Time Marches On

Autoimmune party update for anyone who was invested in the story of my swollen freakout 2025.

Remember when I was going on about getting signed up for an autoimmune draft pic for some reason? I can’t control how my brain makes comparisons but I hope it’s at least entertaining. Also, I did not get signed and am still a free agent.

If you don’t feel like reading the other post: a kettle bell workout randomly woke up “dormant” Streptococcal A and created it’s villain origin story, and it was absolutely furious. Strep A went on to attack all my joints systematically in an effort to take me down as revenge for the loss of it’s slumber.

My blood work reveals lowering inflammation levels (CRP for anyone medical, I’m at 13 now and was triple digits before)but they aren’t completely in the clear until they are under 10. Also, I had strep in my system previously but currently am streptococcal free. What does this mean? It means I was walking around with strep throat like an asshole in winter and had no idea I was sick. Amazingly, I infected NO ONE, so maybe I was just a non-infectious typhoid Mary. A carrier of disease, like a rat, but more Ratatouille whimsy than black plague.

Post Reactive Streptococcal Arthritis, or PRSA is what this is called. The way it happened to me is more on the rare side, but still not out of anyone’s ball park. I remember feeling sick with a vague sore throat for barely 24 hours early January but as explained in my previous post, this was chalked up to winter bullshit and this vague malaise that I’ve felt off and on (mostly on) post-surgery hormone organ harvesting. There was a headache that would NOT quit but late last year and early 2025 I was carrying a lot of stress around, like overladen saddlebags. Every thing physically happening could be easily explained.

I don’t know about you guys, but this sort of scenario scares the shit of me. Anyone, at any time, can get some sort of post viral infection and flare up, get sick or even die. Just a hard reality check for all of us to really live in the good moments of our lives. The fact that I had NO idea I had strep bothers me to the extreme. Critically aware of allergic reactions and my skin previously acting like the kid from The Babadook; I rescheduled my tattoo at the recommendation of my rheumatologist. There was no telling if my skin would decide to revolt, and then I went home and looked at allergic reactions to tattoos and wanted to vomit, and felt better about this decision.

On the brighter, if not ironic side, this experience stripped a few layers of anxiety back, so I’m carrying much lighter loads. Despite the fact that I was told this could happen again, and could end up being something diagnosable down the road if I had another recurrence, I feel lighter. A whole lot more “fuck it” mentally. Just been going slow, grooving through the summer, enjoying good company, vodka drinks, watching fireflies and listening to gothy vaporwave on my balcony as the sun sets.

True, there is a little bit of anxiety about allergy reactions and getting sick, but I have comfort that I know how to handle this extremely unnerving situation. I am now leveled up and pro with reactive arthritis. An unlocked achievement that NO ONE WANTS but cool, cool.

The complete and thoroughly vague ambiguity of autoimmune issues is one of the most frustrating things I’ve experienced, so I have to give a shout out to everyone living their lives in the face of “maybe it’s Lupus or Rheumatoid Arthritis, maybe it’s not”. I hear you and you are SEEN. There is no straight answer; this disease has boundary issues and doesn’t follow any rules. It really appreciates symmetry and maybe that’s beautiful in someone else’s hellscape, but it’s alarming when you can’t hold a cup of coffee with both hands, open doors, or put on pants.

Now if you excuse me, it’s time for me to give myself contact dermatitis petting my tuxedo cat who is ultra comfy and splayed out on my burnt orange bedspread like a renaissance painting. She might be a (major)source of my issues, but she is also a cure.