arthritis: hey there big fella.. time to wake up
me: aw come on, it's only four in the morning, let me sleep will ya
arthritis: nawww.. I think it's time for me to flare up a little and remind you of all those things you used to do before I came along.. like riding your Mtn bike out on the trail, or playing volleyball in the leagues, and hey, remember when you used to play golf? but then you weren't very good anyway. and how about when you used to be useful around the house, with the yard work, fixing things.. doing yard work, and oh, sorry you had to sell your dirt bikes that you liked to ride so much, but I guess it was just so hard for you to look at them and know you could no longer ride them with your friends..
me: yeah, that was pretty low.. but why couldn't you just stop there? why do you make it so painful to do even the simplest things, like opening a door, or pulling a zipper, pulling the covers up, pulling on my socks and tying my shoes, or buttoning my shirt up in the morning? I am almost to the point that I need to ask for help dressing my self.. the painful burning and swelling.. and if that wasn't enough, why do you have to also drain all my energy to the point I can barely get around on some days, feeling as if all my muscles had just ran a marathon or something. Is that your goal? is this some sort of life lesson to teach me humility? cuz if that's the case, I think I get that now.. not many things more humilating then being nearly unable to dress yourself
arthritis: no you have it all wrong, i am here to help you actually.. you see, before I came along, your immune system was humming along, minding it's business, seemingly to protect you from all kinds of outside attacks to your internals, but then I came along, (disguised as a skin rash at first, crude but effective), and discovered that the joints in your hands and fingers were plotting to do you harm. While it seemed they were behind you 100%, and have gone along with whatever you asked of them these fifty some years, our survalence indicated they had been infiltrated by an unknown enemy agent. So I conceived a plan to convince your immune system to attack those joints in order to stop them by immobilizing them and prevent them from doing you further harm. Ultimately they will become malformed and brittle and if I fully succeed, they will cease to function all together. this may take a few years, but I promise you it's for your own good.
me: you've got quite the imagination mr A. I'll give you that. but I'm sick of dealing with your mis guided notions and pretenses and while you have so far withstood my attempts to control you..
arthritis: ha, yes that methotrexate was like candy, too bad you gave up on it, I was rather enjoy...
me: shut it, mehthotrexate is a valuable weapon for some of your other victims, but as I was saying, while you have withstood my attempts to this point, I will not relent until I have contained you and can convince my immune system that you are a lying scoundrel.. so all bets are off. Oh, and your scare tactics about side affects while worrisome, will not prevent me from using every weapon at my disposal until YOU are the one immobilized, and not my well functioning God given joints and tendons
dude, this is war.. arthritis, meet mr Enbril
to be continued...
I very much like your attitude. Keep us all posted on how you do with the enbrel.
this rocks. Kick mr a’s butt
Ha,I like it,I do believe I am winning my war with Enbrel
crud.. I was supposed to start treatment today.. but my RHEUMY wanted me to have shingles vacc. before going on Enbrel. But then my general doc didn't want to give me vacc. while on MTX.. (because of some possible interactions he didn't specify) which my RHEUMY wants me to remain on while starting Enbrel and slowly backing me off the MTX.. so now I have to wait two more weeks before starting Enbrel
arrgghhh!
wouldn't be so bad, but my general doc was supposed to call my RHEUMY, but come to find out that never happened.. not too surprised I guess.. but folks, do NOT depend on them coordinating, collaborating, or handling ANYTHING.. assume they will not follow up or follow through on anything.. not a dig against the industry.. just a fact of life..
and I guess I am glad my doc is looking out for me
haha i love this!!
so one week in and I can say I have seen some improvements. The scales and peeling skin on the back of my hands and knuckles has totally cleared up. The scales on my elbows is probably 80% gone. Same with my knees. My swollen fingers seem to have reduced swelling.. one is almost pain free and has nearly full movement.. the other two seem to have improved as well. Mostly though, my energy level has improved dramatically.. instead of feeling bushed by 4-5pm, then driving home from work, eating a small dinner, then calling it in for bed around 7pm, I am now able to make it to 9 or 10pm before feeling like a sack of potatoes. I am considering trying a day or two without the Diclofinac, because in the past, when I stopped, within 24hrs my pain was extreme to the point where I could not dress myself in the morning.
So that will be a good test I think.