Author: Mary Mann

Elderly Onset Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Blog: EORA, Elderly Onset Rheumatoid Arthritis October 2019 As we get older, our youthful bodies start to lose some of the agility and endurance we have always expected of ourselves. We slow down. Late nights aren’t as fun as they used to be. Food choices change. Spicy food may suddenly seem too spicy. Climbing stairs isn’t quite as easy as it once was. Aging is a gradual process and we adjust to it as we go. Some of us feel lucky to be alive. We have friends and family who have died from cancer or heart disease. We may have the experience of surviving war, illness or accidents. And we have finally learned that we are not immortal. We see the calendar pages fly by and are starting to wonder about the condition of our maturing bodies. We look more closely at our medical insurance plan and we start making appointments with our primary care providers. We are prescribed the classic medications, a statin and maybe  a blood pressure pill. We promise ourselves to walk …

Plaquenil and the eye

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I have a question about the drug, Plaquenil, AKA hydroxychloroquine. My interest stems from the book I am writing, Nurse Mary’s Guide to Rheumatoid Arthritis. After reading several additional medical reports about Plaquenil, I realized I needed to look further and to expand its section in the medication chapter of my book. Another reason for my interest was that I had been taking Plaquenil for six years for my RA.  I was taking it in addition to methotrexate injections and Medrol. I had  also been taking it while I was taking tamoxifen for breast cancer. I no longer take tamoxifen as I developed a rare serous uterine cancer associated with using the drug. None of my doctors questioned the risk involved in taking both drugs. I also made the mistake in thinking Plaquenil was a mild drug. In fact, it does treat mild RA and more aggressive RA when given in combination with other drugs. The drug itself is not mild. Hydroxychloroquine  was developed as an antimalarial in 1955. It was a refined version with …

Nurse Mary’s Guide to RA coming in November

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I have been working on this book for several years. It will be published in November in digital format as well as hard copy. The following is in the book. We should all be saints. Saints generally had tough lives so that is not what we want. We need to drop the fear, anger and hopeless feelings. Many of us have RA. We eventually toughen up and make our lives good ones, even with wheelchairs, canes and jar openers. We are not helpless. Sometimes it takes a while to understand this, but it will happen. Listen to the stories of others. I have read many. I am proud to be in their company as they are good role models for those of us who struggle with RA. This is the important part of the manual. It is your attitude, your commitment and your perseverance that will make all the difference in the world what your outcome, your quality of life will be. This is not easy. In fact, it may feel like just too much. …