Becoming aware of Rheumatoid Arthritis siblings.

I was diagnosed with RA about 1986. For the most part RA was my sole contention. At about the 22nd year I started noticing I didn’t recover from the cold days as I did in the past. I learned of a sibling called Raynaud’s Phenomenon. RP was a type of arthritis related to causing the smallest of arteries to spasm and restrict blood flow. It can be quite painful. A few years later a had developed an ulceration on the pad of my left hand middle finger. Wasn’t resolved with the normal rounds of keeping it clean and bandaged. Toward the end of March that year I had my quarterly rheumatologist visit. Just a matter of course I pointed out that half a dime size ulcer. That revelation stopped my doctor in her tracks. Told me RA had completely changed up my treatment game plan. Said this sibling was Rheumatoid Vasculitis. A type of Rheumatoid Arthritis that attacks larger capillaries. The capillaries become inflamed then they clot in the inflammation killing all of the otherwise healthy tissue down stream from the clot. The Dr got me started with twice monthly doses of cyclophosphamide chemo therapy to stop the RV. The cytotoxic medicine made me seriously sick. I learned before cyclophosphamide was discovered a treatment protocol that RV was nearly always fatal due the destruction of heart kidney lungs liver parenchymas. As well as causing strokes. I did have a very mild stroke in May that year. The picture was an ulceration that developed as a small period sized <.> spot on a nail bed border as where a normal manifestation of these occurs. A couple of weeks later I bumped the spot and a bit of pus came out. I used small scissor to trim back the nail and cleaned out the ulcer. Rheumatologist put me another couple of months of chemotherapy to clear that up. At this point RA has attacked my kidneys causing a bit of insufficiency. I have a bit of interstitial lung disease which is rheumatoid related. All in all just keep the faith.