Hello I'm New To This List

[Guest guest]

Hello, My name is Alice Braddy . I live near San , Texas (for

about years). I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis in 1997, undiagnosed

with RA in 1999, diagnosed with Systemic Lupus in 1999, and then rediagnosed

with RA right after that. I quit working in Oct of 1999 (as a mental health

caseworker - couldn't risk the injuries or being exposed to illnesses

anymore). I had (thank God) long term disability insurance and filed for

SSDI in Jan. of 2000. I lost on the first try for SSDI and decided to find a

lawyer to handle the appeal. I received my first social security check in

Dec. of 2000. I'm not sure what my lawyer did to get it to go, but whatever

it was, it worked! I have just started receiving my medicare benefits on

April 1st of this year. By the way, I am 42 years old and am almost

housebound for the most part, but do try to get out with my husband and

youngest daughter fairly frequently. I guess the point of this is to tell

y'all to hang in there. My doctor wrote my disability papers up for both my

long term and my social security as a worst case scenario, that may be why it

went through so quick. Also, more damage from taking Propulsid for about

eight months. Until about three weeks ago, I had managed to get by with only

Trazadone for sleep and no pain meds. I fell rescueing three newborn kittens

(only about a six inch fall forward onto my hands and knees) and apparently

threw the RA out of remission (?) and haven't been able to walk without a

cane or assistance for the last couple of weeks. Doc says it's the RA,

nothing broken, no pinched nerves. Sorry this is so long - I guess from the

emails I've been reading today, we're all putting up with a lot! See you

later - Alice