X-RAY DAY, BABY!

Why am I so excited?! One word: RESULTS.

Listen, when your body has been throwing you curveballs like it’s trying out for Major League Baseball, you start craving answers like a cat craves chaos. I need RELIEF, I need CLARITY, and I need someone in a white coat to say, “Aha! Here’s what’s going on!”

Now, full transparency—yesterday’s fun little combo of excessive driving and no sleep definitely kicked my pain levels up a notch. (Why does my body act like it ran a marathon when all I did was exist?) But TODAY, my feet decided to join the rebellion. I usually get along just fine with them—they carry me through life like the quiet overachievers they are—but now? Now they’re throwing a full-blown tantrum.

So naturally, I did what any of us with Wi-Fi and a flare for dramatics would do: I consulted Dr. Google.Don’t judge. Google has opinions—and scary diagrams.

This time, my late-night digital doomscrolling led me to the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (based in the UK, because clearly my health drama needed an international flair). And get this: apparently RA can mess with your lungs too. Yeah, I read about three different ways this can happen. Suddenly my occasional “why-can’t-I-breathe-deeply?” moments felt a lot less like random weirdness and a lot more like, “Oh no, what fresh nonsense is this?”

But here’s the kicker—I hesitated to even mention it to my doctor because I didn’t want to seem like a whiny little gremlin.
I’ve got that internal monologue going: “What if I’m just tired? What if it’s allergies? What if my lungs are just being moody?”
But finally, I put on my Big Girl Panties and messaged the doc through the patient portal. Now we wait and see if they think it’s worth a closer look… or if my lungs are just being dramatic divas like the rest of my body.

And now? The WAITING GAME.
My next appointment (and hopefully answers!) isn’t until April 28th—which in chronic pain time feels like a century and a half plus two weeks. So, I’m channeling all that anxious energy into being a salad snob. 

Which brings me to the real hero of today’s saga:
Panera Bread’s Strawberry Poppyseed Chicken Salad.
Seasonal. Massive. Surprisingly refreshing.
It’s got romaine, poppyseed dressing, grilled chicken, mandarin oranges, fresh strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, and toasted pecans. Basically, it’s a fruit salad with a gym membership. 

I wasn’t even that hungry but knew my body needed fuel (a concept I’m still trying to accept as an adult), and this thing delivered. Sweet, fresh, juicy, crunchy, protein-packed—basically everything my joints wish they were right now.

So, here’s the summary:

• X-rays = done 
• Salad = devoured 
• Health mysteries = ongoing 
• Patience level = thin 

Stay tuned, friends. I’m off to hydrate, stretch, and stare at my calendar like it holds the secrets of the universe.