AWWW SHUCKS!
![blush :blush:](./images/smilies/blush.png)
You are all very kind. I just continue to thank God every day that Roger was obedient to the Lord's leading, and followed through with his assignment to share Let's Do Lunch with hurting people. I didn't know Carolyn had done this until just now. I swear, it didn't come up last night when I looked for unread posts just before bedtime.
The BEFORE picture below is shocking, but that's what happens to your poor body when it is bombarded with steroids and every other known anti-inflammatory drug, all in rapid succession. I had started a type of chemotherapy protocol that was working slowly, but it made me really sick. That is actually my DL picture from January, 2002 - about six months after my first flare. It hit
hard and fast. I was in a wheelchair within four months after the arthritis was initially diagnosed in June, 2001. Little Michelle had to push me into the tag office in the manual wheelchair. Amazingly, I weighed about the same then as I do now. But I was really sick.
My previous avatar was taken after the rheumatoid arthritis was finally in remission, about six months before I started Let's Do Lunch. But even though I looked much better, I was still not healthy and I weighed even more - about 409 pounds. It is the degenerative osteoarthritis has kept me in the chair and there is no known cure for that, except to replace the affected joints.
[glow=red,2,300]HOWEVER -- as I continue to proclaim to everyone who will listen -- LET'S DO LUNCH is responsible for the drastic improvement to my health and happiness. Even during the dark days, the Lord continues to sustain me with this marvelous program, my good friends here, and His boundless love.[/glow]You are not mistaken when you say you see a healthy, happy glow on my face. I was very surprised to see it myself in these photos! It's true and it's real. You can't fake the glow.