system. It doesn’t block pain immediately—it gradually reprograms the inflammatory process that’s causing the joint pain.
That’s kinda wild – reprogramming my entire immune system! Now I see why my rheumatologist wanted me to be patient. A lot has been happening behind the scenes, apparently!
YAY FOR RELIEF! I wish all of these drugs didn’t take so darned long to help. I want it to be like tylenol or something, where you take the drug and within an hour you’re better. Hoping for continued improvement for you!
I once took my sofa cushions to be repaired by a professional, and I do not regret that. If the seam is somewhere where you can’t see it, fix it yourself. If it’s visible, maybe pay someone (unless you’re a wonderful seamstress. I cannot sew a straight line).
I’m looking forward to quiet around here this weekend, the construction that’s been going on has been loud. Also, rain! Yay rain! (Californians love rain, it’s so rare)
Thank you! I wish the improvement happened much faster, too, because it’s like, “Dang, what if this doesn’t work and now we have to try something else that will take a while to see benefits?!” I’m hoping MTX is the drug for me.
My friend Mikaela is a wonderful seamstress, and she offered to sew it up for me! YAY!
I am so glad your pain and symptoms are subsiding! I hope you can get off pred soon. The weight gain/bloating/puffiness is REAL. I’m finally off pred after being on it for about 6 months. I hope to stay off it for quite awhile!
That is a bummer about your chair, though. I am terrible at sewing so would not be able to figure that out, but my mom probably could as she’s very good at sewing. Could you get a slip cover for the chair if you can’t fix the rip?
Your book crawl sounds amazing! Our weekend is fairly quiet. We’ll probably watch a movie tonight. Tomorrow I’ll go to OTF in the morning and then take the boys to the library. In the afternoon they have a tennis clinic. Our only plans on Sunday are a haircut for Paul. It’s going to be in the 70s on Sunday so we will definitely take advantage of the gorgeous weather! And I’ll hopefully pick up my bike from the bike shop – I had it tuned up in March but have been waiting for a nice weekend day to pick it up as I plan to ride it home.
The bloating/puffiness is terrible! I’m really starting to see the difference after 2.5 months, so I hope I can talk to my rheum about tapering at our next appointment.
The problem with the rip is that it’s near the seat, so the more I sit, the worse the rip gets, sigh. Luckily, my friend Mikaela is an excellent seamstress and she’s going to try to fix it for me!
I am SO happy to hear you’ve had some relief from your pain. YES. I guess it must take some time for the meds to really address the inflammation? I’m sure Lisa has gone through this with her RA.
A reading crawl! How fun is that!
Apparently, these meds are doing a lot of work behind the scenes to rejigger my immune system, which is why they take so much longer to work than something like prednisone. I’m glad I’m finally noticing a big difference, though!
OMG that is amazing you are feeling the effects at the 8 week mark as predicted. Yay yay yay! I hope things continue to look up!!!!
I bet you can totally fix that chair!
Yay for getting a massage! I am glad you spent money on that too. I had to cancel my last one and I should try to schedule one again.