Does Arthritis Define Your Life?

Thursday January 10, 2008

Life changes when you get arthritis. Whatever your life was like before arthritis, it's undeniable that your illness becomes a big factor in all you'll do going forward. Yes, it's a factor, but how much of a factor? Does each patient decide that for himself or herself -- or does arthritis decide? Think about it.

A thought-provoking article in January 4th online edition of Newsweek, written by a woman who has lived with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) for 10 years, allows people who do not have arthritis a glimpse of how the disease disrupts the lives of those who do. It also leads arthritis patients to search within themselves about how well they live with chronic pain. Are they facing their daily struggles with strength and courage? Are they consumed by their own pain or are they sympathetic to others? Does arthritis define their every thought and action?

Referring to the Newsweek article, one of our arthritis forum members wrote, "I don't want RA to define me, I want to define RA. I want to represent the new generation who had access to real disease control early on and has been able to achieve things that would have been impossible in the past. I want to change the statistics and improve the outlook for people diagnosed with RA."

Another forum member wrote, "I was in my early 20's when I was diagnosed with severe RA. Twenty-two years and 7 joint replacements later I'm still not letting the RA control my life. Sometimes I have to make strategic retreats in the battle but the war is not over. One of the keys is taking control. You have to stand up for yourself with your medical team. You have to educate yourself. You have to control what is in your power to control and that includes your emotional responses to the disease."

What do you think? Does arthritis define your life? Read the discussion thread on our arthritis forum / message board. Are you new to our arthritis forum? Register for our forum to post messages or share your comments below.

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