All posts tagged: RA autoimmune disorder

RA nodules

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Rheumatoid nodules are commonly talked about when rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is discussed. It might surprise you to know that only 7% of those newly diagnosed with RA have rheumatoid nodules. So they are not characteristic symptoms of newly diagnosed RA. Overtime, about 25% of those with positive Rheumatoid Factor (RF) develop nodules. Nodules are frequently present in the more severe cases of RA, those more likely to have rapid progression of joint destruction and to develop vasculitis.  75% of those with Felty’s syndrome, more common in white males, have rheumatoid nodules. Current smokers with RA plus nodules usually have more severe disease. In those with seronegative rheumatoid arthritis, about 6% develop rheumatoid nodules. The condition of having rheumatoid nodules is called rheumatoid nodulosis. The nodules form below the skin near joints. They are firm and frequently moveable. They are not tender and are not usually harmful. They are 2 mm (.008 inch) to 5 cm (2 inch) and may occur singly or in clusters. They are formed in three, under the microscope, stages: acute inflammation …

A celebration of Recovery 10,000Waves

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About as high as you can go up into the mountains in Santa Fe on the road to the Ski Basin is tucked a high-class Japanese Spa specializing in bodywork and skin care. Ten Thousand Waves.  My destination. Just what I need. I desperately need. My treatment choice is NOSE TO TOES. A Mother’s Day gift certificate from Chris and Katie. I live in Albuquerque and this would be my first road trip in three years. I gassed my Tin Lizzy, my 5-year-old Mini Cooper Clubman. Pepper white. Turbo. Added bottled water, spa directions.  Put on my winter jacket. Ready to go. Finally!  This is November. I headed toward I-25. Sunny day. Cool. I am on the road.  I am also on the recovering end of a devastating year. The year was 2013. Almost three years ago. I had been diagnosed with a severe rheumatoid arthritis followed by two different diagnoses of cancer. Surgery. Radiation for each. Pills forever. No relief for the RA until this year with the start of Orencia. It is a …

Walking with Wisdom Woman

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RA Attitude After an MRI of my lumbar spine. Seeing the bad news. Being sent to yet another specialist. Spine and Pain Clinic. I was totally discouraged. In the same small office complex, I visit my rheumatologist, my neurologist, my oncologist, my palliative care nurse and now a pain doc. And this is just one of the office buildings I visit. I was discouraged because I could see it as another proof that my body was falling apart. Am I on a steep slippery slope looking downwards? Scary. I was scared. Then, as if by magic, my Irish-French Canadian genes kick in. What to do? A long time ago I had come to the conclusion that I needed to keep my primary focus on the activities of my life.  My writing. My family. My friends. My Hobbit House Projects. I would not ignore my medical issues. I would care for them well. And then I would bring my focus back to the activities of my life. Sometimes I could do more and sometimes less. It …

gardening notes

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Albuquerque will be 95 today. Yesterday it was 98. We missed the set of super hot temperatures for July. So we are just catching up. Blue skies. Nice. This is the Rio Grande. We have plenty of water in it this year. And now we have more. Torrential downpour came later this afternoon. Reminds me of Miami. I am happy to see the rain. I would dance it it but the lightening forbids it.  I have those big office wastebaskets to gather water where it comes down the hardest. This is great for my RA as I just need to scoop the water in a little bucket to water container plants. I feel like I am doing a good thing. I have passed out of the RA Flare Fog. Don’t know if it is residual from the Medrol Pack or the Orencia starting to work. I am cheering for the Orencia. Feels so good to move.  Hope it lasts for awhile. Back out in the yard. This is Apricot Sunset. Climber. Strong and beautiful.  Roses …

RA Web Sites

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Like everyone else with a serious diagnosis, I need to know more than the few words my doctor tells me.  And like everyone else, I search the internet. The internet is jammed full of information. However, sorting through it can be a challenge. Some of the sites give the same standard information. Some of it is dated information. Some of it includes assumptions. Still, it is possible to find helpful, reliable sources. Here are some I find helpful.  Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center will give you all the scientific information that you will need.              http://www.hopkinsarthritis.org/arthritis-info/rheumatoid-arthritis/ PubMed Health The link:    Rheumatoid Arthritis at the US National Library of Medicine, the world’s largest medical library.  Always a valid and helpful resource.  RA Warrior A community support site that relates the experiences of those with RA, offers a great deal of helpful information, and current discussions on RA. It is a big site and well worth a visit. Kelly Young is the author.  Visit the RA Warrior at     http://rawarrior.com/  WebMD This is …

Renoir and RA

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Bal du Moulin de la Galette sold in 1990 at Sotheby’s for $79 million. Renoir painted this scene of popular Parisian life in 1876.   It was a typical Sunday afternoon at Moulin de la Galette in the district of Montmartre in Paris.  An impressionistic image. Vivacious and joyful in nature.   In fact, he painted not one but two of the same scene. One large and one small. Almost identical with minor differences in style. The larger of the two paintings hangs in Musee d’Orsay, which houses the largest collection of impressionist masterpieces in the world. The smaller of the two, the one sold for $79 million, is in a private collection. Pierre-Auguste Renoir loved painting. He started his career at the young age of 13 working in a porcelain factory. He frequently visited the Louvre to study the French masters.  He spent his lifetime studying and admiring the paintings of  the master painters. With his factory earnings, he joined Alfred Sisley, Frederic Bazille and Claude Monet for classes at Charles Gleyre’s studio.     Renoir along with Pissarro, Monet, …

Finally, a life

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I really thought I was going to die last year.  To prepare, I filled out the final wishes form.  Next, I made an attempt to simplify my financial records. I said thank you to all the people who have been helping me the last few years. I had a garage sale. What the heck, I thought, I would be the one to get the money if I had one before I died. Just as I thought things were going to get worse, they were already terrible, I started coming out of the methotrexate fog.  I could think clearly again.  O happy days.  At least I had my mind.  Both cancers could return.  My RA could leave me immobilized.  Yet, I would be able to read.  My favorite thing to do.  Preston and Child’s Pendergast series. Baldacci’s adventures. All the fascinating medical books. I could be happy. The methotrexate injections, Plaquenil, leflunomide and the prednisone finally calmed the ever-present inflammation in my body.  This was after 2 years.  And it may not last long, but it is …

The challenge of Feet

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My rheumatologist sent me to a podiatrist, a foot doctor.                 Charming man. Once a client of mine.        X-rays were ordered, the podiatrist way. Standing. Weight bearing. Three views each.  For the third view I climbed steps  and was x-rayed  at foot level.   A  much better test than the standard foot  x-rays. Results: persistent degenerative changes with in the feet bilaterally. I admit that this was expected. What happens next?  My doc said surgery is not the answer.  As my feet get worse he feels steroid injections would be helpful. Now it is important that I wear shoes that fit  well and offer good support.  I should also wear special inserts (Motion Control performance insoles by Prothotics). I got the inserts first.  They are so much better than anything you will find at Target or Walmart. They have support for feet in areas that are thinning in RA. He suggested our New Balance store or REI.  New Balance was closer. They fitted the inserts and fitted …

How RA Feels

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RA starts in the feet as often as in the hands.                                                           Mine had started in my feet long before I was given a diagnosis.  My feet came to feel like dense bricks. The whole main part of my feet, all those little joints, were swollen and in pain. The three middle toes on each foot were swollen and would have sporadic shooting pains. I had a hard time walking. My hands have almost equal billing. Knuckles are enlarged and always have some degree of swelling. I use a simple rubber square jar opener to do the job of opening  jars and bottles.  I keep scissors around the house. They make it so much easier to open many things. Symmetry is a hallmark symptom of RA.  Left foot and right foot. Middle three toes each side. Any synovial joint in the body can be affected. My left jaw (mandible) joints …

How an RA Book Helped

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When I was diagnosed with RA, I was too sick to understand the long term implications. I was grateful at the time to put a label on the devastating attack on my body. I love books and have always looked to books for solutions as well as for pleasure. Soon after my diagnosis, I purchased the book, The First Year Rheumatoid Arthritis by M.E.A. McNeil. With RA there is a major shift in your life. What to do? How to cope? What to think? It is overwhelming. This book set me on the right course. It helped me organize. The most important thing it did for me was define my attitude toward RA. I developed my medical team. I understood I was the manager. I started journaling daily and also logging in my symptoms. I researched the drugs I was on and created files for them. I researched lab tests and understood what they meant and kept a log. I asked my doctors questions and received solid answers. I knew the first few years were critical. I knew …