My mojo means that I have creative energy and an optimistic outlook. When I have those things, I am good to go. I can write. I can read complex articles. I am living in a good space. Happy.
I have found my voice for my RA book. My writing had stalled at 75%. Dead in the water. It just wasn’t where I wanted to go. I finally figured it out. With some modifications I will have it running again. From time to time I will include samples from a chapter.
Chapter Five
The Character of RA
Learning you have a a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, starts you on a journey of a lifetime.
When I was diagnosed with RA, I read a wonderful book that proved to be a guide for me on my journey. One of the things I came to understand was that I was in charge of me and I was in charge of managing my own RA. My responsibility.
It is important to understand your rheumatoid arthritis and it is important to understand how it affects you. To be knowledgeable about your disease process is one part of learning how to manage your life with it. As you already know, you are forever wed to RA and to your brand of it. Acceptance is an important step in the process.
RA is a lifelong disease and it is unique to each person. At the same time, RA sufferers have many characteristics in common. Usually there is symmetry of joint involvement. Pain is also a common symptom. Disease progression may vary. It is a disease that is characterized by individual profiles and it is that individual uniqueness of rheumatoid arthritis that makes it hard to treat and harder to live with.
In the article, Diagnosis and Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis by Dr Rindfleisch and Dr Miller there is a brief description of how RA affects the joint. The quote reminds us of the deeply serious nature of the disease.
Joint damage in rheumatoid arthritis begins with the proliferation of synovial macrophages and fibroblasts after a triggering incident, possibly autoimmune or infectious… Overtime, inflamed synovial tissue begins to grow irregularly, forming invasive pannus tissue. Pannus invades and destroys cartilage and bone. Multiple cytokines, interleukin’s, proteinases, and growth factors are released causing further joint destruction and the development of systemic complications.
Symptoms of disease versus complications
One of the reasons information about disease is confusing and scary is because characteristics of disease and complications are all jumbled together. It always makes for an unnerving diagnosis. In this chapter, I discuss the characteristics of the disease. The next chapter is devoted to its complications.
