TONIGHT, WE WEAR US SOME SMILES

It's been a long summer.

My wife has been struggling with joint and muscle pain since April -- by mid-July, she could hardly walk from the bedroom to the bathroom.  It started innocently enough: a sore shoulder one day, next day a squeezing, throbbing  pain in the wrist.  A day later, the other symptoms gone, a leg might be swollen and hot -- and I mean HOT -- to the touch.  The pain was moving.  But it was taking its toll.  It was like a forest fire, hot spots kicking up everywhere.  Our doctor suspected Rheumatoid Arthritis.  He was correct.  But to make the call (and receive relief) requires more than a GP's best guess... despite the extensive blood work and X-rays.

Today, she finally got to see a specialist. (Sometimes, despite -- or because of --  our decent health care system, you need to drive a few hundred miles.)

We can see the lay of the land now.  The predizone took effect within three hours. It's the first smile I've seen on her face in weeks.  More later.