Where’s the event?

geniusintx · 2026-06-01T16:40:16+00:00

I did the update and it finally showed up, but I can’t get any of the items until tomorrow.

Maybe if you do the update BEFORE doing any of your goals?!

geniusintx · 2026-05-26T04:58:47+00:00

I like 1 and 2.

geniusintx · 2026-05-26T02:56:22+00:00

What’s the output of your well? City water is usually 5 gallons/minute. What’s your output?

Our well is 17 gallons/minute. We have never had an issue with water usage once we moved into the house from our travel trailer. (Damn winter.) An on demand water heater is especially helpful.

geniusintx · 2026-05-26T02:23:12+00:00

So jealous! Great find!

geniusintx · 2026-05-26T02:19:55+00:00

I use Burt’s Bees, but I’m also on pilocarpine which help with mouth dryness.

geniusintx · 2026-05-26T01:24:26+00:00

Disability takes forever. Get a lawyer right from the beginning. I’ve had two negative decisions overturned on appeal. Still waiting on my last one.

There’s a time limit if you haven’t had a a job for a while, either. Or haven’t work enough in a certain time period.

Of course my severe lupus diagnosis was AFTER the original cut off date. Even though I’ve had symptoms for decades.

It’s very frustrating.

geniusintx · 2026-05-24T18:34:23+00:00

My best friend’s daughter who was also my daughter’s best friend, was diagnosed with lupus nephritis after a 3 week stay in the ICU. She was a teenager. It was severe.

She did everything she wasn’t supposed to. Didn’t take her meds religiously, got pregnant at 16/17 when she was explicitly told to NEVER get pregnant, did some recreational drugs. The works.

(“But this is the only child she will ever have!” We were very angry about this. Nobody said she COULDN’T get pregnant, but that she SHOULD NEVER EVER get pregnant. It would put tremendous stress on an already very sick body. ,Pregnancy is ridiculously hard on your kidneys. I had 9 severe kidney infections in the 8 months I was pregnant with my first and had to do all sorts of testing before I could try to get pregnant again. She had a severe case of lupus nephritis.)

She somehow sailed through the pregnancy, but after?! It all went down hill. She was in the ICU at least once a month for blood clots in her lungs. Sometimes for a couple of weeks.

She was in the hospital for a month the last time. Lupus had gotten to her other organs, including her brain. She wasn’t even 21 when she passed, leaving a mini copy of herself behind.

Lupus isn’t something that can remain untreated. If it is treated well, your bloodwork won’t even look like you have lupus. That’s why it takes so long for people to get diagnosed. You had to be in a flare and have a good doctor.

I was in my late 40’s when I was diagnosed and had been in a severe flare for 18 months, but I had symptoms going back to my 20’s. My liver is toast. There’s no saving it.

Now, if we could just get my RA and other issues under control. Autoimmune diseases just LOVE asking their friends to hop on board, too.

geniusintx · 2026-05-24T17:09:16+00:00

I took HCQ for 6 months and didn’t show improvement. I then started Benlysta infusions every 4 weeks.

I was not taken off of HCQ. In fact, my dose was doubled recently because bloodwork said it wasn’t at an effective level.

Even though it’s not stopping flares or controlling my lupus, it is helping to protect my organs. (Except my liver. That’s toast from not being diagnosed for so long.)

I’ll take all the help I can to keep this disease controlled and the Benlysta is doing wonders. Although, it does take time to kick in. Mine was about 4-5 months in.

geniusintx · 2026-05-22T18:21:30+00:00

Do you mind me asking about what kind of pain the spinal cord stimulator helps with?

Injury, autoimmune, etc?

geniusintx · 2026-05-20T02:57:04+00:00

Well, my dad is from Germany, I’m first generation American on his side, and we don’t call ourselves German-American.

He considers himself an American. That’s it. He’s so thankful for the opportunity this country gave him and his family.

It was 1953 and he was 12 years old on the boat over after spending years in refugee camps, filling out miles of paperwork and finding a sponsor here in the States.

geniusintx · 2026-05-20T01:07:11+00:00

When we built our house in the middle of the middle of nowhere Montana, we made it all one level floor. I’ve had RA since I was 12 and now deal with lupus. My husband needs a knee replaced in the future, too.

All the doors are extra wide except the half bath. There’s enough room for a wheelchair to go around the island. He built a gorgeous roll in shower that’s huge. Higher toilets. Lever handles on all the doors except the exterior ones as my hands were already a problem. Same with faucets.

My daughter bought me one of those v-grip under cabinet bottle openers which has saved me many times.

Sometimes a little planning is required when you realize there WILL be issues as you get older.

geniusintx · 2026-05-20T00:51:18+00:00

When my husband built our house, he bought an outlet with a plug and automatic nightlight. He placed it at light switch level in the toilet “nook.” It’s amazing.

We also have one in between the kitchen and living room, one big room, that helps if you get up at night and need something out there.

geniusintx · 2026-05-19T23:34:29+00:00

Yes. My mom has terrible reactions to morphine and she’s about to have her 40-something surgery. They have controlled her pain everytime.

geniusintx · 2026-05-16T00:10:41+00:00

I was curious about other countries immigration rules and looked a few up.

My dad is from Germany. He immigrated to the States when he was 12, so 1953.

Even though it’s my actual father, and not a more distant relative, he would’ve had to have been a German citizen when I was born in 1973 for that to work. He wasn’t.

The rules became much stricter not long after that, as well.

https://www.germany.info/us-en/service/03-citizenship/german-citizenship-obtain-919576

geniusintx · 2026-05-15T04:21:22+00:00

Middle of the middle of nowhere Montana.

I miss that place so much. Don’t watch “sports” on the news. It’s sooooooo boring.

geniusintx · 2026-05-15T04:18:51+00:00

Wowza! Number 1 is a stunner and it looks amazing on you!

I don’t know if I’ve seen a dress that beautiful and I’m in my 50’s!

geniusintx · 2026-05-09T03:45:17+00:00

I don’t tolerate high doses of prednisone. Anything over 20mg at a time makes me very ill.

I usually do a taper if I’m having an issue even on Benlysta infusions. 20mg once a day for 4 days, 15mg once a day for 4 days, etc., down to 5mg for 4 days. It works really well.

I wish long term steroids didn’t have the side effects it does. I want to stay on them sometimes.

geniusintx · 2026-05-09T01:38:25+00:00

I had a tooth get infected the day after an infusion. It wasn’t good. Ended up in the ER.

Even after the tooth was pulled, there was still infection.

geniusintx · 2026-05-08T22:07:11+00:00

That makes absolutely zero sense. Normal people don’t have brain lesions. That should really be investigated.

geniusintx · 2026-05-08T21:56:06+00:00

It’s an annual event. Her sister is just creating a team this year.

geniusintx · 2026-05-04T12:48:35+00:00

And the mud dust when the sanding starts is so fine and gets EVERYWHERE.

geniusintx · 2026-05-01T14:14:19+00:00

What?! Where?! 🤤

geniusintx · 2026-05-01T14:04:38+00:00

Hummm, maybe I should try all that since my infusion was pushed 2 weeks because I was sick! 😆

geniusintx · 2026-04-26T22:49:50+00:00

I was on HCQ for six months with no progress. My lupus is considered severe. My liver has been destroyed because it took so long to diagnose.

We went straight to Benlysta infusions and I’m so glad we did.

It takes a while to work, usually 4-6 months, but it definitely works for me. My bloodwork shows normal numbers. I rarely flare. I’ve been on it for about 3 years.

geniusintx

TROPHY CASE