How did you react when you were first diagnosed?
I was surprised because at the time, I thought only old folks got arthritis, and I was only 31. I was glad to know what was causing all my joint pain, though. My doctor, an internist, didn't tell me much about RA. If I'd known then what I know now, I'd have been a lot more worried!
Thanks Wren for sharing your diagnosis with us! We are glad to have you share your RA journey with us! Gentle Hugs, Lauren (RheuamtoidArthritis.net Team)
Frankly there were mixed emotions...at first, because of how long it took to diagnose, I was relieved that I finally knew what was going on. That said, as I looked into what RA was, the specific details, prognosis, treatments, etc. I was scared and sad all at once. I think I knew, even then, that my life had changed forever. What I was going to do about that, remained to be seen...
Nan, thanks for sharing with us! I know you aren't alone in journey to a long diagnosis- we are always glad when you share your perspective and journey with us. Gentle Hugs, Lauren (RheumatoidArthritis.net Team)
When I was diagnosed at the age of 22, the predominant feeling I had was fear. I was afraid of how having an uncurable disease would impact the rest of my life. I was afraid it would impact my future career, my ability to have children, my mobility, and even worried about my appearance. This also led to some mild depression, as I was a senior in college and I had to postpone my final semester and graduation until my medical treatment plan kicked in.
That was almost 18 years ago, and fortunately I have been able to do everything I really wanted to do (complete a master's degree, have a career, and have children), however this has often been on a different time table than it would have been without a chronic health condition. RA/RD has slowed me down at times, but it hasn't stopped me.
At first I was a bit confused about what was happening to me. Between the pain, loss of movement and stress of the unknown future I fired up the computer and did probably the worst thing a person could do, Google RA.
For the first several months of getting the meds to the right recipe I started putting on weight and doing almost nothing other than making it through the day at the office.
After that things just got worse. You could say depression mixed with a double brandy cocktail to to help make the after work stress less sharp.
One day about 3 years after the news of my future life, my daughter introduced me to running. I have been running for 5 years now, slowly, but stil moving forward.
