Seeing how something can control your life is not what we expected but along came this terrible disease to rewrite our dreams and expectations setting us on a path that will forever alter all of our expectations.
When you think back over the years before your Rheumatoid Arthritis diagnosis, do you remember where you came from to where you are now. Tell me how do you feel! Do you miss that old you and all that came so easy in your life before? Yes, this is how we all got started!
A simple life maybe, but now it has been affected by a disease that has snatched away our normalcy and replaced it with uncertainties, frustrations, pain, isolation and so much more. Some things that we will never be able to get those in our lives to really understand or accept. A disease that changes us daily as we do our best to accept and cope with our circumstances. Continue reading “RA – Getting Rheumatoid Arthritis-Is This Your Story”→
I have RA and I will never be the same. I will forever miss those pain and fatigue free days. I am now adjusting to all that I have lost because of it. The pain is unpredictable, the fatigue is overbearing but above all I have to get used to being a new person that has to learn to adjust to all that has been thrown my way.
I wake up I feel pain, I get up I feel tired. I walk around I’m moving slow. I miss me. I miss what Rheumatoid Arthritis has stolen from me. Yet I still go on by grace. We all feel the loss of ourselves but we keep on going.
Learning to live with RA is really a challenge but what else can I do. I put one foot in front of the other and move forward. I take with me those who wish to follow and understand because I can’t wait for those who don’t. The challenge is too great to pull others along. My energy is on myself.
So as I make my way through this life with Rheumatoid Arthritis, I will do the best that I can with all that I can and have. Things will get tough but there will be good days. I realize what this disease has stolen from me but I realize also what I still have. Through it all I am still Blessed.
For each of you on your struggle with pain, loneliness and misunderstanding I wish you the best, I truly understand. Keep fighting through the struggles.
Being someone who has Rheumatoid Arthritis I can’t began to tell you what a tasking battle this has been from being diagnosed to finding the correct medication that works for you. Those that also have this disease can attest to what a struggle this can be.
You go along in life dealing with the struggles, tough as they maybe but never forgetting to give God His Glory. Through it all you’re trying to maintain the balance of life with RA while wishing more than anything this wasn’t your reality. For us every day is definitely an uncertain day. Sometimes it seems you’re on the path of what we can best call stability to find out there really isn’t stability when Rheumatoid Arthritis strikes.
The up and down battle of pain, medication and emotions keeps us in a constant turmoil. You find yourself often wondering will there ever be relief or if the new painful condition you’re experiencing is a new firestorm from RA. What no one realizes, this disease and the medication used for its treatment causes more issues than we can count.
After being diagnosed and placed on medicine I’ve watched how my blood pressure slowly creeped up, my cholesterol take off and I am pre diabetic. Now to add to that, seeing my emotions spiral while dealing with these new findings. All the while knowing stress is our worst enemy and is bad for us as sufferers. With stress, a Flare is just a heartbeat away.
Our frustration builds day after day because this is a never ending journey. Some days may be better than others but nonetheless RA for us here to stay and dictate our days. We often put on brave fronts for others but to be honest it can be more for ourselves simply because many just don’t understand what we go through. Explaining it can be a task in itself and often met with misunderstanding. How do you explain you can barely walk when it’s not visible or how much your body hurt when you may look perfectly normal. This is just the tip of our frustrations. So you see there lies the daily frustration building in some form or fashion.
I will say, as we walk this tireless and sometimes lonely journey, please find comfort in knowing those of us that have this terrible disease along with you, knows your plight.
I am not lying about my disease, you just refuse to believe me I am not a complainer, I just want to be heard I am not seeking attention, I really am sick I am not being lazy, I just cannot do some of the things I use to I am not broken, I just happen not to be an easy fix I am not my disease but it has changed who I am I am not invisible but this disease can make what I’m going through seem so I am not misunderstood but Rheumatoid Arthritis surely is!
With Rheumatoid Arthritis we spend so much time explaining our illness, our symptoms and why we can’t be the way we once were. We pay mentally the cost for having this horrible disease though it’s not the fault of our own. The doubts, the looks, the misunderstanding is just some of what we have to endure because of RA. Because of this we endure loneliness on a level many would not believe making us feel sometimes as invisible as some of our symptoms.
We are not many of the things people think we are but we are, this disease has made us. A person suffering with a chronic life long, life changing, debilitating auto immune Disease.
Alone with my disease I walk by myself I feel this way, I have no one else I know I deserve better still I’m trying my best I’m running this race constantly seeking rest The fatigue and pain often getting the best of me Yet these issues in my life many refuse to see Still I deserve better because this disease is mine And it’s sad how many look at me and think that I am fine But underneath the surface lies the truth of this horrible disease Many don’t believe me, I’m asking simply please Learn what it’s like to have your life torn away By something so destructive leaving you wounded every day RA can be confusing and so complex for sure Leaving you with a life you’re forced to bear and endure Yes, Rheumatoid Arthritis “a disease” not something simple and yet Most people think so and that, I bet But as for me, my life has been turned upside down Leaving me fighting day after day just to stand on firmer ground So yes, I deserve better just to be understood Take some time do this, please if you would. Blessings!
From the time you’re diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis you have been changed. In a physical way and in a mental way. You have yet to really understand the debt of what this all means. Getting RA and hearing those diagnosis is the start of your Journey. Your journey, what has that been like!
I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. It’s not my fault, so why do I feel to blame. Why do I feel bad for being sick. Are you blaming me too! Rheumatoid Arthritis is to blame. Did it chase you away or do you blame me.
I know this sounds really sad but there are many with chronic diseases that have lost loved ones because they have been sick for what some feel “too long or too often”. No, it’s not our fault but we have to suffer the consequences. It’s a sad day when you’re blamed for the times you’re either too sick or just too tired to get out of bed to do anything and sometimes the sad fact that you’re blaming yourself for this. As much as you try, you just can’t bring yourself to put your feet on the floor to make that first move.
Fellow warriors, how are you all doing? My hope is that you’re doing alright. That being said, by having Rheumatoid Arthritis it is such a trying thing and is filled with so much uncertainty, pain and confusion. Do you ever find yourself working beyond your limit. Trying to fill in the gaps that you feel have been left because you were unable to do as much. At some point in your illness do you want to just throw up your hands because of your frustration.
RA AND THE FAMILY FIT 