I have been absent here lately as life got in the way again. As I spent the morning catching up on all the posts I have a heavy heart for all who are scared and suffering at this juncture in your lives. My message is directed mostly at the new members but for all as well as a thank you and a reminder. Life has gotten in the way for many of you also. Add to that this horrible disease which rears its ugly head and tries to take us down and it astounds me how many of us get out the of bed each day - albeit sometimes by crawling.
But that is where this forum helps - where you can turn to people going through life’s trials and tribulations while engaging in the daily war on PSA. This place, and the people who post here are our tribe. And we are all warriors. We fight to do things most take for granted. We gain strength and understanding from each other which amounts to more than can be placed into words.
I found this forum several years ago while bedridden with a disease I had no knowledge of. Often too sick to post it brought me comfort during those sleepless nights when I thought no one could understand what was happening to me. How wrong I was. It was here where I not only got critical insight about Meds from a perspective few can give, but also simple things like what shampoo can help with the side effects. I saw first hand that life goes on - babies and marriages and other wonderful things we get to experience when we don’t give up. The people here share - good and bad. This is a place to vent when we feel our loved ones can deal with us no more. We share jokes and holiday wishes, and most of all our experiences.
I thought 2014 was my turnaround year as I have Meds that continue to work. The powers that be saw otherwise and tested me time and time again. My husband was hospitalized with a serious condition, my older son had a bad fall, my younger son battled an illness for a year that finally led to surgery. When I thought I could take no more an inexperienced driver hit me head on. This crash will require more months of physical therapy and I will remain with some permanent damage. Then my youngest gets an appendicitis attack - and as Mom I stay with him round the clock in the hospital. None of this is conducive to stress and PsA. Yet I am thankful. All the above situations could have been worse. I choose not to curse the darkness but to light a candle.
If this was a few years ago - before I found this forum - I don’t think I would have found the strength to go through this last year. Yet the strangers here - who are now my tribe - got me through that rough time and helped shape who I am today.
So I leave you with my continued thanks, and keep you all in my prayers. Have a healthy and blessed New Year.
“Whatever you are physically…male or female, strong or weak, ill or healthy -all those things matter less than what your heart contains. If you have the soul of a warrior, you are a warrior. All those other things, they are the glass that contains the lamp, but you are the light inside.”
― Cassandra Clare