I Have Something to Say
[center][b][u]Rhuematoid Arthritis[/u][/b][/center]
I'm feeling kinda grateful I only have RA and that I was given the right medication to treat my condition before it got any worse.
I'm thankful for the Rheumatologists that had helped me when I was diagnosed with JRA. I have walked through pain, excruciating pain in school whether it was standing up for too long, walking for too long or indeed the pain from running, I powered through without not many people knowing what was up because I just wanted to be like one of the normal kids, the everyday kids, I believed in the power of mind that I can do what I want to do, set out to do and that nothing was going to stop me. Not even my JRA.
I really put it to the test. Of course there were limitations with my joints seizing up, after all, there is a reason why they talk about mind & body together and not separately. The pain got so much that I had to find a more comfortable way of walking, mainly due to my left knee and the flare ups I had due to the inflammation as well as fluid build up. It gotten so bad that the doctors said it was the biggest knee they ever seen and before they performed any surgery, they wanted it to be documented.
I was also part of a research programme up in Belfast, the very same ones who knew what the condition was and presented me with this new diagnosis, got straight to point after examining my case. Unlike the other doctors I had seen previously, they didn't have a notion and said it was a bizarre case but later to discover that it wasn't so bizarre after all and that there were others like myself with the very same condition, even much younger than my then self.
The first line of medication was downright awful and had left me feeling nauseated, I didn't like taking it and sometimes would have skipped it because of how badly it was making me feel, even thinking about the yellow stuff just makes me wanna hurl.
However eventually a new drug came in called Enbrel, a biologic and it is designed to target the autoimmune condition suppressing it. I didn't take the opportunity until I was to leave for Scotland as I was going to University and even through College I had stuck with the yellow stuff and then I decided "No more!", this other stuff can't be any worse and it wasn't, it was the very thing I needed in order to have that fulfilling life and I don't take it for granted, especially right now at this very moment when I'm waiting for my medication to be sent out from the pharmacy, for my new batch, my own error for not scheduling blood tests myself here, then I suppose I was always gonna be waiting for my next Rheumatology appointment which I just got last week, but as a result, I've had no medication for over 2 weeks now and its now beginning to restrict my movement, sure I can push through but, my left leg just feels bulky and heavy due to my knee flare up, I don't feel as much pain now because I have pushed it for so long when I was younger I have now developed a high-pain threshold for this kinda pain and so I have to an extent be careful because at this stage my joint will click, twist a little, which could do some damage to the joint and feels very weird. And I must be careful until I receive my medication as it makes all the difference.
Even throughout the times where I felt like I was at my worst, I always did my best to keep hold of the positive mindset and that I will get to do what I want to do. I have always managed to see a lighter side but then again later I developed mania, so maybe I was naturally high throughout all my childhood, so there ye go.
I'm feeling kinda grateful I only have RA and that I was given the right medication to treat my condition before it got any worse.
I'm thankful for the Rheumatologists that had helped me when I was diagnosed with JRA. I have walked through pain, excruciating pain in school whether it was standing up for too long, walking for too long or indeed the pain from running, I powered through without not many people knowing what was up because I just wanted to be like one of the normal kids, the everyday kids, I believed in the power of mind that I can do what I want to do, set out to do and that nothing was going to stop me. Not even my JRA.
I really put it to the test. Of course there were limitations with my joints seizing up, after all, there is a reason why they talk about mind & body together and not separately. The pain got so much that I had to find a more comfortable way of walking, mainly due to my left knee and the flare ups I had due to the inflammation as well as fluid build up. It gotten so bad that the doctors said it was the biggest knee they ever seen and before they performed any surgery, they wanted it to be documented.
I was also part of a research programme up in Belfast, the very same ones who knew what the condition was and presented me with this new diagnosis, got straight to point after examining my case. Unlike the other doctors I had seen previously, they didn't have a notion and said it was a bizarre case but later to discover that it wasn't so bizarre after all and that there were others like myself with the very same condition, even much younger than my then self.
The first line of medication was downright awful and had left me feeling nauseated, I didn't like taking it and sometimes would have skipped it because of how badly it was making me feel, even thinking about the yellow stuff just makes me wanna hurl.
However eventually a new drug came in called Enbrel, a biologic and it is designed to target the autoimmune condition suppressing it. I didn't take the opportunity until I was to leave for Scotland as I was going to University and even through College I had stuck with the yellow stuff and then I decided "No more!", this other stuff can't be any worse and it wasn't, it was the very thing I needed in order to have that fulfilling life and I don't take it for granted, especially right now at this very moment when I'm waiting for my medication to be sent out from the pharmacy, for my new batch, my own error for not scheduling blood tests myself here, then I suppose I was always gonna be waiting for my next Rheumatology appointment which I just got last week, but as a result, I've had no medication for over 2 weeks now and its now beginning to restrict my movement, sure I can push through but, my left leg just feels bulky and heavy due to my knee flare up, I don't feel as much pain now because I have pushed it for so long when I was younger I have now developed a high-pain threshold for this kinda pain and so I have to an extent be careful because at this stage my joint will click, twist a little, which could do some damage to the joint and feels very weird. And I must be careful until I receive my medication as it makes all the difference.
Even throughout the times where I felt like I was at my worst, I always did my best to keep hold of the positive mindset and that I will get to do what I want to do. I have always managed to see a lighter side but then again later I developed mania, so maybe I was naturally high throughout all my childhood, so there ye go.
31-35, M
