From the article: Living With Disability in a Normal World
Do you feel robbed by arthritis? Do you feel the disease has taken something from you that you can't get back? Perhaps the disease forced you to quit your job. Perhaps you chose not to have children because of arthritis. You may be unable to participate in your favorite activity or may have had to give up traveling because of arthritis. You may have lost friends. Whatever the case -- are you missing out on something and do you feel robbed by arthritis? Share your story and explain how you adjusted to being robbed. If you have not felt robbed, explain why not. Share Your Story
Battle
- I don't know if this is the right thing to do but I need to share with someone. Lost my beautiful daughter to RA eleven years ago. She was 18 for God sake. My wife cries most days and I go into my shell.. again normal life it's not ..so please keep on hating this obnoxious RA as much as I do and sometime maybe soon it will be beaten.
- —Guest jim
SAD
- I have osteoarthritis on my right wrist since I was 16. It is so terrible at times I can't even write or type properly(Especially I'm right handed). Been eating pain killers but not much help. Furthermore I have no $$ therefore I have no choice but to bear with the pain and continue to work. Hopefully I'm able to save a sum of $ and surgery ends all my pain~
- —Guest SHIRLEEN
OA and Crepitus
- I have OA and I have back and neck pain. I had shots in my back 4 times, but that didn't help the pain. My neck pops and grinds. My life feels like a nightmare that I can't wake up from the pain. I don't play with my childern very much at all. The DR. told me not to lift my children up. I can only pick up 15lbs. I hurt all the time even while I'm asleep. I can't run or jump. My 87 year foster dad can run rings around me. I walk like I'm half dead. People get mad, because I walk slow as a snail. Can anybody help me cope with this OA ?
- —Guest gregsohappy2
25 yrs old and in pain
- I am 23 with arthritis and it hurts more than anything. It started with my back, the neck now it riddles to my toes and hands. I cannot work jobs like everyone else and my life has gotten harder. Trying to find ways to stop the pain is hard when you cannot work to make money and more.
- —Guest Dru
Hate It
- Has depleted me of my self worth. Am struggling to live with it. Just don't really know.
- —Guest Scott
Yes
- I can no longer do many of the things I enjoy in my off time. Golf and tennis are very hard on me and that was something I looked forward to in retirement.
- —kid44
There is always a silver lining
- I found out I had RA when I was 19. At first I thought it was going to be pretty easy but I found that my walking status has become almost non exsistent. I'm 21 now and I am on medication. I am blessed with a really supportive family and a cool boy friend. Most days I stay sane and positive by doing a routine. My silver lining is my art work -- it's my way of expression. I feel robbed by my arthritis but it has opened a new door for me kind of a out of the box thinking about life and how to maneuver with challenges. I am hopeful and I'm going to stay forever positive.
- —Guest Jessica
It's just life!
- I was diagnosed very quickly at the age of 14 with RA, within MONTHS I had to have both hips replaced, ops on my ankles, knees and countless procedures. I was diagnosed in the April 1982, had been a very good dancer, asked to model for a London agency, was always busy with sports, never in if I could help it, then literally overnight almost I'd gone down to 5 stone and couldn't walk. Lost 18 months of schooling. Just to top it off after returning to education I had an accident that resulted in almost 2 years in/out of hospital with a broken leg that the doctor then broke AGAIN! However, I have NEVER thought 'why me' 'poor me' etc; I am nothing like I was physically, I had 5 years of bad luck but so what! I've got a law degree, have travelled far and wide (met a group of strangers to go trekking around Africa at 21....fantastic, never thought how will I cope, just did!) Life is for living whatever cards it deals, be yourself, RA lives with me I DO NOT live with it and I give it a rough ride.
- —Guest stiffstix
Up hill struggle
- I was diagnosed 8 years ago at the age of 22. I have tried lots of different meds currently on Humira, nothing works completely. Some days are better than others but I feel angry at RA. I have a 10 year old son and a 19 month old son. I have always worked until recently. I feel sad that I cannot run with my children and do things other parents can, but I am going to fight this and try to be the best mum I can even if some days I can't walk. I am lucky I have a good supportive partner, family, and friends but unless you have RA, I don't think you understand quite how bad the pain is. Some nights I cry myself to sleep, but each day I wake up, I am trying to fight it and keep my spirits up. Keep fighting people don't let RA destroy us. Life is precious. No we don't derserve it but we can learn to live with it!
- —Guest Danni England
Yeah I was robbed!
- I was diagnosed with JRA when I was about 12 years old. But it took many doctors many years to figure it out what was wrong with me! (This was about '81 or '82.) I had had a rash on my thighs, and EXTREME joint pain for months! Some days it was my wrist, and then my knees, but always my fingers! I had a really high fever for a long time before they figured out what I had. I lost at least 18 months of my childhood, and because of the fever, I am unable to father children. Now I am forty years old and my fingers are failing me. I know it has to be RA creeping back up on me!!! I hate this!!
- —Guest Lee
Do you feel robbed by arthritis? Yes!
- Yes! It cost me my 1st marriage, my career, and much more.
- —Guest Forever
I Hate Arthritis!
- Yes, I have been robbed by arthritis! I was diagnosed in 1996 but told I have probably had RA since childhood. Both hips & knees have been replaced-one hip has been replaced twice & had 14 surgeries due to staph infection. After not being able to fix a broken knee cap (3 surgeries & infection), I have a metal rod in my leg & the leg will never bend. I am in a wheelchair full-time. I can no longer drive, go anywhere alone or shower without help. Worst of all, I can't play with my grandchildren like I would like to. Yes, they come to my home but it's just not the same. I have to sit on the sidelines & watch. My house is "picked up" but no where close to how I used to keep it. It's an effort to cook a meal. Thankfully, I have a WONDERFUL husband who helps me a lot! I would be lost without him! My family is also great! I can't take a lot of meds because of the infection risk so I stay in pain. But I try to remember, the Lord has a purpose for me being here!
- —Beth
Need a life
- I got RA at the age of 49. It seemed to happen overnight as I got it through seafood poisoning. Do I feel robbed Sometimes, but I am glad I got it and not 1 of my 11 grandchildren. I have a wonderful understanding husband, and although I have had knee, hip, finger joint replacements, I miss my beloved gardening but still try to do it my way. Although gardening caused my hip to pop out and took 5 goes to put it back in, thank goodness or it was going to be another hip. I have always taken fish oil capsules, shark cartilage capsules and Arava. At present I am on 20mg prednislone per day and monthly infusions of Orencia which goes hand in hand with methotrexate, but I can still walk and move so I feel blessed. Oh yes panadeine forte and myself are the best of friends.I don't need a miracle I need a life.
- —Guest ann donnelly
I was robbed at the age of 3
- I have literally had JRA (Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis) since I was 2 1/2. I was diagnosed at the age of 3, after several doctors visits. I am 18 years old now. As a child with RA, you feel as if you have done something wrong that made you different from everyone else, mainly your friends. When I was younger, my RA was so bad I could never play sports with my friends, play on the playground, and somedays it was so bad, I had to have a friend push me around school in a wheelchair. I look back on that now and I am okay with the fact that I was never able to do any of that. But now that I am older and I am starting to think about my future, I genuinely feel robbed because what I have always wanted to do as I child, I cannot because of my arthritis. Military will not accept me because I am more of a liability to them. It's wrong, and I would like nothing more than to be in the military, but I can't. I am upset with disease and what it has stolen from me, but it has made me stronger!
- —Guest Samantha
Robbed...
- There are days when I feel really like robbed. Fatigue and pain stolen from my life a lot. I am limited in many ways. No running, jumping, long days and a few hours sleep any more. I can't work full time and have not too much choice about what I can do. I have to rest after most of activities and I know if my day is 12-14 h long, next one I spend in bed exhausted. I can't have a baby when I want but when doctor decides my RA is fairly under control. I know RA stolen a few years of my life and energy I could use to do many things. But there are days when I take it as a challenge. Every morning I look life into eyes and make effort not to give up. Sometimes I do. I don't pretend I am strong and can always manage. But I make this effort to live my life fully. I adjust my dreams to what I can do. With help of my wonderful husband I win many fights and manage not to be robbed completely. My heart and mind always will belong to me. Only me. And they are not RA positive.
- —agnieszka1977
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