Hello - My name is Kathi Burke and I live in Buffalo, NY. I was diagnosed with RA about 10 years ago. Having been diagnosed with Crohn's disease 20 years ago, I was used to dealing with a chronic disease, or so I thought. Joint symptoms followed two hospitalozations for crohn's, several month of steroid treatment, and 6 weeks of total parental nutrition (TPN). I woke up one morning with painful, swollen, stiff joints over most of my body. My doctor thought it could be a reverse reaction from weaning off the steroids, but sent me to a rheumatologist to be sure. Two weeks after seeing the rheumatologist I awakened in the night with severe chest pain. My EKG had inverted T waves, I was experiencing angina, and was admitted to the hospital. After a week of tests including an angiogram, it was determined that I had constrictive pericarditis. Oddly enough, the rheumatologist who had seen me two weeks prior, came into the hospital room to see the woman in the next bed. He recognized me, pulled my chart and sat down to explain

how RA affects the linings of organs as well as joints. Since then I have had pericarditis two more times, pleurisy, and crohns' flares. Since being on both methotrexate and humira I am doing very well. How I handle "life with RA" is to be the best I can be each day. On good days I work out at the gym, take long walks with my dog and just try to forget for a while that I have RA. On bad days I pamper myself with ice cream, or a Starbuck's night, or just a glass of wine, curled up on the couch watching a movie. Yes, often there are more bad days than good, but as the tides change, the waves of pain and flares change and each day is a new beginning.

Kathi : )