Year: 2021

Mary Man's RA Journal Icon

RA Journal Progression

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Mary’s Arthritis Journal May 8, 2021 I have always been amazed by those who can work through illness. I once had a friend who had a chronic leukemia. During episodes of chemo, she found that she could not sleep. Instead of watching endless Netflix, she spent her nights researching and writing a successful blog on ghost stories. She used her down time to her advantage. I am not like her. I wallow. I vegetate. My brain seems to stop working. When my rheumatoid arthritis is sending inflammatory messengers throughout my body, when pain is attacking every moveable joint, when I have depleted my stores of coping, I retreat. My body feels sick. My research goes on hold as does my writing. My mind is stuck in a quagmire. There is only a wish to escape and a hope that there will be an end, and in that end, I will be alive again. I will be okay. My flares are becoming something to be feared. My ankles and my toes remain swollen. It is very …

Rheumatoid Arthritis Eyes

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 Most of us who have had RA for a while understand that Plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine) puts us at risk for eye damage. If we do take Plaquenil, we understand that the danger of eye damage is small. That is what we seem to need to know and that is all we are told about RA and our eyes.  We are not being told that by having RA, we are at risk of having eye damage and should have our eyes checked on a regular basis. We do know that the same inflammation that causes pain and swelling in the lining of our joints courses through our veins damaging the lining of blood vessels and our heart even when our cholesterol profile is perfect. We understand that and we try to keep ourselves heart healthy in every way that we can. What no one mentions is that this same inflammation that affects our joint lining and affects our heart and our blood vessels also affects our eyes. This inflammation can cause permanent damage if we are not …