Somewhere over the rainbow...

Today has been a good day.  Scratch that.  Today has been an AWESOME day.  Good news abounds.  We'll start with the small stuff first.

Got my end of year review today at work.  In the scale of where I could have rated, I got pretty darn high.  This plus company doing well ='s awesome bonus of awesome that will make marching on through the rest of the year a LOT easier.  I actually cried when I saw the numbers.  I love my job and the people I work with and am so incredibly blessed.  Thank God for my getting to keep helping others and try and make their software world survival better! :-D

Second round of good news I've saved for last cause it's incredibly awesome.  As of today, I have not taken any prednisone for the last 8 days.  None.  Zip.  Notta.  Nil.  This is the first time aside from one day post-infusion last fall I tried to go without for one day and it failed horribly that I have been able to delay taking it for more than about 6-9 hours from the normal time I take it every day.  I've been on prednisone since May 2009 for treating the joint and muscle pain from UCTD.  It's a very big crazy significant thing to be able to not have to take it every day to fend off the pain. Especially since I went from the avc 5mg I've been at since last summer's infusion until Sat when I took the last 5 and said frak it on Sun and just didn't take any and haven't since.  It's... liberating.  It proves that I hadn't developed any kind of addiction to the steroid medication and that I don't need it thanks to the Rituxan infusion to go about daily activities.  Not saying I don't notice not having it now and then.  First few days I could still feel pain a bit in my hands and feet.  But again, if I'd gone more than 6-9 hours before without taking some I would be crying, screaming, cursing the world, wanting my limbs to be removed, not able to move in the least, and so on.  Every day the pain is less and less.

I'm always thankful and know that I'm super blessed, but I really am feeling it today.  Today is a super awesome great day of awesomeness!  Woohoo!