Re: New here River

[Guest guest]

Hi River:

Welcome to the group! The people here are great, very

supportive and caring, and there is also lots of

information shared. I am 52, dx for 7 years with RA,

and also have fibro, OA, and Raynaud's. I have been

on several meds, but the one that has helped me the

most has been Enbrel. I am glad that your doctor will

be talking with you about this - it has helped a lot

of people - and I have had no side effects, except for

some bruising at the shot area sometimes. I also take

Mobic, Methotrexate and Ultram ER, and meds for fibro,

asthma, and high blood pressure.

When I was dx with RA, I was designing and making

jewelry for a friend's business, and loved it.

However, because the RA affected my hands and wrists,

I had to stop doing it. I have recently done some

simple bead and stone beading, and just enjoy making

small things for myself and my daughter. I really

understand how you must feel about your designing and

jewelry making, and hope that you will continue to be

able to do what you enjoy.

I think animals are great therapy - I have five dogs

(actually two are my kids' dogs), two horses, and lots

of chickens, ducks and geese. It's sometimes a lot of

work for me, but I would not change it for anything.

I still ride once in a while, and love the way I feel,

like my old pre-RA self, when I am riding. That is

wonderful that you are training a therapy dog - what a

blessing he will be to his next owner.

Again, welcome, and hope that today is a better day

for you -

Kathe in CA

--- River <river61@...> wrote:

> Hi everyone,

>

> I joined this list today and have been reading

> through some of the msg archives. I'm

> grateful that this list exists and is as active as

> it is!

>

> I am paraplegic with RA, dx in 2000 44 yrs Young. I

> had my spinal cord injury in 1986.

> Right now I'm on MTX 15mg per wk and Celebrex twice

> a day. I'm bottoming out on MTX,

> this spring and summer have really caused havoc on

> my RA. Plus I broke my L femur in

> May. My RA mainly affects my hands, wrists and

> elbows. Pretty much everything that I can

> move and use is affected. I'm going to talk to my

> DR about Enbrel next month. I have had

> shots in several joints (cortisone gotta love it!),

> but think I need something more to lessen

> the flare-ups.

>

> I work from home as a jewelry/polymer clay artist.

> The RA has caused big problems with

> my productivity but I'm working around that.

>

> My partner is wonderful, she's a massage therapist

> and helps out tremendously. We're

> training a GSD puppy (16mos) as a service dog for

> me. He's my pal. He has a page on

> dogster if you want to see him!

> http://www.dogster.com/pet_page.php?j=t & i=268091

>

>

> Peace,

>

> River

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