I was feeling much better than I anticipated this morning after a crazy few days....only to realize I feel good because I forgot to take my medication this morning! FU RA!!
Monday, June 17, 2013
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
A big fat F*** You to RA!
Rheumatoid Arthritis has ruined my day. Again. Another day "wasted" because I can't overcome the side effects of this awful disease and the medications that go with it: nausea, swelling, Heart palpitations, numbness in my hands, and now foot, and I can't forget PAIN, PAIN, PAIN. I can't take it anymore. I can't keep quiet about it anymore. I AM DONE!
It takes a lot for me to sit down and talk about this, and let people know what is going on with me. It makes me feel weak. I don't like that. I don't like the sad eyes I get when I say that to people either. Right now I am angry about this, I am tired, and I am yet again - DONE!
Before you say anything, that may trigger a violent outburst on my behalf (thank you prednisone, for that wonderful side effect) , let me share an excerpt from an article on a blog I currently follow, passes the message along, from my point of view..and what you don't know about RA because you do not have it:
Think for a moment: Have you ever have tendonitis? Or “tennis elbow”? How about a sprained ankle? Maybe a dislocated finger? Heel spur? Torn rotator cuff? Broken bone? Jammed toe? Or a ganglion cyst? Maybe you have a bit of osteoarthritis in your knees? If you have, then you have a better ability to understand than you knew. Imagine that you had that painful incapacitating condition in every joint.
If you do not read any further, and you re-read the last paragraph, we will have made progress. That was not hyperbole. Rheumatoid Arthritis progresses at different rates, so your loved one may not have involvement in every joint, but you can still get the idea.
Oh, and if I may offer an ever clearer picture, add a bad case of the flu that to the cocktail. You are getting close.
Do you know which joints are involved with your loved one? Are you sure?
We also want you to see why we cannot forget about the RA for very long. Even though you cannot see it, it is eating us alive. Literally. And we are not able to make our hands or our feet do what we tell them anymore. So, if we can put it out of our minds for a few seconds, it comes back in again when we try to move.
We want you to recognize what Rheumatoid Arthritis is because your reaction to our condition is sometimes not appropriate. Imagine with me again. What would you think if someone handed you a hatchet and asked you to chop some firewood with your broken arm?
No one would do that because everyone understands what a broken arm is. So, that response to your condition would be inappropriate. It would be ignoring the reality of your broken arm or at least extremely minimizing its significance. But broken arms are not invisible.
I have entitled this principle: Recognition Leads to Accommodation. It is the reason that most of us will hold the door for an elderly person or cut meat for a toddler. If any limitation is apparent, most of us will naturally make efforts to accommodate the disability.
Rheumatoid Arthritis brings disability and usually requires accommodation. Not doing so seems cruel.
people would have responded any differently if my diagnosis had been a more well-known disease like diabetes, heart disease, or cancer. I like to think so. I am guessing that people treat RA the way they do because they do not get it. I am hoping that I am correct."
For the record: I am not ever looking for sympathy, it's my fight, and I will gladly fight it alone, even if I don't want to, and I know I don't have to. All that said, I also have been told "You are too young for this.." Not so, most people are diagnosed between 30-40 years old, (I'm 36) and more women are effected than men!
So, if I look like I am having a bad day, if I am walking funny, or not going out of my way to be very social , etc..chances are, I AM having a bad day, as they seem to out number the good right now!
Enough said for now, because I could go on all day!
Be well!
mb
It takes a lot for me to sit down and talk about this, and let people know what is going on with me. It makes me feel weak. I don't like that. I don't like the sad eyes I get when I say that to people either. Right now I am angry about this, I am tired, and I am yet again - DONE!
Before you say anything, that may trigger a violent outburst on my behalf (thank you prednisone, for that wonderful side effect) , let me share an excerpt from an article on a blog I currently follow, passes the message along, from my point of view..and what you don't know about RA because you do not have it:
From the website : http://rawarrior.com
"What I would tell those who are not living with Rheumatoid Arthritis,What we want you to know about living with RA
We want you to know what Rheumatoid Arthritis really is. We want to correct the myths and misunderstandings about RA. And, we want you to understand the consequences of a life with Rheumatoid Arthritis.Think for a moment: Have you ever have tendonitis? Or “tennis elbow”? How about a sprained ankle? Maybe a dislocated finger? Heel spur? Torn rotator cuff? Broken bone? Jammed toe? Or a ganglion cyst? Maybe you have a bit of osteoarthritis in your knees? If you have, then you have a better ability to understand than you knew. Imagine that you had that painful incapacitating condition in every joint.
If you do not read any further, and you re-read the last paragraph, we will have made progress. That was not hyperbole. Rheumatoid Arthritis progresses at different rates, so your loved one may not have involvement in every joint, but you can still get the idea.
Oh, and if I may offer an ever clearer picture, add a bad case of the flu that to the cocktail. You are getting close.
Do you know which joints are involved with your loved one? Are you sure?
We also want you to see why we cannot forget about the RA for very long. Even though you cannot see it, it is eating us alive. Literally. And we are not able to make our hands or our feet do what we tell them anymore. So, if we can put it out of our minds for a few seconds, it comes back in again when we try to move.
Why we want you to know
Why do people with Rheumatoid Arthritis want the comprehension of the non-RA world? Why do we care whether you to get it? Obviously, it would be nice to have sympathy and to feel validated in our suffering. But that is not our point.We want you to recognize what Rheumatoid Arthritis is because your reaction to our condition is sometimes not appropriate. Imagine with me again. What would you think if someone handed you a hatchet and asked you to chop some firewood with your broken arm?
No one would do that because everyone understands what a broken arm is. So, that response to your condition would be inappropriate. It would be ignoring the reality of your broken arm or at least extremely minimizing its significance. But broken arms are not invisible.
I have entitled this principle: Recognition Leads to Accommodation. It is the reason that most of us will hold the door for an elderly person or cut meat for a toddler. If any limitation is apparent, most of us will naturally make efforts to accommodate the disability.
Rheumatoid Arthritis brings disability and usually requires accommodation. Not doing so seems cruel.
people would have responded any differently if my diagnosis had been a more well-known disease like diabetes, heart disease, or cancer. I like to think so. I am guessing that people treat RA the way they do because they do not get it. I am hoping that I am correct."
For the record: I am not ever looking for sympathy, it's my fight, and I will gladly fight it alone, even if I don't want to, and I know I don't have to. All that said, I also have been told "You are too young for this.." Not so, most people are diagnosed between 30-40 years old, (I'm 36) and more women are effected than men!
So, if I look like I am having a bad day, if I am walking funny, or not going out of my way to be very social , etc..chances are, I AM having a bad day, as they seem to out number the good right now!
Enough said for now, because I could go on all day!
Be well!
mb
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