these are NOT my hands just an example of how my hands feel- and if i dont get treatment this is how they will look
i hope its OK ,,but i read this on a friends site about her:
When my Grandmother was diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis a few decades ago, the milder cases were simply put on aspirin, over 20 a day! If they didn't die of a bleeding ulcer, they were quickly disabled from the disease. The more severe cases might be put on Prednisone or gold salts but that was pretty much it. Not a lot to choose from. As much as I hate having RA, I am glad I have it now. Never before have we had so many treatment options. In the last two years we've been bombarded with new drugs and treatments. We have so much to choose from. Most of us will live full productive lives, unlike those a generation ago. Early detection and treatment are important in slowing down the disease and preserving joints.
i wanted to say i appreciate this point of view,,and i get so wrapped up in TODAYS RA we forget,,it could have been a much worse for me had i been born back then- LOOK AT THE LAUNDRY THEY DID BY HAND - WRINGING AND SCRUBBING THEN IRONING,OMG HOW??? There is no way a lady with rheumatoid could have made it back then- noway.
This is my blackkat. he acts like a "puppy.dog" so i call him "lil buddy"..he comes running to me when I call for him. He really should be in hollywood with commercials B/C he can train easy. I taught him how to kiss,he raises his cute lil head up so i can kiss him on the head - its way cute- he knows love, and he has been at my side from the very moment he was born,,god i love this kat!hes very special,,& very diferent.
this is a view of my knuckels on my left hand see hte swelling on th e1st and second knuckel HURTS just to look at it,
i was just emailing some friends from myspace (that have RA as well)its always good for me to mingle with the RAers out there..cuz we have a "bond" or a "connection". ITS healthily for us all to bitch and complain and get it all out and then we just turn around and smile to our loved ones,,,bearing the pain and feeling abit "not so alone" for the moment and that makes me feel better inside my own heart. now,,, i have the BEST girlfriend in the world,and the best father in the world and the best sister who loves me with all her kids to be around- i truly thank GOD for my blessings as i see i do have them, no one here is yelling at me to go to work,,OR why r you so useless? nothing like that,,in fact its oppisit// its NOTHING but support for me. im not saying this is a "bed of roses" here,,we r struggling along we dont even know how we r gonna make it,,but today TODAY= the lord has blessed us and we thank Jesus for that! we do ,,we really really do! its called :debi=OPEN YOUR EYES- see the love? humbly i say i do,& "im so very greatful".
2 comments:
Hey Kelly,
I'm 54 years old. I was diagnosed with RA when I was 25. My feet were swollen & red, and it felt like hundreds of needles sticking in them. I could hardly walk. My hand grip was so weak, I would drop the hairbrush. My whole body ached and ached and I was so tired. When they hospitalized me, I remember the sheets hurt my legs when they touched (like air). So they put some kind of tent-like frame over me and held the sheet up off of me.
Anyway, long story short...I took 25 aspirin a day every day for 6 months. They I took a string of arthritis drugs and they eventually wanted to give me gold salt injections. I refused them because I wanted to get pregnant.
Years have gone by, and I am very blessed that I have been off meds entirely. I always said I felt just as good without them as when I was on them (and I'm pretty sure this was a blessing from God).
The reason I'm looking online at all this stuff now is that this week I went to the eye doctor. He said I have the serious type of scleritis. It can cause blindness and it usually is something that folks with RA get. Anyway, the Good Lord has brought me this far, and I'm going to trust him to take me the rest of the way. (I can't promise I won't shed a fear tears this weekend because they have me on steriods for my eyes. I go back to the doctor next week. I'll try to get back with you and let you know what I find out.
The reason I wanted to write was to encourage you that I went from really bad...to a very good 25 years relatively pain free (just some stiffness). :-)
hi Gloria - Im so glad 2 have heard from you, i honestly didnt think anyone read this blog -
~i love to hear other stories so i can compair to mine,,and this is what i see going on with all of us
i hated to accept that i had this,,and denied it for along time,,just ignored and then i dropped,,it beat me,then i
"accepted" this RA
- omg your story is much worse then mine - YOU DID THE 25 asprin a day treatment,UG! and youve had it for much longer time,,do your fingers show RA??? did it sneek in there and twist a finger,,like its trying to do to me??
i do take a lot of pictures to see if im changing,,ive changed MOST in my hips,,i have a awful pain deep in both hips and they WERE the first thing to hurt back years ago it sent me to my doctor, & she said i show signs of lupus -i need to be tested ....i was around 32 yrs old,,i paid no attn to that,, continued to work untill just last yr.
and a half - i had to quit working - so sad-
,,i found it to painful to work everyday,,i would just be in tears by friday- it just was killingme -was on injections METHOTREXATE and REMICADE then - and it just didnt work for me,,i could not work and have RA...
,i quit all that - work first -then all the meds,why take them if they didnt work? and no insurance anyhoo.
i miss working badly - i have been thru alot wit this RA and all the mental torment too- filling out SSDI forms led to a breakdown and i had to see a shrink after to help get me back to being debi maddox...it scared me,but im ok now-
NOw U r dealing with serious type of scleritis ??? i must look that up and learn about it,,i hate that RA is about 20 other things all rollled into RA - nothing but pure unpredictible,painful,bunch a achin'bones and feet and flesh and my neck OMG my neck,, i swear i sometietimes take 2/65 mg darvon just to get past the pain in my neck ive even had a flare in my MOUTH,YES MY JAW will not be the same,,has it been to your jaw ??it travelled thru my mouth and jaw area,,and lasted for three months,,i could not eat, yawn, smile or ..
or anythig with my mouth untill it went away and then i noticed my jaw is not the same as before((crazy i never knew it could do that) please keep in touch,,ouchie,,my splits on my fingers hurt totype and i better get outta her for now,,please keep in touch K? thanks,,i sewe u called me kelly,,thats my friend kell -im debi hehehe
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