Well, I Finally Took The Leap | Arthritis Information

and began SQ injections of MTX on 12/09. Had my second one today.

This month marks 2 (mostly bad and gettin' worse) years with this "condition" and I decided 1. There was very little quality left in my every day life. Unless, of course, one considers lying in bed 16hrs a day with the remote in one of two compression gloved hands. Having to be assisted in applying cold/hot packs around the feet/ankles, knees & elbows daily and continual injections of prednisone, driving the BP farther and farther up the machine, thinning my hair and skin and causing me to get the hammer out and rage against the machine if my toast is a half shade darker.

2. That with my type of RA+ high markers for faster progression and co-morbidity factors, MTX was pretty much my only option, in spite of the dreaded fear of what it might do to my already rheumatoid affected lungs.

Yep...when it got to the point where I had to ask the 12yr old, live-in grandson to put my socks on because I could no longer reach down, I got to thinkin', "Gee, I wonder what personal articles of clothing or other personal hygiene tasks will require his assistance next. The socks is where I drew the line.

Perhaps he's the rare, 12yr old, bird who makes this horrible squawking sound "eeeeewwwww" when he has to touch granny's wrinkled up, achey- flakey feet, but I doubt it. Sometimes, he'll actually put on surg. gloves to put my socks on me. When he takes them off, he lets them fall to the floor and then pickes them up with tongs to deliver them to the clothes hamper, all the while emitting his "eeeeewwwww" squawk.

Between his squawking and my pred. screeching, its much like 'Spot The Looney' here, but we love each other very much in spite of it all.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Lots 'o' pain, fatigue, depression. Lost 2 of my best friends within 2 weeks of each other. Friends with both for over 30yrs. A real shocker in both cases. One went for a nap and never woke up. The other given 6 mos. and died the same week. In hospital myself for a couple days in November for some tachyarrhythmia caused by depleated K and Mg. IV replacement has to be done slowly and burns like hell. Oh ya! I almost forgot...... I slipped on a wet floor inside the local gas station and did a complete frontal body slam, followed by a head back-snap and forward, forehead smack onto the concrete flooring. That was real cute, too.

And on those cheery little notes, I'll wish you all a very ____________________ .

fill in whatever is PC for you

Edited for typos. Need a new keyboard.

Katalina2008-12-16 18:10:28Katalina, I have to admit, this is one of the best posts I have read in here in a very long time. First of all, congratulations on the courage to move up to the SQ MTX - you are very brave and hope it brings you relief soon. But the rest, oh my, I was laffing so hard. Thank you and best of luck - keep us informed. Cathy

Yes, that was pretty funny!

Good luck with the MTX!

PS I am so sorry that you lost your friends!

Good Luck!!I hope that MTX gives you back quality of life! Best of luck- keep us posted! Hi there, was wondering about you and how you were doing and now I know.....chuckle, chuckle! I'm glad that you started MXT and I know how frightening it can be. I also have ILD and going on MXT was a big step. It's been over 3 years and to date no problems. Your RD will watch you carefully. We've talked about this before so I know you'll know what to do if a problem arises. Funny post, LindyI read your title and thought you got married. LOL You know.....took the leap.

I hope the mtx helps and 2009 is a much better year!Wishing you the best. Katalina, one thing your RA hasn't taken is your sense of humour, you go girl! egards Janie. I agree w/ janie....... you've got a great sense of humor... laughter is great medicine... good luck to youGood luck with the MTX.

sounds like you have a wonderful grandchild.

I am so sorry to hear about your friends. :(

Thanks to all of you for the encouragement and good wishes. I've only had two injections (5mg each), working my way up to 15 and I know the average time in which one notices improvement (if they're going to) is about 4-6 weeks, so nothing is happening so far. However, nothing bad seems to be happening in the SE dept. either. I was already loosing hair, so a little more isn't going to bother me but I have had no nausea, mouth sores, etc. I'm taking the folate religiously to prevent a lot of this junk.

I'm being very closely monitored (weekly) and hope that I'm one of the 40% that this drug works for.

Again, thanks for the encouragement. It really means a lot to me.

Hope it kicks in just in time for the holidays! A little Christmas miracle magic!

Keep us posted and hang in there!