Home Community Member Stories Kelly

Kelly's Story

cobbs@uswest.net  

My name is Kelly, but I'm better known at ASA (alt.support.arthritis) as
Kellann. I was diagnosed with RA in October, 1993. I was 28 years old
and had been having a few roaming pains and stiffness that I just wrote
down to overwork. One day I woke up and my left leg wouldn't straighten.
My family doctor ordered blood tests, prescribed Ibuprofen and sent me
home to await his call. Two weeks later, I still hadn't heard from him
and I couldn't sleep at night because even the weight of the sheets
seemed too much to bear.

To make a long story short, I insisted he give me a referral to an RD
that I had heard about in a nearby city. It took two months to get in
and in that time, I became so debilitated that I needed my husband's
help to do such simple things as get in and out of the shower because I
couldn't lift my legs high enough to get over the edge of the tub.
Somehow I managed to continue working full-time, but it was a close
thing!

When I finally got in to the Rheumy, he injected the knee with
cortisone, prescribed sulfasalazine and disalcid, did a full exam with
x-rays, blood and the works and listened to me. Then we talked about
what to do next: We decided to get aggressive while starting out with
the least toxic and see what happened. Six years later, I've been on
lots of different medications, had several more injections and now I
look almost as good as I did before the RA.

My life is good!! I have a little girl who is five years old and who
gave me a remission with my pregnancy that lasted almost 18 months. My
husband is supportive and encouraging, I have found people who share my
concerns and help me through the rough patches while making me feel that
I'm the one helping them. Mostly, because of RA, I find new reasons to
be grateful for all the things in my life that are simple, easy and
painless.

Thanks go out to Krissy, Ron and everyone else who has had a part in
creating the places that make such a difference in peoples' lives by
offering support, encouragement and education. I wish I'd known about
you years ago.

Kelly
--
I've learned that even when I have pains,
I don't have to be one.-Unattributed

Kelly
Page last updated on April 10, 2000