Hmm. I think the fact that we are in tune to our bodies/see doctors often/ and jump quick on colds and the likes helps even our score a bit on too early of a death.
We have to remember that most people die of something....they have cancer, heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune disease, etc. Aging brings with it vulnerability. So while the average may be 84 or something, I expect we'll generally be on the earlier side of that.
Some of us have a gut feeling. I don't. I'm 49 and some days I feel 29 and others I feel 69.

I do think we are very close to treatments and cures for some populations of RA. Not all. But we shall see (I hope).

like sally said, we all handle it differently.

no one really asks me that. i talk to my husband about it but i don't really discuss more than my immediate symptoms with anyone else. i got a new job last november and one of my new colleagues asked me something like that recently. i told her that my immune system is attacking my joints and basically trying to kill me. she didn't act like i was being dramatic or overreacting, which was nice. she just asked what treatment there was and encouraged me to go to my doctor. which was nice.

sweet jesus i can't believe this but I think I am going to quote someone on here that doesn't post anymore - the woman that rode the horses and tilled her garden? where is she?

it's between your ears.

but i only have to look at my medical calendar to see how freakin' well cared for I am medically. exactly how much can we think about ourselves morning noon and night?

get a will. get a health care proxy. get a durable power or attorney. go to lots of specialists if you have lots of problems or go to a few doctors if you have a few problems. but the only thing you can change this very second is how much of a curmudgeon you are between your ears.

i am with steph if a very acquaintance who is not in my inner circle asks me something i don't even bother with details. I would have taken that as tmi from her side since she is not really in my life and not given it a second thought but we are all different.

as to whether someone REALLY IMPORTANT like my kids ask me that question, I am absolutely not catastrophizing or melodramatic just factual. and I live my life like I want to live for myself AND them also so they see that. I am full capacity for health, there aint no more I can do.

in my five wishes book (a book you prepare for after your death, what the hell I was doing my will anyway) I talked about that. I give everything the maximum effort health wise.

what my kids need from me now in addition to my paying attention to EVERY facet of my health and my RA is optimism. they are in the sunshine of their lives and this is a gift I can give them. it does not cost me anything, just a different attitude between my ears.

besides, I like free things.

depotblue

I have never been asked my prognosis. I am never asked how I am doing. I am never asked how I am feeling. I had shoulder surgery in October. Not one single person called to see how I was doing. Not one single person sent any kind of get well card - and that would include my own family. There are 'friends' that I have taken to have physical therapy after surgery 3 times a week, for weeks.... There are people who I have taken in for dental work, colonoscopy, etc, and they didn't want to bother their husbands/children, have a ride. Yet, nobody called to see if there was something they could do.

As the saying goes, 'it is what it is'. As I stated in another post, I like to think people 'care' but over 95% of them have zero interest. So, I think this is what I would say about my prognosis ---- Someday, like everyone else, I will die.

I am 10 years your senior and have had Ra for 39 years. I feel better now than I did for all of those years because now we have medications that can modify the immune response.

But over the years, I've read so much on how it all comes down to inflammation in the body....inflammation causes heart attacks, might be behind cancer, causes this and that and everything! And I've been on anti-inflammatories for the past 39 years....perhaps I'm ahead of the curve? Perhaps by keeping the inflammation at bay for so many years, I've helped my entire body? I don't know.

What I do know is that I am going to enjoy each and every day of what days I have left. My docs have told me that I'm more likely to die in a car accident and if I really want to live a long life, use my seat belt. I do....religiously. And I take my emotional health as seriously as my physical health. Stress is a huge killer.

So I say just take care of all of you and enjoy whatever time you have. No one knows what will come tomorrow so give love and accept love everyday. I predict I'll live far longer than anyone will predict for me as far as my health goes, because I am determined to. I've lived through so many life threatening events already that just to open my eyes today was cause for celebration.

Love life for however long you have and stop wondering just how long you might live.

gentle hugs..........Jen

Wow, Leftfeet, that is so sad that no one was there for you. Not because you did things for others, just because it is what we need to do to be human beings. Otherwise, if we only care for ourselves, are we really alive?

Or maybe I am just interpreting things through my "Christian" lens?

I don't think anyone has ever asked me about my prognosis in all these years. In fact, I have this idea, that other than people with RA, no one has a clue what this disease is about. I suppose they could google it, but it wouldn't tell them my more than about pain and deformities.

When someone tells me they have arthritis too, in their pinkie finger, I do tend to quietly correct. I tell them RA is a totally different disease, and I start with "It is a systemic autoimmune disease that can attack the brain, heart, lungs and kidneys. Oh yes, and the joints!" That usually shuts most people up. Leave the joints till last, even if you don't have the other problems, and joints is the worst part of RA. Actually, brain fog was my first symptom by over a year, so I never feel bad saying that.

As for Jesus healing, I tell them that Jesus is doing other things with my life, like using suffering to transform me. But be sure you can quote the verses, because some of these people are vehement that you MUST be healed, and right NOW. I had two friends when I first got sick, and they both said that. They kept praying over me, and then watching for the miracle. Then accusing me of not having enough faith. Again, a few verses help that one. Then the woman who had been attacking me over not being healed got breast cancer (see, people do get other disesases!) She decided not to get treatment, because God had healed her. She died 10 months later when the cancer metastised. The man who was after me got an enlarged prostrate. He opted for surgery, and backed off, most of the time demanding that I needed to get healed.

So yes, I do think pretty much everyone suffers from something or other. We just have to be strong in our walk with God, and not be afraid to tell the truth.

But never give up hope. At least until you have tried every single biologic and DMARD in every combo. Find your level of comfort in things, and don't be afraid to do them. And don't be afraid to say onto things or to say that sometimes you do feel hopeless, but you are not through with this life yet!