Oh, honey. What a warrior you are! Yes, there's light at the end of the tunnel. You need to know that it can be a long tunnel with some twists in it. The solutions are not one-size-fits-all so there will be a period of experimentation with different meds, and that can be frustrating. But you've caught this early, you've got a good medical team, and you've already learned how to be self-aware and be a good advocate for yourself. You can do this.

Sorry that you are having to deal with this disease after beating cancer.
I like Katie's description of the long tunnel with some twists. Everyone presents differently and responds to treatment differently. Some are mild and some severe, and many in between....and some respond to meds at the start and some have to go through many different trials of treatment.

Keep a diary of your symptoms (like which joints are involved, how long you have morning stiffness, etc) as the rheum will ask you those.
Your treatment regimen may be a bit more difficult than most of us, given your history of cancer, since many of these medications may in some ways increase cancer presentations in people who are otherwise at risk for cancer. Most people with a history of cancer are at increased risk of recurrence or other cancers.
Be patient with the treatments as they take time to work. You may need to make adjustments to do the things you enjoy or need to do. Educate yourself and your family as they will need to be your support system. Your kids are not too young to help you -- my son was 9 when I was diagnosed -- like with some chores around the house. And you can explain what is going on so he realizes you didn't miss baseball because you didn't want to go --- but that you could not move. As a teacher I am sure you have many ways to help other's understand.
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!

Thank you so much for your feedback,Katie and Doodlebug25! I appreciate the encouragement!

We all wish it would pass, oh how we pray for it to pass. In addition to the above suggestions I'll make a few that I've found via experience. The only "diet" that has helped (think I tried them all) is the elimination of all night shade foods (search RA and Nightshades, google will give you the normal webmd, johns hopkins, etc.....try using duckduckgo to get the less monetized search results). Nightshades are cucumber, tomato, white potato, red and green peppers (yellow as well, keep in mind that paprika is from the red and is often listed as "natural flavor or spice" on labels), eggplant, almonds, cashew, peach, tomitilo, and a few more. If your system can handle them do eat walnuts, pecans and pineapple as they are excellent anti-inflamms. Use Frankincense as a topical rub. You can handle this. You will handle this!

I am here to tell you that total remission is possible for some of us! I have been in remission for 8+ years! I feel like I have nothing wrong! I am 72 and have had RA for about 40 years. I dealt with a challenge in my treatment. I had hepatitis C so my rheumatologist had to work with my hepatologist and infectious disease specialist because of concerns of RA meds being hard on the liver. But they pulled it off and I am CURED of HCV and RA in remission! You will need good docs but all things are possible!!

I hope your rheumatologist can find some safe meds for you that will help.