Home Community Member Stories Darlene F

Darlene F's Story

refeener@webtv.net

My name is Darlene. I am 58 years old.
On the the 5th of Sept of 1999, I was just finishing up our canning from a productive garden. I had some mild right wrist pain. By the next day I had lots of pain. This kept be awake at nights for 3 weeks. I finally went to see my doctor. Dx: Tennis elbow. Took Ketroprofen and this seemed to help.

We moved in October of 1999. Now both arms and hands were making life miserable.

In November1999, I woke up one morning and could not walk on my right leg. Went to see a doctor. Dx: Sciatica with tennis elbow. After two months of physical therapy, I improved.

The pain returned in March of 2000. In April the doctor put me on Vioxx and referred me to a rheumatologist.

In June of 2000, I started seeing a rheumatologist and went on Plaquenil.

In July 2000, I was diagnosed with Raynauds.

I started wearing gloves to shop in the grocery store when I had to put my hands into the freezer section. Otherwise I would end up with lots of sore fingers and color changes to my hands. My hands would also turn beet red.

By October of 2000, I was feeling terrible. I decided to incorporate some acupuncture into my medical care. This I did until February 2001. I did get some relief the two months I had acupuncture treatments from the pain but not the swelling in my right wrist.

In February 2001, I got a cortisone shot which helped for awhile. Doing things for myself was getting more difficult. I kept at my exercise routine, but found I had to limit the time I spent in exercising because I was losing weight, like I have never lost weight before.

February 2001, was the most painful month of my life. Adjusting to chronic pain and not being able to be active like I had been all my life was taking a toll on my body, mind and spirit.

Fatigue was overwhelming. I would lay down for a short nap and would wake up anywhere from 2 to 5 hours later.

With the warmer months, I was able to get outside and do some daily walking. Good for my body and spirit. I started walking 1/4 mile each day for the first week, and then increasing the mileage each week until I was able to get up to 3
miles a day 5 days a week.

August 2001, slowed me down again. The heat was really bothering me. I had more right wrist pain. I got another cortisone shot which helped with the pain. I bought some hand splints as my left wrist was now beginning to bother me. I wore the splints daily for four months, when I was able to take off the left hand splint but not the right. I had some left flank pain that was bothering me a lot. Had a Cat scan and everything was normal. Must be all in my head, I thought.

February 2002, was a miserable month. My body was so stiff in the mornings. It took awhile to get going. I found if I kept moving, I could keep the stiffness away. If I sat down for 15 minutes, the stiffness became a problem again. Cooking meals and preparing for them became a challenge.

Mornings have always been my favorite time of the day. I consider getting up at 6:30 a.m. as sleeping in. I love birds and a good part of my life as been spent watching them and studying their behavior. When I found that I could no longer hold my regular binos, my husband bought me a pair of Zeiss, binos that weighed 15 oz. I was determined not to give up my daily bird walks.

By May 2002, I knew that I was going to have to put birding on hold for awhile until I could gain some control over the pain that was overtaking my life. It was so bad that I could not take a 5 hour drive to visit my Mom in a nursing home. I was distressed to say the least.

By August 2002, the pain began to intrude on my morning walks. With the hot days, I found that the balls of my feet were getting red and burning. It felt like I was walking on rocks. At night, the burning in my feet would wake me up.

I was now losing more weight, and sleep My husband bought me a radio, with ear phones so I could listen to the Christian radio in the early mornings. Listening to the gospel music, kept my mind off the pain for awhile. I also found the spiritual messages important for my state of mind.

My rheumatologist had me try ecotrin, (coated aspirin). This helped a lot with the burning pain at night in my feet. I cut back my walking from 3 miles a day to 2 miles and then to a mile a day which I can do most days. When it is really bad, I put a pilates video on and do that for exercise.

In September of 2002, I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis.

Tomorrow I start on Methotrexate. I am excited about the possibility of this new medication helping with the swelling, stiffness and pain. I am down to 104 pounds and my goal before Christmas is to gain some weight.

I went to visit my Mom, in the nursing home for the first time in a year. She is not doing well. I was angry with the arthritis keeping me away from her so long. It was a painful week when I got back home, but felt it was worth it to be able to see my mom again..

I am most grateful to have this chance to share with all of you this story. I enjoy reading and listening to what others have to say.

I am grateful to my family who have supported me, to the fine doctors who have tried to help me and especially to my rheumatologist for not giving up on me.

I am most grateful to the Arthritis Foundation for all their help to me. I am so thankful to the Arthritis Insight web page where I can communicate with others about ways to deal with Rheumatoid arthritis and other forms of arthritis.

Thank you

Darlene