This sigh of relief brought to you by . . .

. . . the numbers 1, 9, 4! (OK, so yeah, I am STILL a pretty big fan of Sesame Street.)

Didn’t realize how anxious I was about what’s going on with my muscles until I got the results—in particular, the serum CK level—from the latest blood tests back this week. 

The rheumatologist told me last week that my CK level might be negatively impacted by the fall I took a few days before the blood test, so I was prepared and promised myself not to freak out if the number was high. 

But it wasn’t! 194—a perfectly reasonable CK!

A month ago it was 221. And a month before that it was 150. So even though we’re dropping the steroid dosage (aiming for ZERO by November 19), the muscle damage indicator is staying within normal limits.