The holiday season is finally over, and I hope you all had a great time and didn’t let your hives stop you from enjoying yourself. I know I had several reactions, but I didn’t let it get me down.
It is hard to believe that 2008 is already over! What a year. Something my wife and I always like to do is reflect back on the year, and then set a few goals for the new year (2009). So I thought I would do that a little on here as well, although it will mostly be related to the hives and this site.
Reflections of 2008:
2008 was a pretty good year all around for me. I managed my business which did reasonably well considering it was my first full year doing it. I am actually considering making some changes and going in a new direction, which is shifting from online retail sales to perhaps more website based stuff–but I haven’t fully decided yet.
I started this website in 2008 also. At first, it was just a simple website with a few pages. I thought to myself, “What the heck, why not start a site and talk about cholinergic urticaria.” My original intent was to simply write about my condition, and give info to those that may come down with it.
It started doing well, and then I decided to add a forum so people could register and share information. I didn’t even know if anyone would register to be honest, but many did and that surprised me. That worked out really well. Then I did a re-design of the website into “blog” format. That made it 1000 times easy to add updates, articles, and more.
The site has done well, and I was quite surprised by the number of people that decided to join the forum and post all of the great content that is over there. Once again, let me say a big THANK YOU ! I have learned so much from all of the posts, and it has been great being able to connect with others that have this condition!
I always take the time to read every single post over there, and I always get excited when new info has been posted. It makes me feel a little normal each time more and more people talk about it. It also gives me more insight, ideas, and hope when I hear of all the stories, trials, and more.
My hives were with me pretty badly for all of 2008, but I did have a few periods of less intense reactions (mostly during the dead of summer when I was experimenting with my diets). I leaned a lot about myself, such as what foods I should avoid, etc. I feel like I know a lot more about cholinergic urticaria, although, there are still so many things I don’t understand.
Hopes, Goals, and Resolutions for 2009:
I can’t express how optimistic I am about this year. I feel like it is the year of change for me, my wife, and hopefully all of you as well. It will be a big year of achieving a lot of goals.
First, my wife graduates from college here in only about 4 1/2 months, and she will be an RN (registered nurse). This is awesome for so many reasons. First, school was a major strain on her and our financial situation. Now she can work to help bring in more of an income, which really helps out since we are young and essentially starting from scratch. So that will be the realization of a dream for her (getting a degree and doing the work she wants to do).
Also, this year we will likely apply for a mortgage loan and get a house. This has been something I have wanted for years, and it has always seemed out of reach since houses cost so much money and the ones that are affordable look like they are freaky or haunted or something. However, this year I feel like I will finally be able to get a house and realize my dream of owning my own home. This is good for so many reasons. I can do more experiments, I can get outside more, I can feel like a human again. Right now I feel like a bird in a cage. I can’t do anything living in this apartment!!! It has had a serious negative impact on almost every area of mylife. So the house thing is exciting and I can’t wait. It will probably happen around July-October (the sooner the better).
I hope to grow more as an individual. I hope I grow spiritually. I hope I develop a better relationship with my family. I hope to grow financially. I hope my health improves, and I hope to be much more happy this time next year!
As I mentioned before, I will probably be making some changes to my business in one way or another, and I may talk about that later on. But I still haven’t fully decided everything as of yet, so I will just leave it at that.
In terms of my hives, I feel like this year is going to be HUGE! I feel so optimistic that I will either fully eliminate them, or be able to significantly reduce the symptoms! I am going to try everything, and this will start when I get a house. To name a few things, I will: Get more vitamin D/sun exposure, allergen proof my house (dust mites/etc.), get water filtration system, force sweating more frequently (by exercise, possibly using a heater/humidifier during my sleep, etc.). I may also get allergy tests later on, and some more testing done if this isn’t gone by next winter.
I also plan on cleaning up my diet majorly. As most of you know, I have tried several diet experiments during this past year, and I had mixed results. The main thing is, even though the diets didn’t fully cure the hives, I did some other benefits such as better digestion, healthier skin, and feeling better about myself.
So this year I am going to eat as healthy as possible. Plenty of fruits/veggies. I am cutting out as many processed foods as possible. I am avoiding milk (due to the stomach issues) as I have for the past several months and I don’t miss it at all. I am also avoiding gluten again for a while as well. I hope to eat better for my overall health and longevity.
I also plan on getting myself in shape later this year. When I get moved into our new house (hopefully), I plan on buying a home gym and getting back into my old “Arnold Schwarzenegger” bodybuilding routines. I love working out, and even though I know I will never have the big muscles like the other guys without the ‘roids’, at least I can get ripped and see abs and look like a skinny version of those guys. That is my goal for later on in the year- to get my tail in shape and get my abs ripped like they were in high school and feel healthy again. I will keep you posted periodically on my progress with this and the diet as it unfolds.
As for the website: Again, I am really pleased with the results, and I have some things planned for this year as well. I plan on updating the forum a little bit, and adding new boards and moving threads to proper boards to make it more organized and easier to read and find topics. I will also be writing posts a little more frequently on the blog. I also plan on trying to eliminate the spam I have gotten on the forum 100%. It was shocking how many times I have had to delete porn and Viagra posts. Those darn creepy spammers!
I also plan to take more pictures of hives and hopefully take video footage of myself having a cholinergic urticaria reaction from start to finish. I also hope to add a few more useful static pages on the site to summarize all of the info we have so far about CU (what is Cu, it’s causes, treatments, etc.). I think that people who are just developing this condition will find it useful and comforting.
I feel like there will be more and more people stopping by and signing up for the forum, and we will really find out some interesting info and be able to compare notes over the year. Hopefully we will be able to find more info about CU, reduce our symptoms, and hopefully even cure our hives (or at least reduce the symptoms and live normal lives again). It is great having a community where we can share information and give ideas, tips, etc. I feel like I have learned so much, and if we continue to stick together we have a better chance of finding more out about this, and sharing all the info with each other and all the people in the future that may develop this condition.
I can’t stress enough how great I think all the posts have been. I have learned so much. I have been inspired, educated, intrigued, and more. I think there are probably many people who have never registered who may feel the same way, and I know I have had many people who have voiced appreciation of all the work of everyone on the forum. So once again, a Big THANK YOU to everyone who posted, thanks to those of you who may be reading the forum (and too shy to register) as well.
Keep in mind, if you ever want to register, you are free to use a made up name and even a separate email address. I have no problems with that at all. The point is to be able to relay information, and I completely understand for those who may not want to sign up. But you are always welcome to sign up or just browse as a guest, and if you have ever have any tips, ideas, theories, or stories, please feel free to share it with us. We won’t bite…hard (just kidding).
My Hopes for You for 2009
I hope you all have a slammin’ 2009 year. Hopefully this will be an awesome year for you! If haven’t set any goals yet, I hope you do so. Setting goals is an important part to achieving them, and dreams DO come true!
I hope you don’t let your hives spoil your year, or get you into those bad or depressed moods. I know I have had my share of those days, but mostly I try to stay positive and optimistic. Keep in mind there is a REALLY good chance we aren’t going to have to deal with this forever. Hopefully this is the year we see a big change.
I hope your hives fade away forever, you have a great and happy year, and you accomplish great things. Most importantly, be HAPPY! Life is too short to be miserable, and don’t let the hives make you miserable. Like the song goes, “Don’t worry, be happy……Sometimes life gives you trouble, but when you worry you make it double…Don’t worry, be happy. Wooo Hooo!
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Posted under general information, hives talk
This post was written by Ben on January 2, 2009
