I just want to share with you some information that I SO wish someone had told me back when I was first diagnosed. My rheumy back then put me on five medicines...HUmira, prednisone, MTX injections, an NSAID and I forget the other one. I gt home and my husband took a look at the meds and said to me, "These are all toxic drugs...you don't need this sh**" And because I was trying to eat organic foods and treating things with herbs, the thought of how toxic these drugs were causead me to just dump the meds in a drawer and forget about them. Well my disease got worse and worse until I practically crawled into an orthopedic surgeon's office and he took one look at me and said, "How soon can you come in to have bilateral hip replacements?" And that began a long path of many surgeries and much disability. NO one had told me how important it is to treat your disease aggressively immediately following diagnosis. Please do not make the mistake I did...Now my disease is horrible--almost every joint in my body is affected..
I was grateful to finally have a "disease term" to research and work with; I just wish my rheumy had spent more time with me on day one to EXPLAIN the disease and the importance of early and aggressive treatment. Instead I was on my own with research and experimenting with alternative treatments because she was too busy for a follow up. Had I started Humira earlier, it may have saved the twisting, boney bumps, and daily pain in the most important fingers of my right hand! My calligraphy and handwriting hobby is now a closed chapter. Thank goodness I can still type! Early treatment is good.
It is nice to hear your are feeling a little more optimistic about the options you have. It takes some time to get yourself wrapped around and admit you can't fight it on your own. You need the help It all has it's ups and downs, it sort of balances out in the long run.
I find when one of my favorite passions is no longer something I can do (portraits) I am almost always rewarded with a different passion such as learning the violin. It's just painting with music and there are just as many subtle notes as there are shades of color! Good luck to you, may you find your balance .
Crazylady you put that very well. I use to love to dance. Now I tire very quickly and am not able to do a lot of the dancing I use to do. But I found I am able to dance in the warm program pool at the gym and other passions have appeared. Had I still been dancing I might not have noticed them!