RA causes financial stress

[Guest guest]

Dear Members,

I have had RA for almost 3 years. My RA has increased the debts

and I feel guilty about it.

I have worked in Floral designing as an amateur, but the rest of my

work history is in retail. I can't walk around the block without

feeling the pain in my ankles and feet, not to mention my knees and

hips, long before I have reached the halfway point. I obviously

could not work retail any longer. Cannot be on my feet longer than

it takes to make a quick meal. I don't think a sit down job is the

answer either, for two reasons. My legs hurt right away when I sit

at my pc. And I get terrible finger cramps. Takes me a while to do

one email. The correcting the mistakes I make with the pecking away

is time consuming and annoying. Forget watching other people's

kids. No way. I am tired all the time, achy all the time and

really am beginning to feel useless. I do 100% of the household

chores and child care. I run the errands, keeping it as short as

possible. I am lucky if I am out for more than an hour or two once

a week. But I do fight it as much as I can. Maybe it is more of a

toleration than fight. But as we all know, it is next to impossible

to ignore this pain. It used to be in my hands and wrists the most,

now it is attacking everything from the hips to the toes. I feel at

a loss trying to figure out what I could do to contribute

financially. I have been a stay at home Mom since the birth of my

last daughter, who is 9. I do a lot of volunteer work for her

elementary school, but it works for me because I can set the time.

It is usually once a week for a couple of hours. And I do feel

exhausted after I get home and it lasts for a few days. I do not

qualify for disability because of my lack of outside employment for

9+ years. I am 46 so I do not qualify for S.Sec. benefits. What to

do? Anyone have any ideas or advice? I may just have to create a

very tight budget and try to maintain it. My husband does not want

me to work. He sees how I feel all the time, he sses the pain I am

in. He also is afraid that I will bring on more flares and speed up

the progression. I have read that this does happen eventually to

those who are working outside of the home. I also know that

disability increases for RA and related diseases after 10 years upon

diagnosis. I have all sorts of fears and thoughts running through

my head all the time. Not to mention the guilt. Also, with the

spur of the moment expenses that come up with raising kids, tight

budgets are hard to follow, like in any case.

Thanks for any ideas or info.

Cat in Chicago