Preparing for the worst

Preparing for the worst

My children and I have been staying with my mom and dad for a while now.   My house flooded while I was out of town, and by the time I returned home mold was everywhere.  It turns out that a pipe busted underneath the slab in our downstairs.  It's been awful!

While it sounds like that is a bad or sad situation, that's not the end of it.  A week before Christmas  my home was burglarized.  The biggest thing they took was my husband's pride and joy, his 37 inch flat screen television.  I returned to my house today to pick up the mail.  We are still not living there right now as it is being treated for mold.  I walked up to the house to check on things only to find a bent screen laying on the floor by a window, the window wide open, and our back door wide open as well.  We had been burglarized again which makes this twice in a thirty day period

Rheumatoid arthritis and being burglarized

It really got me thinking, which I often overdo in these situations.  Rheumatoid Arthritis is just like being burglarized.  Now I know that sounds cheesy and it even might sound like a stretch, but it is true.  Rheumatoid Arthritis and the flares it brings can hit you so fast.  One second you are living this normal life, and the next second the life that you've known for so long has been taken away.  So the next thing you know, you have to protect yourself.  You are bombarded with thoughts that echo in your head, "When will the next flare or bad day come?"  You are taking medication after medication to protect yourself from this awful disease.

Protecting yourself

While living with rheumatoid arthritis is far more painful than dealing with a burglary, after all they can only take away my possessions and not my joints, it is so important to protect yourself.  I myself have tested this theory before by slacking on my medications and supplements and thinking everything was going to be alright.  I ended up with a flare to remember!  It's hard though.  You would think it would be easy, but it's really not.  I don't know how many times I have cried while holding a hand full of pills that I dreaded taking.  Or I would call my husband at work before my daily dose just for a pep talk.  Protecting yourself from rheumatoid arthritis and the damage and destruction it can cause is not easy, but it is necessary.  It is just as necessary as it is to protect yourself from people invading your space and taking your possessions.

Protecting myself

So how are the many ways I protect myself, you ask?  I take my medications and supplements regularly.  I have changed my diet and my lifestyle.  Let me tell you, it was not easy.  I don't think it ever gets easy, just easier.  Besides, I have others who are going through the same thing, who have the same problems and the same fears.  That, for me, makes it easier.