This is pretty much what's on my profile too, but I guess I should introduce myself and tell you my story in a nutshell, n' stuff... :D

 

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My story in a nutshell! (Do ya have half the day? XD)

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Hi everyone! My name is Toi. I am 15 years old, and I have been living with Systemic Rheumatoid Arthritis probably since I was born, but was diagnosed at the age of two. Since the age of two, I have been having surgical procedures done on my left knee. I have had 10 procedures total. These surgeries would include many arthroscopies and synovectimes, two manipulations under anestisa, one tendon release, and total knee replacement. (Yep! :D)

I had the total knee replacement on June 9th, and although it was the most painful thing I endured in my lifetime, it was well worth it. My surgeon told us that if I were to wait much longer, the only option would be knee fusion, and if there were any complications from that, my leg may be amputated. Right now my knee is doing great compared to when I first came home from the hospital. I have a range of -3 degrees to 88 degrees. At first my knee was stuck bent from scar tissue build up, due to all the previous surgeries, so the preformed a manipulation under anesthesia. After the manipulation, I went to therapy 5 days a week for 2 weeks, and now I go 2 days.

I have been on many medications to attempt to control the RA, but all the med’s I've been on have failed. I've been on Metheotrexate (Chemo), Soginal (Gold), Pregnisone (Steroids), Plaquenil, Enbrel, Humira, and Mobic. There's probably more, but I can't remember them all... ^^;

 

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Stuff that's happening now.... Typed on 10/23/08 at like 2:37 AM!

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It has been crazy lately. I've been in a really bad flare, causing my right knee (I call it my spare tire :D) to swell. My rheumatolagist wants me on Orencia since everything else has failed, and if I don't get my RA under control, it could weaken the ligaments and tendons around my knee replacement in my left knee, causing it to fail. (epic fail! D:)

 

We saw my surgeon after the appointment with the rheumatolagist, and he agrees that the RA needs to be controlled, but he wants a second opinion before I start Orencia. To relieve the swelling in the right knee, I received a Cortisone injection. My god! That needle is HUGE! D: It looked like something from a Halloween costume! Since then my right knee has been A LOT better, but the swelling could travel to another joint in my body, so we have to monitor everything else carefully (especially the knee replacement).

I have an appointment with a new Rheumatolagist on October 31st (Ohhh Spooky!), so hopefully he can help me... Oh and my jaw has been hurting for like two days now. I hope the swelling didn't go to my jaw, although I wouldn’t be surprised if it did.... -_-;

 

Well I guess that's it for now....

 

Love and Peace! ;)

-Toi