Life as I know it...

I was diagnosed with RA after months of wrong guesses just before my 36th birthday. I was scared, shocked, and frustrated. It's never easy to hear that you have something so permanent and so damaging, but it's worse when you feel alone. It took me over a year to cope with my disease. I have a wonderful husband and son who have been supportive, but I have had many others treat me badly. I began to feel depressed because of those who did not believe I was even sick and/or completely ignored my health. This struggle made my symptoms worse and I struggled to maintain a healthy weight. My symptoms worsened drastically.
Then, one glorious day, I snapped out of it. RA is not fun and it is not fair, but it is my life as I now know it. There will be people who don't understand my pain and frustration, and that's ok. There will be days that I want to disappear from the pain, both physical and mental, and that's ok too.
I still have my life. I can no longer do what I could before but I still exist. I do my best to stay positive and avoid stress. This helps me cope as best as I can. I still have moments where I lose it and become angry at the world, but I do not let those moments consume me. I choose to be happy as much as possible and I avoid negativity. This combined with great doctors has led me to much better days.
My biggest hope is that others with RA find peace and calm in their lives to help enjoy the good days they have rather than focusing on the bad.