Quattro Adventuro (NoJoMo 4) in NoJoMo 2021

What has been your biggest life adventure so far?

Autoimmune and Neurological Disease, hands down.

There’s so many things I know that I could have and would have done, had I not been blessed with autoimmune issues. I feel like the neurological stuff was going on for so long that I could just deal with it. I had a little trouble dealing with the inability to focus and some vision problems, but they were manageable.

Until they weren’t.

I have dealt with this for over 25 years now. Can you imagine being 10 years old, and one day waking up to a migraine, and then waking up 25 years later, with the same migraine. I feel like that has been the case. I got to enjoy 10 years of my life, but, unfortunately, I can’t remember them now.

I have dealt with pain in my knees, hips, elbows, shoulders, back, ankles, etc, for around the same time. Not as severely as now, but enough that my mom would call me Dolores. Dolores is Spanish for “pains”. LMFAO. I used to hurt all the time. But I always attributed it to the fact that I was fat. I have always been big.

8 lb 11 oz at birth
305 lbs my senior year in HS
247 lbs at my lowest when taking topamax (2012)
235 lbs now

So, even with losing a ton of my weight that I have carried around for so long, and getting to the point where I have always said I wanted to get to, which is 15 lbs away at 220. I have had that goal weight for YEARS now. Like probably since mid 20s. So 10ish years.

It took me acquiring an autoimmune disease to get here. And only because it was controlled for a year or so. Now we’re on our way back in the other direction. More joint pain, more injuries, more bruises, more brain fog, more fatigue, more irritability, more everything that I had gotten so used to not having as often.

My other meds don’t cut it alone, and to be honest, I don’t even know if I should be taking them anymore, however, I know that often it doesn’t seem like they work, but if you go without it for any period of time, you feel worse.

So not only is this my problem, but when I met Randy, it became his problem too, and so many people were like omg just leave her, how can you deal with that all the time, etc. etc. But you know what, if it wasn’t for him and if it wasn’t for me, I don’t think either of us would be here these days.

And now, obviously, this adventure that we are on, has brought us here to New Mexico and doors have been shut, locked, bolted down, boarded up, etc on that end. Some of them are closed, but not locked, but can only be opened from one side at this point. However, that person has decided to not open it as of yet.

Doors are opening left and right here. And I have a feeling that as soon as more open, certain ones anyone, that one door over there will at least crack open and sniff. ugh.

Sorry for that tirade, but it’s part of the whole journey I guess. For now, our adventure is taking a break. We’re at a campsite so to speak, enjoying some time for ourselves. Who knows what the rest of the year will bring, but I don’t doubt that next year will be even the tiniest bit better and that’s enough for me.