Back in the water today! 18 lengths of the pool. Felt good. Actually it felt great! As you might have guessed, the flare has faded. I honestly never thought it would. I no longer live in a 
molasses haze. My body’s level of pain is in an almost don’t notice state. Great to have energy again. Phew!
RA is considered a rare disease of 1% of the population. I also happen to have seronegative RA, those being 30% of the 1%. It does seem like a small club. Mostly women, some men, even children belong. RA belongs to the bigger club of auto immune diseases. Fellow club members include those with Lupus, MS, Diabetes and almost another 100 diseases with faulty immune systems.
RA is difficult for most of us for many reasons. The first is the pain which is incapacitating. The second is the extreme fatigue. The third is the totally unpredictable nature of the disease.
We become incredibly resilient, live in the moment, seize the moment kind of people. An amazing club!
Mary's Arthritis 
I want to belong to your “taking selfies” club. What a great picture! I take them and my eyes are half-closed or my chin is double or my color is so ashed I look deceased. I’m glad your flare has ended. The last major flare I had was in my jaw. I couldn’t open my mouth wide enough to slip a pill past my teeth! Good old prednisone and I was much better. Oh, did I say it was the day before Thanksgiving and I had 13 people coming to my home? I did manage to eat a little turkey but mostly mashed potatoes and gravy.
Love your posts!
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I think in order to survive, you must have a sense of humor and an absolute determination to carry on. I do have RA in my jaw, but I have never had the lock down you have had. We are lucky to have prednisone and luckier still that it is a small pill.
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Yes, live in the moment. Same with fibromyalgia. Happy your flare flared out for the time being. Always such a relief.
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It was a long one and worst than most. It was a relief to have it lighten. Thanks.
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