My name is Alyssa, I am 17 years old and a senior in high school. My mother was diagnosed with RA in March of 1995 and living with it has affected me a lot as well. At my high school we do what is called a senior project (research paper, physical product, visual presentation) which is required of us to graduate. The topic I chose was "Rheumatoid Arthritis: Challenges faced by victims and their families". The three main challenges I wanted to focus on were physical, emotional, and financial, but emotional and financial research on RA is extremely limited and I am not allowed to get the information from myself or a blood relative. So I am here asking for you all to share your experiences with me if it wouldn't be too much trouble. I would love to hear your stories because taking care of my mother throughout this disease has given me a deeper understanding and I can make a connection with what you are going through. My main goal is to educate others on how RA doesn't just affect your physical health, it affects your family, your emotion state, almost every aspect of your daily life. If you could please contact me through my post or my personal email I would be eternally grateful for your help and support. My email address is hammanalyssa@yahoo.com
Thank you
Alyssa- One of the problems with having RA is that quite often people are clueness about what it is you have and what you are going through. This is partly because it is called arthritis. "Oh yeah, I have arthritis too." is what I often hear. "My little pinkie acts up all the time." TV ads perpetuate the myth by showing people taking drugs and functioning normally again as if healed. The truth is that this painful disease is always lurking and affects your life all the time. In the end you learn to plod ahead and not bother complaining as it won't get you anything anyway.
Each person has to deal with the disease in their own way and find what medication works for them as the disease is different in each of us. As time goes by I have learned to manage my RA and I am doing surprisingly well, living as normal a life as possible. I do have great support from my wife and with medication, proper exercise (very important) and diet I am doing quite well. Without health insurance and expensive drugs I have no idea what my life would be like but it would be bad.
I hope your project is a success. Remember that knowledge is power and with it anything is possible. Take care of your health as it is a lot more fragile than you know. Live each day as if it were your last. You never know when a dibilitating disease can strike. Be kind and helpful to others, especially the infirm as some day you will be in the same boat. May God bless you!
Steve
I just wanted to thank you for sharing your experience with me for my senior project and to let you know I know just exactly how much people down size the effects of RA. I have seen what my mom goes through everyday and b/c she is allergic to almost all of the approved medications for RA except Embrel she still has a lot of pain all of the time, even with her knee replacements she still has trouble walking and even getting up. Again I thank you for your help.
Alyssa