Izzie! Welcome back, but I'm sorry to hear of everything that's happened! I know you mean it when you say it's been the worst year - I remember you had been hit by a car when you were previously active on the forum, so for it to be a worse year than that is really saying something.
I hope the surgery goes really well. I haven't had major surgery myself so I cannot offer you any advice, but I hope it gives you tons of relief and a better quality of life. When are you having the surgery? Please update us and let us know how everything goes. I'll keep you in my thoughts.
Here's the short update on me - it's been a bad year (couple of years, really) for me, as well. Last year my grandpa died and we had to put my grandma into a memory care facility due to her severe dementia. That was all hugely stressful and emotional, and as a result I had the worst flare that I'd ever had. I flared up in late July of last year, and by late August of last year I had lost 17 lbs in one month and couldn't digest anything, couldn't sleep due to the pain waking me up, and just basically couldn't function. I was hospitalized at that time and was put on IV steroids and EEN. Fortunately that helped and got me out of the flare. I've been on pred ever since, though, I'm still trying to get off of the stuff. And then this July, my dog got diagnosed with terminal cancer. I don't have kids, it's just me and hubby and our pets, so my pets are like my family and it's been devastating. Plus she's my first ever dog, so I haven't been through this before. It's a new, terrible experience. She's still hanging in there, still eating and doesn't seem to be in pain, but her energy levels are dropping and there's a palpable tumor that's gotten larger and larger, and I know the end is coming soon (they estimated she'd have 3 months left to live, and it's now been 2.5 months). So, I've had a hard time with lots of grief lately and more to come in the near future. I definitely feel for you on having a hard year as I'm right there with you.
