Intro

[Guest guest]

Hi,

My name is Jenni. I am wife to and mama to Hannah 5, 3,

and Jonathon 18 months. My husband has RA. He was diagnosed at age 5

with JRA and it progressed from there. He is going to be 37 now..so

he has had this for a looong time. He refuses to take medication

because he had some very painful experiences as a child with

injectins and many other fruitless experiences at the hospital. He

told his mom when he was a teen that it was enough and she let him

make that choice. A few years ago he agreed to try methotrexate

until he discovered that it could cause sterility and other serious

side affects...it was only a few weeks that he was on it. I am

really worried about him. He is on disability but he has a home

business and also works part time at a library at the local Ivy

Tech. We have been blessed in that respect. However, I feel so

helpless watching him suffer. He doesn't complain but I can see how

the pain affects him by the way that he moves, etc. Last night he

was in so much pain he started crying and just lost it..just

wimpering how he couldn't take the pain anymore and how his hips

were hurting him so badly. I don't know what to do. He drinks a lot

to try to deal with the pain but that is the extent of how he will

medicate himself. I just don't know how to handle this. I am only 23

and I am so scared that he is going to get much worse in our

lifetime together. I have been online and seen horrible pictures and

read things that make my stomach turn when I think of it happening

to my husband.

Anyways, I hope to learn more here so that I can better support my

husband. He doesnt have much spare time so I am usually the one

online looking for things.

Anyways, glad to be a part of this group; I know that I will learn

much from you all.

Sincerely,

Jenni