Serum Negative RA
I am a newbie. I wish I had found this website/community about three years ago.
I only wanted to introduce myself and say hello. I wish we all had something else in common. But, if we have to have a commonality, I am glad I am not alone.
It took me 69 years to find a Rheumatologist who believed me, allowed me to talk, and diagnosed me correctly. I started treatment just a few months ago and I can feel some improvement. At least for now.
Unfortunately, he left the first practice and it took me three years to find him and become a patient again and start treatment. Yesterday, I received a letter he is closing this office.
I could use some referrals to a new doctor if any of you who are negative know of one in East Texas or Dallas/Fort Worth.
It is a shame too many doctors rely totally on tests.
Hi and welcome,
! I'm so glad you found us! Though, I wish you didn't have need of a community like this one.
I'm so sorry it took you so long to get a proper diagnosis and that you will soon be looking for a new rheumatologist. Ugh! Many of our members can relate to the struggle to find a good rheumatologist. I know we have some Texas members, so I hope they can chime in with some recommendations for you in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
So, are you dealing with sero negative RA? I am not as familiar with serum negative RA, so please feel free to correct me if I misunderstood!
Anyway, thank you for taking the time to introduce yourself and I hope to 'see' you around the community in the days to come!
Best, Erin, RheumatoidArthritis.net Team Member.
Welcome, welcome! We're glad you finally found us! There's no perfect time like the present so just know that you found us exactly when you needed to and we're excited you did! It's a pain when you finally find a doctor that cares and understands your pain. Since you are looking for a Rheumatologist in your area, I thought this link for finding a rheumatologist near you would be helpful: https://my.rheumatology.org/rheumatology-provider-directory.
In addition to this, I want to share with you this helpful video that lays out some tips that may be valuable in your search. https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/video/selecting-a-rheumatologist/. All in all, there are plenty of resources here and our members are super helpful! Feel free to reach out as much as you need to with any questions. Again, we're glad to have you here! Be well, Latoya (Team Member)Thank you to all who replied. Yes, it is Serum Negative Arthritis, plus, as we all have other conditions etc. Finding a doctor might not be quite so complex if I did not have to stay within my Medicare HMO. I am so afraid of having the treatment that has helped me just since August when I found my doctor, interrupted. This is East Texas and the next two city options are DFW and/or Tyler. The trip in August I was so sick I was afraid I wouldn't make it. But I did. But, I am not the only one who suffers here so I feel for everyone who has the disease. How do you maintain your social life? I am afraid I don't have much of one here. Going to lunch occasionally with ladies who drive me but family is a bit more scarce. Hubby and I are both retired although he still works a part time, part time job. We have property which has really gotten hard but I am just not a city person and we have many animals we care for. I am big book reader, music lover and pretty much pro conservation and animal advocate. I would love to meet anyone from our forum for lunch. I have a lady acquaintance who has lupus and is in Houston. How do you plan your celebrations for Christmas or holidays? Also, I would really like some recent books regarding the symptoms, common and rare, and living with RA. Hope you all are having a good evening.
I don’t know if you are interested but I penned an autobiography about growing up with and living with RA called So Young, a life lived with rheumatoid arthritis. It should give you some insight into what it is like and also check out some of the wonderful articles on this very site that have been written by the fantastic and heartfelt contributors who suffer themselves with RA and chronic illnesses. For the holidays, I start cooking a few days or a week in advance and make sure to freeze stuff beforehand. It makes cooking on the day of much easier! Keep on keepin’ on, DPM 
Hi
. As Daniel mentioned, we have a number of good articles on doing the holidays with RA. A quick search on the the word "holidays" using the button at top left will yield a number of results. Here is one them, a great holiday survival guide from Daniel: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/holiday-survival-guide.
Concerning maintaining a social life, each person has to find their limits and comfort zone. I know for many a key aspect is learning to pace oneself. This video from our patient leader Nan may be doubly helpful now, as it is about pacing at the holidays, but the message really can apply to anytime: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/video/video-pacing-ourselves. Hope this information is helpful and please feel free to ask further questions (use the Forum area, if you like to start conversations: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/forums) - this community is here for you. Best, Richard (RheumatoidArthritis.net Team)
