lovemygirl

About Me

My name is Rachel and I was diagnosed with RA in august of 2008. I had been noticing my shoulders hurt as well as my feet when I woke in the mornings and it took my body several hours to feel \"normal.\" I woke up one Sunday morning and noticed *severe* swelling in my left hand on my second/third knuckles. My thumb was and still is swollen it\'s bigger than my right thumb. I went to my primary care giver and she had some blood work done and referred me to a rheumatologist. Well, after additional blood work and x-rays I was diagnosed of having RA..I read in one of my reports \"Seropositive, \" My numbers were very high...Anti-CCP was greater than 250, which is not a good sign of things to come in the future. Since being diagnosed, I developed a nodule on my second toe on my right foot, (plus swelling)that\'s very painful. It hurts to walk. I\'ve noticed pain is getting worse in my right shoulder, left elbow and both hands. I love staying active with exercise, but sometimes I really have to push myself. I often ask myself, \"What did I do to deserve this? and \"Why me?\" I\'m fortunate to have a very supportive partner and a loving 11-year old daughter. They are there for me when I have a hard time dressing myself or just getting around. I started on Enbrel Injections in March and so far feel pretty good. There are days when I have a joint bother me, but nothing like after being diagnosed. My rheumatologist wants me to take mtx with Enbrel, but I said, \"NO!\" I had terrible side effects from MTX and my hair & eyelashes were falling out and that really freaked me out! I pray this continues to work for me!