It's been a while since I've written but I've been to see Dr. Otley and some of his colleagues at Mayo in Rochester. It was quite the whirlwind but I was incredibly impressed with their knowledge of my disease and the options offered to me.

I am declining biologics at this time because of the scary, potential side effects.

I've chosen surgery! I'll be having day surgery on the 20th of Jan. on my underarms. Wide excision with secondary intention healing. Meaning, no grafts and only very few stitches to help promote skin growth I will have large underarm scars and the healing time will be extensive. Once healed, I will have two more surgeries. I am hoping to be done with surgeries by 2018!

Why this is worth it to me. I am absolutely exhausted all of the time. I have swelling in my arms and hands because my lymph nodes are blocked and this will only get worse as my disease progresses. I want to really live again and I think this will be the beginning of that journey back to some health.

I've had so many medical problems in my life and I feel like my 20's and 30's were dominated by doctors and medicines, surgeries and a lot of fear and stress. I'm hoping this will give me some time to experience life as a healthy person, if only for a while!

I'm very excited and hopeful. It's been a long while since I've felt this way.

Hope all is well with everyone that has posted here.