Yes, I’ve been a terrible slacker. It’s been over a month since I last posted. But I do come by and read everyone on my list every day. I’ve been posting a lot more things of the 140-character nature; I guess I’m hooked on Facebook and Twitter. Those handsome bastards.

Medically, things are looking up. The dermatoligist looked at the rash and skin biopsies and said, “I don’t know what’s wrong with you.” The rheumatologist looked at the rash and joints and blood tests and mumbled, “I don’t know what’s wrong with you. Come back every month.” (I’m not going back to that guy.)

The gastroenterologist said, “Definitely active disease, but it’s hard to say if it’s Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis.” But now there’s a shiny new blood test that can indicate whether it’s one or the other. So we did it, and it’s Crohn’s Disease by a hair. Meaning that of the four markers, one was a tie, one leaned toward UC, and two leaned toward Crohn’s. Looking at my old Seattle medical records, my old doctor vacillated between the two diagnoses on a monthly basis. Oy.

So I was put on the old reliable immunosuppressive drugs that I took years ago. They socked me into near-remission — I haven’t had a joint flare since we went to Seattle over a month ago, and the rash is much, MUCH milder — now I’m just getting the tiniest bit of rash on some days, and NO rash on others. Which is great. And now I’m starting up a brand new immunosuppressive drug, which will take the place of the old one. It’s administered not with pills, but with self-injections into my belly fat. Fun! For a while I’ll be on the two different immune-suppressing drugs (hello, Purell and OCD handwashing) and in a couple of months, once the new stuff is in full swing, we’ll drop the old drugs.

That’s about the most exciting stuff going on with me right now. I’m still tired a lot (that’s always been in my top 3 Crohn’s issues, and right now it’s #1) but I can deal with it.

In other news: Florida is hot. Summer is here, so it’ll be intolerable outside for three months or so. It’s supposed to hit 100° today, before the violent afternoon thunderstorms roll in.

Scott had a weekend full of good news items, none of which I’m cleared to talk about just yet. Overall, his comic strip is doing well and growing slowly but steadily.

Oh, and since starting Atkins again in November, I’m down 22 pounds. Also slow and steady. There’s still a good 20 pounds to go, but I feel much healthier already.