Day 119 - Dose Of Perspective

Yesterday my wife & I took the kids out to lunch for a back-to-school feast. They start back at school next Monday; yep summer is all but over for them.

They got to choose the place and chose a sushi place near where I work, I met them there. This was also my wife's first time behind the wheel since her surgery last week. She is healing very well and is mentally ready to resume everything but not quite there physically yet.

For my lunch I chose the Tuna Salad you see there. Simply some seared tuna on a bed of lettuce with some avocado & tomatoes. You also see a smaller dish there of bacon wrapped cherry tomatoes & jalapenos. I love that side, but didn't eat all of the bacon. The kids claimed up what bacon I chose to not allow myself to eat. It was a healthy lunch and a fun way to celebrate school's return.

When I was a young boy, teenager; I recall my Grandma talking about how Uncle Arthur was visiting. When I was real little I didn't get it and she'd have a ball trying to explain it to me. But since I didn't see a man in the house to put to the name I was lost and naturally lost interest in her efforts. Later on I came to know that Uncle Arthur was her name for her bouts with arthritis which came and went as the winds across the Illinois prairie she called home.

Arthritis is something I have never given much attention outside of witnessing her bouts with it. She passed on sixteen years ago, wow how time flies, and I've given arthritis near zero thought since. This week we've learned that arthritis has returned to the family in the form of rheumatoid arthritis.

So, we've been learning swiftly what this disease is all about; especially my sister. She is beside herself, flush with the uncertain questions that overcome anyone who has learned unfortunate news; why has it come to be, what can be done to cure, provide relief, what does it mean for today & tomorrow, etc...

As with just about everything these days there are volumes and volumes of information on the internet. Which is good and bad, good that it is there and bad that there is so much way-to-general text to burn through to get to that which is really useful.

For now oral medications are being used to treat the disease and if they don't provide the relief needed then cortisone shots will be next. Two stats are consuming our minds right now; one is that there is a 20% chance this actually can self cure itself someday. This is per the specialist, we've yet to see any documentation to really support the claim. Still, 20% is a number which suggests we learn how to cope with for the long haul.

The other stat is that 1% of people are afflicted by rheumatoid arthritis with women being three times more likely to suffer from it and the majority of those who do are diagnosed after age 40. My sister is 3 years younger than I which makes her 42, but her age is trivial here. These stats consume us in angst as it is her 8 year old son Michael who now suffers from this disease.

We never know where the next dose of perspective in our lives will come from, and from whom we will realize them.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!