WE ALL KNOW THE BAD STUFF ABOUT RA...LET'S START A TOPIC ABOUT THE GOOD THINGS ABOUT RA......
LET'S SEE OUR HUMOR AND WIT!!!!
HMMMMMMMMM....
WHEN I'M HAVING A BAD FLARE, I GET TO LAY IN BED WITH MR HEATING PAD AND WATCH ALL THE GREAT OLD MOVIES...
I GET TO SPEND MORE TIME WITH MY TWO COCKER SPANIELS, SABLE AND SEBASTIAN. I JUST LOVE AND PET THEM ALL DAY AND THEY LOVE THE EXTRA TIME WITH ME....
KEEP IT GOING.....
The cats also take pity on me and lie on my feet to keep them warm.....
Meeting really wonderful people from all over the world who understand exactly how I feel is the big bonus of this disease for me.ANOTHER THING.....I've gone 100 mph my whole life. RA has forced me to slow down and "smell the roses" and appreciate my health 'cause if you don't have your health, you don't have anything......
I took my health for granted for years...I always had to be the best at work, competitive, made alot of money...
since RA I make a small fraction of what I made before...it makes you reeveluate your priorities...now I value quality time with my kids. I still have a little one I'm raising alone. I have to take better care of myself...for him.
I got a nice foot massage from Steve(husband) last night which led to other things
Kelly
Well i have to say i still frown at the thought of it all for now, find it very hardto find good points, but i guess a huge bonus is finding everyone here aand knowing i have friends who do actually understand and don't just say they know. Good to read all your good points though. sorry to be the miser.
I'm so happy to have found you all, I truely am
Welllllllllllllllll, Karen, if I really have to choose something it would be like Niki. Laying in bed with my hubby watching the Classic Movie channel. Never took the time to do that when I was well.
Pam Truth. I always thought someone would have to be pretty desperate to make friends in chat rooms or on message boards. (Even if I did meet my hubby on match.com
ONE GREAT THING ABOUT RA. I get my sweetheart to give me GREAT BUTT MASSAGES
There is nothing fun about having a chronic illness, but it helps you to see others differently and you begin to appreciate the little things more, like just being w/ a good friend or having just the basic necessities of life. And also that I found a board full of great people who understand this disease and can help me cope with the challenges it brings
I share your sentiments.....really feel for the young people with RA and fibro and more. I have had many years of good mobility and no pain before pain hit. I can't imagine trying to deal with children and feeling so tired and hurting. My prayers go up for all of them that a cure can be found for these limiting diseases.Right now i am having much pain, and when dr puts me on prednisone then i can't sleep. I do thank the Lord for any good days I have. Really pray we all get MORE of them with some of the new meds becomming available. have a good week.....
Diane Hmmm.....nothing comes to mind except this wonderful board!!
Susan HEY...WE REALLY HAVE SOMETHING GOING HERE TODAY!!! Lulebelle....you are too funny with your post!!! Thanks for the laugh! The moving picture is sooo cute! I don't know how to do that, but do appreciate when others put them on post. As for the handicap spot....I hated it for so long.....but now i have a new car and it saves the car from dents with the bigger space..LOL. AHHH be thankful for the little things in life that make us smile....
Diane Ya'll I would have to agree with most of you(THIS MESSAGE BOARD)Is the best part.Don't know what i would do without it. The other thing is like Karen,you look at things differently,I thank god that I don't have something like untreatable cancer or something like that. I do know what old people feel like and the way people RUSH around them because they move slower(people scare me to death rushing and pushing their way past me.(I guess it you don't look old ,or use a cane then you should move faster)I think a cane is around the corner,with these ankles and knees When we go to these warehouses to deliver our freight,I walk in and the dock workers are speeding around on the forklifts,IT REALLY SCARES ME,as if one was about to run into me THERE IS NO WAY TO MOVE QUICKLY OUT OF WAY!! My hubby See's the fear in my face and ALWAYS holds my hand,and tells me he won't let anything happen to me.Don't no what I'd do without him,sherry
I am determined not to let this disease control my life. I think now I have come to the acceptance stage, cuz I found myself actually able to explain to those who would ask me why I am limping that I have RA and what it does to my body. Before this I didnt want anybody to know out of fear of people judging me or telling why I shouldnt have Arthritis.( one lady did actually tell me I was to young for this and I told her to go tell my doc that then!) I hate having anyArthritic condition but Im learning to live w/it. And your right lulubee we do get the good parking spaces.
Shawnie I keep hearing about good parking places?!!! What good parking places?!!
Hubby always parks us about 10 spaces down from the handicap spaces. I do not have a handicap tag. So, I suffer the long walk to the front doors of Wally-World...lol. Lulu HUmmm...good idea lulu! I might after (if and when) I decide to drive. Right now it is considered "exercise"....lol...that is what hubby calls it when we cannot find a closer parking place. Hey Joon, You dont have to drive to be able to use the handicapped placards. As long as you are a passenger in the car you can use the sign to park in the handicapped spaces. If you get a form from the DMV and have your doc fill out his/her portion on the back with your condition, then you should recieve it in a couple of weeks. If they have the box on there marked temporary or permanent mark it permanent since I dont think your RA is going away n e time soon
Shawnie i dont think my doc would give me a handicapped sticker.... like Joonies hubby.. he thinks its exercise.... i guess i am in denial too,i still think i should ba able to walk that far... I HATE people that use the H spots and they are perfectly fine... like they are borrowing the sitcker just for quickness.... When i get out of my car, you can tell that i cant walk well...!!!!!!!!! UG!!!!!!! Ok good things.... ummm.. other than sitting at work....ummm the good days that i have and truly accomplish something... RA makes me truly appreciate the good days, and how good I have it. I appreciate my Hubby for his incredible support and caring. I appreciate knowing peoplelike you who understand. The parking spaces are good too. I think RA has made me a stronger individual than I was before I was diagonsed. It took me time to accept that I was going to have to live with this disease for life...but it's made me appreciate the things in life that I used to take for granted. I remember something good!!!!!!! I was out to lunch at the local Buffalo WIld Wings.. (BW3 in my book) and playing the ntn trivial game with a friend of mine.. we are so competitive that out of 15 questions with 1000 pts possible each, we were both in the 11000 range!!!! (If you dont know NTN, its a game console you take to your seat and play with the tvs showing multiple choice questions of varying hardness and topics.. go to ntn.com to learn more) Well one question came up.."Infliximab, commonly known as remicade, is used to treat what disease?" I was given the choices of RA, cancer, and 2 others, I didnt even look at! I laughed as i answered... the faster you answer, the more points you get... After i answered, i told my friend the answer... she asked if that was what i was on... i told her it meant going to the hospital for infusions and that no i wasnt on it due to work... Had to share! RA enabled me too finally let the politicians know what I really think about them. I had just gotten my electric cart and we went to the county fair. I pushed the go lever instead of the brake and I plowed into the Democrats booth they had set up so nicely. While backing up, I pushed the reverse lever too hard and plowed into the Republicans booth. I kind of smiled
Barb
Am I just a newlywed and I've yet to see the jackass in my husband? Or have I just struck gold? Yes....here we go again; Lovie's in love with her husband...bla, bla, bla. I know your tired of my bragging about my fabulous relationship. Keep in mind I spent years in a bad marriage...so maybe I'm a little excited. (Please neglect to say "I told you so" if I ever come here to complain about him.) Lovie...I see the jackass in him but I continue fall in &out of love with him... over & over.....I'm sure he sees the jerk in me too!
Lulu Thanks guys. It's nice to know there are some good marriages out there. I was gun shy at first. Once you've been in a bad marriage you're not too anxious to do that whole thing over again...but I've enjoyed it more every day since I've been married. I love him more today than I did the day he asked me to marry him. I pray everyday it stays that way.
Ah Sherry, You are just like me. You were just waiting for an excuse to get into those cow graphics.
The good things RA has done for me..... I always wanted to be more accomplished, so now I have perfected the following things: a. a wonderful rolling gait when I walk (although people look at me funny) b. The ability to conjure up swear words I didn't even know I knew. c. The ability to wallow in self pity (on the rarest of occasions of course) d. The wish to crack anyone over the head who even suggests that more exercise would help me get these poor old joints working again. e. The ability to cry at the drop of the proverbial hat. f. The ingenuity to get to the bathroom when I can't bear weight on my feet and my knee is too bad to crawl. g. The ingenuity to figure out how to do certain 'personal hygiene' things when my hands are too painful (like brush teeth and other even more personal things) h. The ability to smile and say 'doing ok' when asked by an innocent how I am. i. The ability to take more than one pill at a time (otherwise I would be at the sink all dang day). j. The ability to inject myself without throwing up, fainting, or crying (although I have managed all three of those!). I could go on but guess you get the gist of my accomplishments. Marilyn So, I guess parking spots is considered the #1 good thing about have RA!! And friend on the message board is a close #2... Yeah, I would pick the closer parking spot over a friend on any pain & stiff day....lol. Just kidding!!
a. sleep twelve hours and still wake up tired b. Eat three giant bowls of pasta salad and have TWO ice cream sandwiches for desert and still feel hungry (besides the toast and bowl of cereal I had for breakfast) Those are my accomplishments today! Forget the parking spots, I don't have the energy to make it to my car
I have lots of time to enjoy the computer, and read a lot of books on my bad days. That is a good thing about having RA, you have a lot of understanding for anyone in pain. Joyce
The best thing about RA is finding all of you wonderful people here and knowing that since it's a lifelong disease
Mina
Mina
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