Happy LOVE DAY!

Happy LOVE Day!

Friend Love. Family Love. Romantic Love. Self Love.

Whatever type of LOVE you LOVE - CELEBRATE IT! And if you just want to celebrate a storm day, you can do that too!

Today, I'm celebrating the LOVE (and gratitude) for my support circle.

Most folks know the story about my weird autoimmune illness - Wegener's Granulomatosis. AKA - Granulomatosis with Polyangitis... I've often shared it with many in my effort to foster awareness of this nasty bully that has weapons to kill or, methods to provide complete torture.

Sometimes people don't "look sick" but, in reality, their insides could be in turmoil. Their body is so wonky that THEIR OWN BODY THINKS IT'S A FOREIGN INVADER. That's seriously ALL KINDS of messed up.

So, anytime a REAL invader comes along; think Covid...or, Influenza...or, simply a cold...Body starts fighting against that too. But, instead of fighting the ACTUAL VILLIAN with all weapons locked and loaded, this vigilante is already using half of those weapons to fight against itself. SO DUMB -- maybe it's just angry because DC turned it down.

But, over time, it gets real tired of fighting (that good ol' hamster on a wheel). One thing after another brings it to a place where it decides it just can't fight anymore and if left untreated, it starts lashing out with whatever fight it has left.

In my case, a list of life-threatening symptoms that put me in the major danger zone. A very,VERY scary place that I have been for the last few weeks but, you'd never know because I'm a "giver"...I truly CARE about people and their challenges and I put my own ongoings aside and try to make them feel better. Not because I feel I HAVE to, because I WANT to.

My body declared war last spring with a viral infection that caused a flare-up of my illness. However COVID was so darn rampant that my doctor (who is THE COVID research doctor for our province so, when he says something I definitely trust him) chose to delay treatment because treatment + COVID = ICU. So, it was band-aided with mega prednisone and I kept moving forward and every time I picked something up, it was a smack to my innards, making me EVEN MORE susceptible to all the things.

June Covid. September sinus infection. October Covid. December viral infection. January super stressful challenges.

I've truly been sick since April. And, I HATE what that means for me and my life. I haven't been able to spend time with friends -- heck I don't even have the energy to respond sometimes (which I also beat myself up for)...my energy has been so depleted that even social media (posting OR surfing) hasn't been a thing for me at all since then.

But, I finally got my infusion. The NUCLEAR WEAPON my body needs (and it's legit nuclear because the nurse has to be all gloved/gowned/masked up to touch it which is a frightening concept considering it's going straight into my veins ).

The treatment went well. I had a nice, big sleep! The nurse was AWESOME! I'm feeling okay this morning, with my newly reset, but, flattened immune system. But, every day I'll feel more and more okay until I am MORE than "just okay" - I'm ME again!

So, for me, today is about LOVE for those who grabbed their weapons and suited up alongside me for the fight.

And today, we finally RELAX. Hanging with my family. Snuggling with my pooch. Eating heart-shaped foods.

Just enjoying the peace.

The peace and comfort of knowing it's finally all going to be okay.

And, the peace on the inside, now that the war has finally stopped.