When life was young and in love with all the flowers and sunshine.

1 min read

I was given the death sentence of RA at the young age of 23. There was only one problem, the ER doctors forgot to tell me what was wrong and just pumped me with a shot of steroids. I found out the truth when I was 27. I am going through a massive flare up at this time and have been going thru this mess for over two weeks. My right knee is 2 times the size of what it should be and I have not found any pain meds that work. All I can do is pray that the Good Lord Come gets me soon. I cannot tolerate this awful pain too much longer. I also have this in my entire body. I am so lucky, I also have COPD, which limits my med's. Now am I not the poster child of the year. I realize that there are more people out in the world than me with even more things wrong, but I guess today is "I feel sorry for me day". It is just not a good day for me today.Tomorrow will be better, please tell me that it will. I can no longer do for myself and thank the Good Lord I have my oldest daughter here with me to help me out when need and that is everyday. I love her dearly and she hasn't a clue. I love her dearly and I sure hope she realizes that one.

She has to put up with a person with two different illness, COPD and RA. I am a fighter and so is my daughter so we make a really good team. I must say that I am so glad to have found this site. I have looked and looked until faceBook led me right to you.

This article represents the opinions, thoughts, and experiences of the author; none of this content has been paid for by any advertiser. The RheumatoidArthritis.net team does not recommend or endorse any products or treatments discussed herein. Learn more about how we maintain editorial integrity here.

Join the conversation

Please read our rules before commenting.

jennl Member
Hi Betty- Wow, thank you so much for sharing your story here! We are so sorry to hear about what you've been going through. In addition to feedback you may get from the community, I wanted to let you know a few things. First, you are welcome to come here any time you need some information or support - we are so glad you reached out and we want to encourage you to reach out for support from local options as well, such as medical professionals (as you already do), as well as counselors and support groups for more support. You might want to call the Arthritis Foundation to see if there is an RA support group in your area. Their number is: 1-800-283-7800. Additionally, any time someone mentions praying for death, we share the number and website to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline which can be reached at 1-800-273-8255 or at <a href='https://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer ugc'>http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org</a> with live chat. Please not hesitate to reach out to either one, should you need it. Lastly, we are so glad you found our community. We wanted to let you know that we happen to have a sister site on COPD. The website is <a href='https://www.copd.net' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer ugc'>www.copd.net</a>, and its Facebook page is: <a href='https://www.facebook.com/copddotnet/' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer ugc'>https://www.facebook.com/copddotnet/</a>. I truly hope this is helpful. There are many people here on <a href='https://rheumatoidarthritis.net' target='_blank'>RheumatoidArthritis.net</a> and <a href='https://COPD.net' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer ugc'>COPD.net</a> that really understand what you are going through. You're not in this alone! In addition to your wonderful daughter, and you're strong fighter's spirit, you have us! Thinking of you and sending you our best. Warmly, Jenn (Community Manager, <a href='https://rheumatoidarthritis.net' target='_blank'>RheumatoidArthritis.net</a>)