Ok, i found this site last night browsing the web looking for info or stories about people who have "died young from RA". Strangly enough it linked me to this website. I was browsing this site when I came accross journals written by a membesr from this site. Reading her journals inspired me to write some things of my own to share with the world (well ok maybe not the world but those who come here and share the same life problems with RA). Im not the sharpest knife in the drawer so my grammer and spelling may sometimes be off key. Sorry in advance.
My life was simple before RA. Now my life is much more complex then i want it to be. I had a normal life before RA. Normal in the effect that it was pain free and unpredictable. Pain free?? WOW i dont even know how to say Pain Free anymore. This damn disease has stolen that life style. I was diagnosed with this disease in the year 2000. I remember my life as a young guy. A service mechanic for General Motors. 15 years into the carreer. Strong tech with a great job and great pay. New kids, new wife, new home all the bells and whistles. What i wouldnt give to have that feeling of being alive again with no physical pain! My body took a lot of abuse as a mechanic, always in harsh chemicals, standing on concrete floors for 9 hrs a day, on the job injuries on and on and on. I was in a bad car accident in 1999 where i broke my wrist. Two years before that I severed my left thumb, years before that I blew out a lower disc in my back lifting a heavy transmission. The on job injuries were always fun to deal with. In 1999 i felt my body begin to tire. Not just tire but down right fatigue kind of tire. I would take my lunch breaks in my car, turn on the a/c and recline the seat, there i would nap for an hour solid. I began noticing the fatigue was coming on more and more, day after day. Thinking i was just maybe working to hard? NOOOOOO....Not that simply Jim.
Fatigue was soon becoming worse and now something more then fatigue was added to the mix- pain. Pain was developing in my hands and especially in my feet. Standing was becoming a real problem. Gripping and squeezing pliers was a daily task. Soon tieing my shoes on my boots was now a issue. I knew then, something was wrong. And, Tired. I was SOOOOO Tired! What was wrong with me? I was scared.
I visited my doctor and explained the symtoms. Did a few office checks, the normal stuff. Then he suggested I see a another doctor. A specialist. What kind of specialist I asked? A Rheumatology doctor. You know the kind of Doctor that specializes in Arthritis. Arthritis? haha i laughed, im 32 years old! Arthritis is for Old People Doc! Im tired and achy. Cant you just give me a shot and send me on my way so I can get back to my life? I wish it would have ended that way.
Tired-So Tired.
