Spring 2013 Final Grades are in!!!

I did GREAT!!! Whoop whoop!!!

Check me out!!!

Spring 2013 Grades

C&I 5003 is Theory of Curriculum and Instruction - It was a fun class so I very much enjoyed earning my A.  I learned how we should properly design a curriculum...

EDP 5003 is Psychological Learning Theories -  For some reason, psychology and I do not get along so I worked extra extra extra hard to get that A+.  I learned about various learning theories and how they are applied in the classroom setting.  I also took it a step further and applied what I learned to my daughter.

My first semester as a fully admitted Masters in Education graduate student and I did great!!!!  I had some stressing out moments (I wouldn't be Latoya if I didn't), I shed some tears, and I harassed the crap out of people (especially Mr. J), but I did it!  I could not be any more proud of myself!!!  I just pray that I can continue my graduate career in this same fashion.

Hard work, dedication AND prayers surely pays off!!!

I have so much other stuff to blog about and I will get to it later...I promise, but I had to share this news because of how overly excited I am!

God is good!

My graduate career is off to an EXCELLENT start!

I'll be back at it again June 10th for summer school. 2 hours a day...5 days a week...until July 10th.

I'm taking a course called Research Methods.  According to our graduate catalog, the description is:

Basic concepts of research design, strategies of experimental, historical, and descriptive research, and basic statistical procedures are introduced. Participants use these concepts to read, interpret, and evaluate educational and counseling research and to plan such research.

I can do it...pray for me!!!

Spring semester woes...

So far, my grad school career is progressing quite nicely. Just like last semester, I have one class I'm fairly confident in and another class that's giving me a run for my money. The class that's giving me grief is, you guessed it, a Psychology class.

Last week, we met up to discuss the draft to our project proposal. After sharing my ideas with my professor, I learn she doesn't like it. Ok. So, she doesn't like it. Let me think about it, and then get back to her since the final proposal isn't due until the following week, is what I thought to myself. I went home and spent the next two days rethinking my proposal. I ran it by my grandpa just to get an outside opinion and he thought it was a good idea. Well, my professor called me to follow-up; I told her my new idea and guess what? SHE DIDN'T LIKE IT!!!

Now I'm frustrated and feeling a little defeated. Of course she hears it in my voice, which I tried my best to suppress. She proceeds to tell me how bright I am and how she believes I can tackle this project with no problems. I'm beginning to doubt myself so I tear up a bit. (I'm such a crybaby). After getting off the phone, I prayed about it and asked God to help me. I ended up seeking assistance from my former high school principal. He so graciously devoted his time to help me get on the right track, which I am extremely thankful for. Although I have not contacted my professor again, I feel I'm in a good place and am rather content with my proposal. I can only pray that she'll be receptive of it when I present it in class this evening.

Next week is spring break! Sweet! I still have a ton of schoolwork to do, but I'm just thankful for the little break from being in the classroom.

That's all for now!

Imuran...my new drug.

A month ago, I wrote about a Lupus flare that I had. Well, for the most part, my skin is back to normal.  I have little red lesions here and there, but it's nothing major.  I am still feeling the achy joints so I haven't been able to come down much on the prednisone as I had hoped.

I am finally on my new medication, Imuran.  I started taking 25mg/day on January 28th.  I am to keep increasing it by 25mg every two weeks until I reach my final dosage of 150mg/day.  Right now, I am at 50mg/day.

I don't know if I am experiencing any side effects of the medication or if I am still just in the midst of my Lupus flare.  I go up in down with my levels of "feeling goodness".  I've had headaches, joint pain, runny nose, sneezing, stuffy nose, the shakes, insomnia, fatigue, and that's about all I could remember right now.  I don't see my Rheumy until March 15th so we'll see then what she has to say about it all.

I'm not sure how long it will take before the meds will really help me.  For some reason, it seems like it's taking a lot longer then CellCept did.  Either that or I'm just rather impatient.

Oh...and I have to get my blood drawn at the end of every two week period.  That's A LOT of needles boy!  I absolutely hate am not a fan of getting my blood drawn AT ALL!!

Another oh....I went back to the pulmonologist on January 16th and was told that I can change my Flovent regimen to 1x a day...but...I decided on my own to stop taking it.  The Albuterol is still as needed so I still carry it with me (when I remember).

Dag...more Oh's...I am not taking Vitamin D anymore.  And my prednisone will be decreased by 1mg every month...I think that's it!!!

My current regimen as of  February 17, 2013:

200mg of Plaquenil 2x/day

10mg of Prednisone 1x/day  

50mg of Imuran 1x/day

2 puffs of Albuterol every 4 hours as needed

Deuces!
 

Happy New....FLARE!!!!

Yes, you read that right.

Flare.

I am in the midst of a dreaded Lupus Flare.

I honestly believe it came because I stopped taking CellCept and didn't immediately begin to take Imuran as I thought I would.  About two weeks after coming off of the drug, I started experiencing joint stiffness, mostly in my fingers, but eventually spread to my elbows. On Jan 3rd, I woke up with a huge set of lumps below my left elbow.  On New Year's Day, it was very minor so I didn't think anything of it or associate it with anything in particular.  However, seeing these lumps on the 3rd reminded me of when I was initially diagnosed back in July of 2001...nearly 12 years ago, so I decided to call my primary care doctor (PCM) just to get it looked.

Rash below my left elbow

Since it was a same day appointment, I was not able to see her, but instead someone in her group.  This doctor had NO IDEA what he was looking at and suggested that I contact my Rheumatologist, which is what I probably should have done in the first place instead of wasting 3 hours of my day.  So, upon leaving the clinic, I called my beloved Rheumatologist office on the drive to pick up my daughter from daycare.  Within minutes, my doctor had called me back.  After discussing everything with her, she decided she wanted to see me right away, just as I pulled into my daughter's daycare parking lot.  It's a good thing I still had a good 2 left to keep her there otherwise I couldn't have agreed to meet with my doctor.

As soon as I get to the Rheumatologist office, she looks at my skin and confirms my assumptions.  It definitely appears to be a Lupus rash associated with some Lupus flares.  She decided to contact the Dermatologist on call to get a second opinion.  He came over right away and confirmed the assumption but requested that I get a skin biopsy done the following day.  I agreed and with a decision to increase my Prednisone to 10mg or 15mg a day depending on how stiff I felt, starting right after I get the skin biopsy, I was off to go pick up my daughter.

The following morning, I woke up and noticed I had sooooooooooooooo much more bumps on my skin.  A bit saddened by the newest developments, I was off to the hospital to get my skin biopsy.

The morning before I went for the biopsy.  Not a happy camper, but my t-shirt was appropriate for the occasion.  :-)

More bumps on my left arm.

My left elbow again.

When I get to the hospital, the dermatologist seemed rather fascinated by my bumps.  He wanted EVERYONE to see them and he took pictures.  I saw about 3 dermatologists and every rheumatologist that was in the building for the day.  I felt like a specimen.  But, hey, if looking at me and my bumps can help someone else, I'm all for it.  That's why I blog and that's why I share my story.  To help someone else in their Lupus trials.

Anyway, after my skin display was over, we proceeded to get my biopsy taken care of.  Here is goes!

It's on the underside of my right arm.

And today, Jan 16th, I had the stitch removed.

The biopsy didn't show the same exact diagnosis from 2001 but it was very similar and in line with Lupus rashes.  The higher dosage of Prednisone has minimized the bumps but a few are still there and some have left darkened marks on my skin.  My skin is allllllllllllllllllllll messed up due to Lupus and it's something that I am still very self-conscious of. (I'm working on that!)  My legs are the ultimate worst!!!  SMH!!!  My joints are doing much better as well.  I've had to rely heavily on the 15mg dosage due to the ridiculously cold weather TX has had over the last couple of days.  Lord knows I can't wait til it warms up a bit.  I'll take the 80s all year 'round and be pleased.  :-)

I still feel rather Lupus-ishy...(didn't know what else to call it) but, I'm praying I can push through it successfully like I have in the past.  Yesterday was my first day back to grad school and I don't have time for all of that!  Seriously!

That's it for my Lupus update.....for now!

Deuces!

2012 Final Thoughts...

As 2012 comes to a close, I'm looking back at all of the things have impacted my life this year. 

I started graduate school and did very well!

I started wearing glasses.  I can seeeeeeeee!!!! LOL!

I stopped CellCept and am trying to deal with that now.  I know I failed to mention that in a previous blog post but, yes, I stopped it about 3 weeks ago.  After getting the run around for about 2 weeks, I finally get the call that I no longer need to take CellCept.  Without getting into too many details, in summary, I did blood work, the blood work showed signs of stability, and my Rheumatologist and Nephrologist agreed to stop CellCept on a trial basis.  I get updated blood work drawn next week to see if my numbers change.  If so, I will start Imuran.  If not, I will get my blood work drawn in another 4 weeks to recheck.  So far I've been feeling very stiff in my fingers and have had swelling.  Also, I've had a headache for the last week or so but I'm not sure if that's affiliated with stopping CellCept. 

I was diagnosed with asthma.  SMH... 

So, what that being said, here's my updated meds list.

My current regimen as of  December 7, 2012:

200mg of Plaquenil 2x/day

2.5mg of Prednisone 1x/day

Vitamin D 1x a month

2 puffs of Flovent 2x/day (I've been slacking off...smh)

2 puffs of Albuterol every 4 hours as needed (haven't used it)


 I made my own beauty products for personal use.  I know I told you all about my quest to make my own beauty products.  Well, since that post, I've made Hair Promade, Hair Cream and Hair Gel.  I wish I did videos, but since I didn't, here are a few pictures I can share.

 

The first product is the body butter.  This is the one I already blogged about.  The picture on that blog was when I first made it...before it solidified.  Now, it's a little more solid but melts as soon as it touches your skin.  So far my body loves it.  I'm still trying to figure out how my princess is handling it.  She gets bumps every now and then but I'm not certain if the new bumps formed due to the body butter.  I have stopped using it on her and will begin again once her bumps clear to see if this could be the cause.

The second product is the hair pomade.  This is more of a whipped texture.  It can be used to oil the scalp or smooth down edges.

The last product is the hair cream.  It's a very oily or more liquid texture.  It can be use to oil the scalp and all through your hair.  It's more of an everyday hair cream.

Both of these have been used on both my daughter and myself and neither of us have had any issues so far.  Each of these products can last about 12 months.

This picture is of my hair gel.  I just made this tonight to retwist my locs and have not placed a label on it as yet.  It came out a tad darker than I expected...lol...but it's completely understandable.  After my hair dries I will post a pic to show the hold of the gel.  I may use this on my daughter's hair when she wears ponytails.  This gel can last in the fridge for about 3-4 weeks.

I fell on and off of the fitness wagon.  Operation TUSD was not as successful as I hoped it would be.  I guess I'll continue working on that in 2013.  LOL.

That's all I could remember for now. 

Oh!

I had an awesome Christmas! 

Hubby bought me a beautiful butterfly watch, a new GPS (which he has been trying to get me to get for the longest....but I'm the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" type of person...any new technological upgrades I get is 95% due to the husband), and the Kindle Paperwhite (another upgrade.  I already own the kindle 2).  I bought myself some boots and a Miami Heat charm that I'm choosing to wear in my locs.  Yes, I love them that much!  So what!  :-)

My watch :-)

My Miami Heat charm :-)

My daughter enjoyed hers as well.  So much that the following morning, after she had her breakfast, she asked me where her presents were.  Of course they were already opened the previous day, Christmas day.  So, I told her that she opened them all already and told her what they were just to refresh her memory.  Do you know what my child said to me?  She said, "Mommy, I played with those already!  I need different ones!"  LOL!  That prompted me to purchase this book for her that arrived today:

 

Overall, I think I had a great 2012.  I don't have any major resolutions for 2013...just want to continue to strive to be a better me...whatever that may be.

Well, that's all I think I want to say for now.  If there's anything I missed, I will update next year! 

Ha!

God bless you all and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!