Expect The Unexpected

Merely a year ago I couldn't sit without it hurting like crazy, but here I am today having been blessed with a wonderful orthopedic surgeon that has made two total joint replacement surgeries possible for me this year. I am halfway done with the procedures I've been needing since 2005 but already I have gotten so much of my life back. I am getting my life back one joint at a time and it feels great. Just when I had made my peace with never walking again, I finally got my right hip replaced. It was long overdue. Next, I got my left knee replaced... It's pretty much the joint that started deteriorating and giving me problems before the other 3 lower body joints I would end up needing replaced started getting as severely damaged as they did. It's because of that left knee that I started putting all my weight on my right leg to help alleviate the pain a bit but little did I know that my right hip joint would end up completely obliterated.

It's been a long and painful journey, but little by little I have been making progress this year. 2013 has been good to me. I have 2 more major surgeries to go... I still need my left hip and right knee replaced and I am sincerely hoping that I can hang on to the rest of my natural skeleton for the rest of my life. But what will be will be and we have to work with what we've got and expect the unexpected, both good and bad things can pop up and surprise us out of nowhere.

One thing is for sure, we must never give up and forever keep on moving forward. It really doesn't matter how slowly we move forward as long as we don't stop. Personally, I kept trying and trying to move forward and feel better and kept trying and pushing and it seemed like I was getting nowhere.... But after 13 long years since I was diagnosed with RA, I finally started making progress. Everything seemed hopeless and no one believed in me or that anything would ever happen for me since I had been talking about needing the surgeries for nearly 6 years, desperately trying and getting turned down time and time again for 5 years... But I kept at it no matter how shattered my spirits were after doctor after doctor would turn me away. RA doesn't discriminate by age, but apparently orthopedic surgeons do, those doctors really made me suffer longer than I ever imagined but being young, not even 30 years old was too much of a problem for too many orthopedic surgeons, many we're rude and refused to even look at my x-rays... But I kept at it until one wonderful doctor saw how badly I needed his help and how much I was in need of the procedures and even he said it was negligent of all those doctors ((orthopedic surgeons)) to turn me away when I was in such bad shape, so much pain & agony and in such dire need of joint replacements.

The life I had before my right hip and left knee replacements was no kind of life. My left hip and right knee are the most painful and problematic areas I have now, but my orthopedic surgeon has already started the process for my next procedure... And I can't wait for my new left hip. It's really being a bother, but I can't complain because since my first procedure in March this year, I haven't been in even half as much agony as I was in a simple year ago.

Life is full of surprises... Lots of ups and downs.

Jolly Good

I tried commenting on other blogs and also updating this thing a couple of times within the last hour or so and what i post keeps getting deleted and I have been failing miserable.

LOL

I'd rather laugh it off instead of get angry over it.

This October it'll be officially 12 years since I was diagnosed with RA. Thanks to RA I can honestly say that I can't complain about my life being boring. Quite the contrary, actually. 

Taking things one day at a time has been working great for me. There is a lot less stress when I just take it easy and deal with things and situations without anticipation ((if possible)) & I just take things as they come. Still maintaining a positive attitude, my attitude is one of the few things I have control over.

There isn't much I can do because of my shattered Hip ((I've been needing my right hip replaced for 6-7 years and it has only gotten progressively worse)) - but on the bright side, I think my hip has been healing. Definitely abnormally, and I still can't count on it for support... But the pain hasn't been as bad lately and I started being able to SIT again!

It really is the simpler things in life that can make all the difference. And now I leave you with a quote:  "EVERY DAY MAY NOT BE GOOD BUT THERE IS SOMETHING GOOD IN EVERY SINGLE DAY."

I hope you are all doing well. Much love and respect! 

WE NEED TO REACH OUT!

I was diagnosed with severe RA when I was 16, but I had been suffering of symptoms for a lot longer. RA robbed me of my teen years and has taken over all of my adult life. There have been many ups and downs and a few years back I started writing a book about my struggle. I believe it is important to to raise awareness, but above all be there for others suffering from the same disease. Whether if aperson gets RA in their youth or adulthood this is a huge cross to bare and most people have no idea what we're going through. Like cancer, this disease does not discriminate when it comes to age. It is a harsh reality that most of us feel we're experiencing alone... and that's one of the main reasons I believe in causes that expose autoimmune arthritis for what it is and offer comfort and support to all of the people who need something or someone to reach out to . After my book gets published I hope I can reach many, educate many more and expose the culprit that is RA without holding back. We can all learn from one another, people who live with or simply know someone suffering from RA can learn a thing or three from causes like this. Remember everyone, it doesn't matter how slowly we move forward as long as we DON'T STOP. Let's be there for one another and not let this this called RA alienate us and/or take away our lives. Our bodies are diseased... WE are NOT. We're still in there, at least I am. I will never let RA crush my spirit and take away my will to live.

World Autoimmune Arthritis Day

www.causes.com

Educate that 'arthritis' is not the same as 'autoimmune arthritis'

Progress?

27 years NOW, and I a great part of me feels just as lost as when I was diagnosed with RA when I was 16. I have learned a great deal during the past years though. I started a public page on facebook called: RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS UPS & DOWNS and it has been very helpful and productive so far.
I also created a ((support)) GROUP called RHEUMATOIDS, which I originally started as a private/SECRET group, but today I decided to give "making it a public/OPEN group" a try. Some of the things we discuss are pretty personal though.... so perhaps I should just keep it private... hmmmm....
I know, I will ask the group members what they think. The majority vote determines the privacy settings of the group. :)
We *are* in this together... I refer to the group, and us, as RHEUMATOIDS. The group is a place where we all go and vent about out RHEUMATOID troubles, misadventures, frustrations, worries, fears, triumphs, struggles, perseverance, status and more. That is all I'll say for now. I am really going to try to update these blogs more often. We shall see how that goes.

JULY 2011: RADIOLOGY ((X-RAY)) REPORT PT. 2

MY LEFT *AND* RIGHT KNEE FINDINGS: 
"-FINDINGS: The study demonstrates degenerative narrowing of the joint space. The prepatellar space is narrowed.
-IMPRESSION: DEGENERATIVE NARROWING OF THE RIGHT AND LEFT KNEE JOINT SPACE."

X-RAY OF LEFT SHOULDER
"-FINDINGS: Small subchondral cysts are noted in the later aspect of the left humeral head.

-IMPRESSION: REMARKABLE EXAMINATION OF THE LEFT SHOULDER."

JULY 2011: RADIOLOGY ((X-RAY)) REPORT PT. 1

SO, THE FINDINGS IN MY RIGHT HIP JOINT WERE/ARE: 
" -FINDINGS: MULTIPLE VIEWS OF HE RIGHT HIP JOINT WERE VIEWED.

The study demonstrates severe degenerative changes of the right hip joint with COMPLETE OBLITERATION OF THE JOINT SPACE and deformity of the head of the right femur. 

-IMPRESSION: SEVERE ARTHRITIC/OSTEOARTHRITIC CHANGES WHERE THE PATIENT HAS RHEAUMATOID ARTHRITIS AND THIS SEQUELAE OF THE RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS IS NOT CLEAR. SEVERE CHANGES OF THE RIGHT HIP JOINT WITH COMPLETE OBLITERATION OF THE JOINT SPACE AND EROSION OF THE HEAD OF THE RIGHT FEMUR."

ANNOYING RA COMPLICATIONS

Do any of you sweat profusely because of either the RA itself or RA meds? Here is some info I found on the matter: http://www.diagnose-me.com/cond/C511064.html

Here is a link to methods that help STOP profuse sweating: http://coldsweats.org/2011/05/15/methods-to-stop-profuse-perspiring/