IC Awareness month

October happens to be IC awareness month. Now I happen to get a new letter each month about new ideas or findings that are being done. So in order to help out you can go to this link http://www.icawareness.org/pressrelease100410.html and read more on IC if you are not familiar with it. It will give you an over view of what some people have been through, simply because doctors thought it was something else. There are other links on the site as well. You can check out the diets that we are on and different stories of people who are dealing with IC.  Also http://www.ic-network.com/ is a really great website to go to for information. They have video clips on their giving information about what’s going on in the IC world. Also you can check and see what kind or research they are working on. Stories from doctors and patients with IC. Many different things on the website you can check out. It’s a good place to go for research if you want to know more about IC, instead of going to Google, or other search engine. So please take the time to check out the links and learn more about IC, because the more people know about it the more funding we can get from the government to run test. Right now the government has taken away a lot of the funding because other people don’t see IC as a problem because it doesn’t affect them. So just beware that by looking at these sites can help IC groups get money for testing, so those of us with IC don’t have to suffer.

Wondering

Still searching for answer, and I’m sure I always will be. The thing that has me wondering is why I haven't had any problems lately. I've been noticing that my kidneys aren't bothering me anymore and I haven't had to run to the restroom every 15-20 mintues. I’m not saying that this is a bad thing or anything here. Just makes me curious. I really hope it’s my medications doing their job.
I’m just afraid that know that I said I wasn’t having problems that a whole bunch of problems are going to come out of nowhere. It always happens, so I’m not really getting my hopes up, just being thankful that I’m not in pain, and having to worry as much. I will be glad when my urologist tells me I will be fine to be taken off my medication. That’s only 6 more months of waiting and taking meds, how this all seems like forever, but at least it’s not any longer then what I actually have to wait.
 All I know is I’m ready for this to be over or more like I’m ready for them to find a cure. Finding a cure is going to be so hard, because each person is different and has IC for different reasons. I don’t know if tests can prove how IC really comes about. I do know that right now in the newsletter I get each month that October happens to be IC month. As I was reading the newsletter, some new study was being run, and they needed volunteers for the study.
They didn’t give out any information on just that they were looking for people. I thought about talking to my parent’s about signing up for it, but I didn’t want to go out of State for a few weeks. I just hope they find answers and more ways to help us. It’s a long journey down a hilly road, with a few twist and turns along the way. Just have to keep hoping that one of these tests will be able to help and make a difference for me and all the others

Every day

Every day when I wake up, I’m not really sure what the day is going to bring, or how I’m going to feel. It’s hard going through this. I can't really make people understand everything about it. IC for me is just a learning process because everything changes and you find out something different. Like eating something that you’re not sure of and then realizing you shouldn’t have eaten that. My diet for me changes all the time, there are times when I can eat a baked potato with sour cream, cheese and butter on it, and some days when I eat one it bothers me. It’s all like a game. You never know what the outcome is going to be. I know for a fact that I don’t want to suffer and have any pain so I try to avoid it has much as possible.
One way I try to keep myself from any pain is exercise and dance. I exercise to keep my body in shape and to also help relax my muscles.

I’m a waitress and I do put a lot on strain on my back and if I pull a muscle in my back it can really bother my kidneys which will cause great pain. Also I am currently taking modern dance at school and I found that it helps when I’m having flares. All the free flowing movement that is involved in this kind of dance allows me to unwind my muscles and also helps me build muscles up. By dancing it eases the pain when my kidneys or my bladder are bugging me. There are so many different possibilities for me to ease my pain but I think through dancing and exercise is the easiest way for me. Each day I learn something new or deal with another side effect of having IC, but it is a learning process that will take time. I can not cure this nor is there a cure for this, but I will stay positive throughout all of this. Staying strong is the most important factor, giving up and giving in will only make IC problems worse.