Arthritis Insight-Member Stories-Betsey

Hi, I'm Betsey. I'm 46 years old, and have always been in fantastic health.
Lo and behold, on New Year's Day 2000, I woke up with red and swollen bunion joints in my feet and a painful right knee. Thought to myself, "man, you danced way too much last night at that New Year's Eve party!" As a couple of weeks went by, my feet got better, but all of a sudden my knee swelled up to an immense size and I started to feel pain in my hands and fingers. At that point I knew what it was, because my older sister has had R.A. for 6 years, and my father also had it. Ran (or hobbled) to a rheumatologist who drained 50 cc of fluid off my knee and injected it with cortizone (miraculous!). She started me on Celebrex and Plaquenil. So, my life with R.A. begins. The worst part of this so far is that I cannot exercise right
now because my knees and ankles are so painful. I used to love to get up
early and do a step aerobics tape in my living room before work. I could
garden for hours, heavy digging, etc, sweating like a collie in August, but
feeling great. I mourn the loss of my strong, healthy body. I have faith
that I'll get better, and I'm trying to keep a positive mental attitude. I
just know that I am going to love this website. I look forward to making
lots of new friends here!