Thanks To Everyone !

[Guest guest]

Sorry for the delay in getting back to everyone as we are doing

battle with sore throats and colds in my part of the World !

Life just keeps intruding on my plans ! 8o)

Thanks to everyone who has responded both on and offline . I

appreciate your kind words and you make me realize that I've come to

the right place.

Let me see if I can answer some of your questions.

We've apparently dealt with some kind of misdiagnosis or another for

the last 5 to 7 years . We've had doctors call it everything from

allergies to depression, to restless leg and every other esoteric

disorder known to man and have been shuffled every direction

imaginable ( aren't HMOs great ? ). I even had one guy want to

remove her parathyroids due to supposed " rapid " bone loss. It was

finally on yet another insurance and Dr switch that we got the fibro

and osteoarthritis diagnosed, but the RA was either still being

missed or had not reared its head up at this point,but looking back

on it now , there's some things that happened that I'm nearly

positive were RA flareups and just incorrectly diagnosed.Insurance

kept blowing the extra bloodwork off.

She finally got a Dr who knew how to get her tests around the bean

counters and that's when we got the " RA dormant or in remission "

diagnosis around a year ago (she corrected me on this from my

original post). He also confirmed the original findings of the other

Rheumy.

She's been taking Naproxyn and Flexeril for the last few years for

the fibro and osteo, along with the occasional cortisone injection

for a bursitis-like condition in the shoulder area and rounds of

prednisone, which I now refuse to let her take due to the fact that

it gives us a visit from " Evil " and I half jokingly tell her

Drs that if they insist on her taking it , they have to take her

home with them.

The Plaquinel was just started about a month ago around the same

time as the start of the flareup and hasn't shown any signs of

helping yet. although the flareup seems to ebb and flow. Not sure if

it's the meds or the RA episode just running it's course at this

point. The new generation injectables have not been discussed at

this point.

My wife has been a very active person up to this point and it breaks

my heart to see her too tired and in too much pain to enjoy things

she used to do. It's all she can do to go to work and back each day.

She tries to keep on a brave face and stay away from the pain meds ,

altough I do talk her into the occasional Darvocet or Percocet to

ease it for her.

I'm going to cut this off as I have been more than long winded

enough , but in the midst of all of this , I also became a full time

caregiver (in our home) for both of my parents in July of 2003 . My

Dad, who was cardiac/renal failure on dialysis died a year ago this

month and my Mom is diabetic with a possible underlying CHF and is

still living with us.

We won't even start on the challenges that this has and continues to

present.

I just hope I've answered some of your questions and those of you

that I owe an email should be hearing from me soon.

Peace Ya'll ! Please remember the heroes and victims of 9/11 in your

prayers today.

Jim