I can't believe it is 2010 ... it seemed like just yesterday, the year 2000, when my aches and pains that I thought were attributed going through a divorce was actually Severe RA ... as I was carted off to the Emergency Room with a body that litteraly had seized up ...
10 years living with RA has been ... Difficult, Enlightening, Scary, Happy, and just plain Odd at times.
Since I come from a large family riddled with ADHD, I think I will keep my thoughts in order ... kinda ...
The Difficult part ... dealing with a disease that will NEVER go away, has been tougher on my doctors than me ... I just keep ignoring it *wink*
Enlightening because I now have a bonified excuse for showing up late to all my appointments and family get-togethers ... 
Scary because each & every step I take on a daily basis might be "the one" that tosses me to the ground .... and back to the ER ...
Happy ... hmmmm ... still thinking on what in goodness name is the Happy part of having and living with RA ...
... the jury is still out on that one ... WAIT .. I have a Happy thing .... I have met many people living with RA and with their help I don't feel like a failure ....
Just Plain Odd ... well that one is easy ... it has been rather odd dealing with taking gazillion types of medications and learning to love the weekly needles (Enbryl) ... since I was always petrified of needles in my younger days ...
Living with RA for the past 10 years has been a life altering and learning experience .... Now, I need a Vacation!!! 
Happy New Year ... and Let's Pray for the person/s to develop the Perfect thing that will take away our RA .....
JoZ
Oh, I hear you about the vacation...
Thank you so much for sharing your story!
You know what the really hardest part of living with RA ... for me ... is Failure ... having a handicap ... any handicap in my family is considered a failure ... I come from a very competitive family and being the eldest daughter, the pressure was on.
I was in a horrific auto accident back in 1986, which took the life of my only child, and sent me via helicopter to a hospital in the city ... the doctors told my family that I had a less then 5% chance of living, they were hoping I didn't have permanent brain damage, that I would keep my left leg and arm ... I was put into a medically induced coma for 2 weeks ... When I came out of the coma ... I didn't remember anything, yet I knew that my daughter had passed on ... then as I watched my family falling apart, I had to pick myself up by the bootstraps and get better ... or else ...
It took 5 years and many hours of rehab to walk and move "like normal" .. I learned to ride horses and competed with my horse and dogs too ... I willed myself to be "normal" .... that was the only way that my family would "get back to normal" .... they were Ok with my little limp and that my left arm didn't bend all the way as long as I wore shirts that covered that up .... but when my RA hit in 2000 ... and I still looked normal on the outside although I was in extreme pain ... the family's reaction to it was very odd, they either acted like "I was making it up" or that "it was all in my mind" because there weren't any outside scars to view .....still after all these years is ... well ... they just don't understand ... they think that RA is the same kind of arthritis that we all get in our knees and ankles and backs ....
I thank God that I met my 2nd husband, he is younger and he will not stand for my family's behavior ... he has forced me to put my foot down in certain areas ... and finally, even though they don't understand RA ... they are at least more respectful.
goodness ... what a rant that was ... sorry ... I guess the short version ... is that I wish people, including family, would truly understand that living with RA is no picnic even though we don't have any outside wounds to view ....
Have a great weekend ...
JoZ
I don't know what to say - except that I am grateful you found your second husband. Unfortunately, so many people out there just don't want illness to happen and instead of trying to understand the impact of it when it does, they put pressure on the person who has the illness to not show what I call the "icky parts". It's hugely unfair.