Family with RA
I have a family member that's also part of the family business. Family businesses are not easy and this person has blamed her RA flare ups on difficult people in the business. And yes some of the people are definitely difficult to deal with. From what I'm told The RA is much better when other family members are not around. Any attempt by all other family members to contact is met with a brick wall and RA as the excuse.
Any advice?
Hi Jms2001, Thank you for reaching out. It's great that you are seeking to better understand your family member by learning more about RA. RA can be a very lonely, isolating disease and is certainly hard to understand from the outside looking in. It's impossible to say how someone else is feeling and many in our community will attest to the fact that they feel more comfortable around certain people, more than others, and may let their guard down and share their symptoms and feelings. I'd encourage you to keep trying to speak with your family member and try asking what would help them or what you could do to help. It's difficult to want to work but struggle with constant pain and fatigue (common symptoms although may not be exactly what your family member is dealing with). Here are some articles that may be helpful to you and give you some additional insight.
What Do You Want More People to Know About RA: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/community-thoughts-what-do-you-want-more-people-to-know/Balancing Work and RA: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/trying-balance-work-life-exhausting/comment-page-1/#comments
Being (In)visible: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/invisible/comment-page-1/#comments
Thank you for your question and please let us know how we can support you and your family member. You may also like to refer your family member to our site for information, support and community.
Kelly Dabel, RD RheumatoidArthritis.net Team
