This time last year I was pretty despondent. My Rheumatoid was causing allot of pain in my hands and wrists. Kneading clay was very painful and almost impossible. I didn’t talk about it much, I don’t really like to discuss my pain, I believe that gives it more power. I had to face facts though, perhaps my career as a jewelry artist was over? My Rheumatologist and I had decided a while ago that we would put off trying the very toxic “biologic” drugs that treat Rheumatoid. Aside from the fact that they can be dangerous to fairly healthy people, those of us with other conditions namely my spinal cord injury, are especially vulnerable to the harmful effects. So we tried every combination of everything other than the biologics to try and treat the progression of my disease. I even changed my entire diet to an inflammation free diet, the current diet trend that has many people avoiding sugar, wheat, cheese and certain types of protein. The diet did make me feel better, but did nothing to alleviate my symptoms of Rheumatoid. At the worst point, I was unable to get out of bed until I had taken some pain meds and spent at least an hour to loosen up my stiff joints. During this time I didn’t do much caning, and the caning that I did do was very difficult. I did not want to give up, I refused to give in to my pain and sacrifice my artistic career. I had shots in knuckles, my wrists and my elbow, until my Dr. (one to readily suggest shots) said “no more shots” and we had to move on to the next course of treatment.
Finally both me and my Dr. were ready to take the plunge into the dangerous world of Humira, a preferred biologic for first time users of biologic drugs. This drug is an injectable, one of the few times I’m happy to be paralyzed is when I have to get a shot and more so when I have to give myself a shot. Today, I could be one of those cheerful, pain free people in an ad for Humira, it has changed my life! From the very second day I began taking it, I started to feel better. Not only did it change my pain level from a 9 to a 0, it elevated my mood to heights I haven’t known for several years. Of course it did have it’s side effects which manifested in a bad UTI, but I’ve been able to tackle that problem pretty successfully.
So, all of this to introduce my new beads for 2010. Having been unable to make canes for a long time, I’ve had a ton of fun making a ton of canes this month. Flower canes, creature canes, robot, spaceship, hearts and other fun graphic canes. Here’s a collection of beads that have come from the canes:
And some really colorful pendants that reflect how I’m feeling about life and my art right now:
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I am so pleased that the drugs have worked for you. It must have been very frustrating to have had that level of pain before. It must be nice to get back to doing something you love and wow look at the results!
That is a big pile of beautiful beads and the pendants look great.
I love your new color combinations. They are bright and fun! It is amazing how much our moods influence our art.
thanks Jana!