Welcome to Club 50!

General Blog
1

50.....it's just a number....

I was determined to make sure it would be an uneventful day when I reached that magical number only to discover that it would be the first day of the rest of my life.....

Just a few months in of being a member of Club 50 and I awake one day to discover that I can no longer see things up close...."Oh, stop complaining they say....a lot of people need glasses...."....well I'm not a lot of people ! My vision was beyond perfect. I could see farther and closer than the average person.....It was my "Spidey Sense"....

I got used to it like everything else.....but NO ONE can get used to what came next......

About 6 years ago I discovered a small patch of what seemed to be dermatitis under my forearm. My first thought was I must be allergic to my cheap desk.....I rest my arm against it right where the itchy patch of dry skin kept annoying me on and off for years....Then about a week ago I notice that my index finger on both hands is swollen and stiff.....so weird right?.....I'm thinking what heavy thing did I lift wrong to cause that......

Day 2 and the swelling is getting worse and starting to travel down my hands......Now I'm getting nervous....I frantically start surfing the web to try and self diagnose and the only thing that keeps popping up is ARTHRITIS....To me, when someone says the word ARTHRITIS my brain goes right to....YOUR OLD and your body just doesn't work the way it used to.....

I learned just how naive I was when I read there are at least 100 different kinds of arthritis.......Looks like I'm a perfect match to all the symptoms of RA .....but wait !.....I read a little more and there it is....I start reading a description of what's on my arm and my heart starts to pump a little faster.....All this time I had PSORIASIS and didn't know it until now......

Now I'm really scared......It's like I've just been convicted and I'm about to receive my prison sentence.....

The Judge....better known as the Rheumatologist will make his final decision when I get to meet him for the first time on 4/8/16.....Until then, I'll continue to monitor my progression carefully and try not to complain.....no one I know wants to here it.

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Hi THread, just remember knowledge is king ! What’s more depressing and anxiety making than knowing something isn’t right but either denying it, ignoring it or just hoping it will go away . I spent my big 50 wondering round the giddy heights of the Empire State Building , on crutches , after having a double arthroscopy , the trip had been planned so there was no delaying it . After two knee replacements my big 60 was spent enjoying afternoon tea in claridges . 10 years cools the excitement down lol.
But my point is this, body’s change, on the outside we see the wrinkles /laugh lines, the grey hair . But we don’t see the gradual changes on the inside , they sneak up gently , invisibly and then POW. I too have PsA , but no skin problems as such , a little flexular psoriasis, which I hadn’t even known it existed.
I hope you get a great rheumatologist , who helps you put things in the right box and learn how to carry on living a great future X