All posts tagged: RA progression

Have you ever felt stranded?

Published by

Have you ever felt stranded?  Sick …Painfully so…But did not know who to call. Maybe too sick to figure it out. This happens a lot to those of us with autoimmune disorders. I am seeing many doctors, each a specialist who oversees a section of my body.  For me, I have a rheumatologist, an oncologist, an endocrinologist, an ENT Doc, an internist and a podiatrist. However, there is no one who looks at the total me. This week I am in trouble. Things just are not working well enough. The protocols that are to be followed when I am in trouble are not working.  What do you do when your painful issue does not fall into the neat little slot of a specialty? When you are plainly worried that all is going to hell?  Who do you call? Unfortunately, not GHOSTBUSTERS. Here’s what I did. Then I will tell you about my remedy for my next crisis of indecision. It was decided through C-T scans and visits to my endocrinologist and an ENT Doc that …

RA: how to cope with more bad news

Published by

RA: how to cope with more bad news   For 80%, RA will be a progressive disease. That means for those who are being drug managed, the drugs will eventually not work anymore. That means for those lucky enough to have remissions, their disease will flare and incrementally get worse. That means for those with constantly active inflammation, like myself, the disease will continue to get worse.                     This week my bad news is that my disease is getting worse                                                                           and there are no more magic pills.                                                                                       …

Yep, RA is progressive

Published by

During the treatments for my cancers, my RA was uneventful.  Yes, I did have monthly flares that lasted just about 12 days.  Yes, I was always in a simmering level of pain.  I grinned and bore it like a good Irish Catholic girl.  Instead, I focused on surgery, radiation and life changing drugs.  I even completed a cancer rehab program. One day as I was starting a Zumba class, my ankles screamed in a pain that was the equivalent of trying to dance on joints full of shattered glass. Determined, I tried moving my feet differently (how many ways can you move your feet, you might ask).  After 10 seconds, I realized that it was futile.   I stopped.   Since then, it has been downhill.  It was a steep hill, I might add. Although I am on Methotrexate (a life saver for me), Plaquenil, (Sulfasalazine did not work for me), meloxicam, prednisone and all the supporting drugs, I am still progressing.  All the little joints in my feet and my ankles are inflamed and …