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...Those were the words I used to describe how I felt. I was diagnosed in January 2013....

...I started having issues that were excruciating for a while in my shoulder, but when going to the hospital they told me that I had a frozen shoulder and...

...My entire body hurt and my hands were swollen which was very unusual for me. Went to my primary doctor who did x-rays and ran blood tests....

...At one point things were so bad I literally couldn't open a door, much less drive....

...were purported to be....

...My feet felt like they were going to shatter each time I put my feet on the floor....

...Everything was hurting my hands, elbows, shoulders, fingers, knees and my feet were very swollen....

...I remember my grandmother's hands and how curled up and crippled they were and that's my biggest fear for the moment....

...For days I felt so sick the bite marks burnt and were very itchy. My lymph node under my arm was swollen like a gold ball....

...Docs were stymied but decided it might be toxicity to a drug I was on. (?????) That is actually inconclusive....

...Joints that were previously unaffected can suddenly inflame and cause excruciating pain....

...I now wear clothes with no buttons. I had a nanny teach my daughter how to tie shoes early....

...It wasn’t until later that the reality of what I heard hit me and panic set in largely because I didn’t really understand what RA was....

...I heard one nurse say to another, “oh that poor young girl has RA.”...

...But the worst thing was we were clueless about Autoimmune RA. None of my family members had this ailment nor did our friends....

...We were terrified without knowing what to do. Then I found a book on naturopathy from Jindal hospital. I thought I would give a try....

...Fran (age 87) and her husband (deceased) were my English professors and our friendship grew out of a deep love of reading....

...Within a year the pain & swelling had progressed to all my joints but my wrists, feet & one ankle were the most affected....

...Only later did I come to realize that this is a text-book flare, a word I have only recently become acquainted with....