Re: Okay, now I've a little peeved.

[Guest guest]

Dear :

I began experiencing symptoms of RA at age nine.

I was finally diagnosed at age 17.

I am now 54.

You are experiencing the five stages of grief.

You are now in stage three: anger.

You are grieving for your lost " life " and that is normal.

Stage one is: shock,

followed by denial,

then grief,

followed by bargaining

then finally

acceptance.

Darlin, I've been doing this for 45 years.

Been through it all.

The only advise I can give you is this.

It's going to hurt no matter what you do so

you might as well enjoy your life.

That doesn't mean dropping out to drugs and alcohol.

It means waking up each morning and being thankful for that alone.

Then choosing to be happy b/c it's going to be a hellovalot better

day if you do.

Being pissed off all the time only makes the pain worse.

It amplifies it, exacerbates it.

There are soooooooooo many others far, far worse off than you or I.

I find joy in riding on the back of really big motorcycles.

Gardening, drawing, microphotograply.

Listening to music.

TV is so stressful and damaging to our immune systems.

Cooking and then serving my fare to others.

It ain't easy, , but it's your life.

You only get one, be thankful and enjoy it.

It's going to hurt no matter what you do,

so choose to rise above and do what you enjoy doing.

It's better to be in pain doing something you love

and enjoying your life

than being in pain, lying around, complaining about it and

missing out on your life.

Good Luck,

Shauna

[Guest guest]

You know that's how I have always felt. Like no matter what someone

always has it worse than me. I dont usually feel pissed about this

disease, I never even asked why me. When I found out I was

like " Okay, at least I wont die, I can be with my kids without that

worry. " And so many good things are happening to my life right now.

I am closer to family, my babies are happier, I am taking better care

of them b/c I am not as sick, I just bought a new beautiful house, my

hubby takes care of me even though we don't see each other often. I

think it finally got me b/c I am tapering the prednisone. Its like

all of a sudden I am so depresssed, I cant sleep, I have a constant

rash, I cant remember the simplist things. And we all know the

flares act up when we taper, but I am cool with that. I think

prednisone has been more of a monster for me than a savior. Thanks

for your help. I just have to figure out how to be happy with my

blessings instead of pissed. I just miss my life.

--- In , " shauna4343 " <shauna4343@...>

wrote:

>

> Dear :

>

> I began experiencing symptoms of RA at age nine.

> I was finally diagnosed at age 17.

> I am now 54.

>

> You are experiencing the five stages of grief.

> You are now in stage three: anger.

>

> You are grieving for your lost " life " and that is normal.

>

> Stage one is: shock,

> followed by denial,

> then grief,

> followed by bargaining

> then finally

> acceptance.

>

> Darlin, I've been doing this for 45 years.

> Been through it all.

>

> The only advise I can give you is this.

>

> It's going to hurt no matter what you do so

> you might as well enjoy your life.

> That doesn't mean dropping out to drugs and alcohol.

>

> It means waking up each morning and being thankful for that alone.

> Then choosing to be happy b/c it's going to be a hellovalot better

> day if you do.

>

> Being pissed off all the time only makes the pain worse.

> It amplifies it, exacerbates it.

> There are soooooooooo many others far, far worse off than you or I.

>

> I find joy in riding on the back of really big motorcycles.

> Gardening, drawing, microphotograply.

> Listening to music.

> TV is so stressful and damaging to our immune systems.

> Cooking and then serving my fare to others.

>

> It ain't easy, , but it's your life.

> You only get one, be thankful and enjoy it.

>

> It's going to hurt no matter what you do,

> so choose to rise above and do what you enjoy doing.

> It's better to be in pain doing something you love

> and enjoying your life

> than being in pain, lying around, complaining about it and

> missing out on your life.

>

> Good Luck,

> Shauna

>

[Guest guest]

--- In , " shauna4343 " <shauna4343@...>

wrote:

>

> Dear : I MY NAME IS MELYND .IVE HAD RA SINCE THE AGE OF5. IT

WAS HARD AS A CHILD BECAUSE I WANTED TO B LIKE THE REST OF THE

KIDS.NOW IM 38 & THE LORD HAS BLESSED ME WITH SOOO MUCH, I DONT EVER

ASK WHY ME.I HAVE A WONDERFUL HUSBAND WHO IS SOLOVING &

UNDERSTANDING & ALYSSA, MY LITTLE GIRL WHO THE DRS SAID I WOULD NEVER

HAVE...I DONT EVER THINK OF THE THINGS I CANT ,I THINK OF ALL THE

THINGS I CAN!!!!!!!! GOOD LUCK & LEAVE IT IN GODS HANDA... MELYNDA

>

> I began experiencing symptoms of RA at age nine.

> I was finally diagnosed at age 17.

> I am now 54.

>

> You are experiencing the five stages of grief.

> You are now in stage three: anger.

>

> You are grieving for your lost " life " and that is normal.

>

> Stage one is: shock,

> followed by denial,

> then grief,

> followed by bargaining

> then finally

> acceptance.

>

> Darlin, I've been doing this for 45 years.

> Been through it all.

>

> The only advise I can give you is this.

>

> It's going to hurt no matter what you do so

> you might as well enjoy your life.

> That doesn't mean dropping out to drugs and alcohol.

>

> It means waking up each morning and being thankful for that alone.

> Then choosing to be happy b/c it's going to be a hellovalot better

> day if you do.

>

> Being pissed off all the time only makes the pain worse.

> It amplifies it, exacerbates it.

> There are soooooooooo many others far, far worse off than you or I.

>

> I find joy in riding on the back of really big motorcycles.

> Gardening, drawing, microphotograply.

> Listening to music.

> TV is so stressful and damaging to our immune systems.

> Cooking and then serving my fare to others.

>

> It ain't easy, , but it's your life.

> You only get one, be thankful and enjoy it.

>

> It's going to hurt no matter what you do,

> so choose to rise above and do what you enjoy doing.

> It's better to be in pain doing something you love

> and enjoying your life

> than being in pain, lying around, complaining about it and

> missing out on your life.

>

> Good Luck,

> Shauna

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Shauna!

I'm a few days behind in reading my emails but I

wanted to thank you for sharing this with all of us! I

love to come upon posts such as this! Please know that

by sharing this, you have been an inspiration to me!

And I struggle with that quite a bit between my

RA/FMS/MPS and anxiety issues:)

--- shauna4343 <shauna4343@...> wrote:

> Dear :

>

> I began experiencing symptoms of RA at age nine.

> I was finally diagnosed at age 17.

> I am now 54.

>

> You are experiencing the five stages of grief.

> You are now in stage three: anger.

>

> You are grieving for your lost " life " and that is

> normal.

>

> Stage one is: shock,

> followed by denial,

> then grief,

> followed by bargaining

> then finally

> acceptance.

>

> Darlin, I've been doing this for 45 years.

> Been through it all.

>

> The only advise I can give you is this.

>

> It's going to hurt no matter what you do so

> you might as well enjoy your life.

> That doesn't mean dropping out to drugs and alcohol.

>

> It means waking up each morning and being thankful

> for that alone.

> Then choosing to be happy b/c it's going to be a

> hellovalot better

> day if you do.

>

> Being pissed off all the time only makes the pain

> worse.

> It amplifies it, exacerbates it.

> There are soooooooooo many others far, far worse off

> than you or I.

>

> I find joy in riding on the back of really big

> motorcycles.

> Gardening, drawing, microphotograply.

> Listening to music.

> TV is so stressful and damaging to our immune

> systems.

> Cooking and then serving my fare to others.

>

> It ain't easy, , but it's your life.

> You only get one, be thankful and enjoy it.

>

> It's going to hurt no matter what you do,

> so choose to rise above and do what you enjoy doing.

> It's better to be in pain doing something you love

> and enjoying your life

> than being in pain, lying around, complaining about

> it and

> missing out on your life.

>

> Good Luck,

> Shauna

>

>

>

>

________________________________________________________________________________\

____

Never miss a thing. Make your home page.

http://www./r/hs

[Guest guest]

My husband is a cancer survivor and I have battled RA/SLE since I was a

teenager. The grief is very real, especially at the times when the disease

rages back or when other folks try to make you feel quilty or inadequate for

what you have to do to deal with the disease.

Shauna is right. We ALL want to look at our lives as cups half empty, but the

truth is, we still really even with our diseases have full cups. WE ARE

ALIVE!!!!!! As my husband reminds me, he is now going on 5 years in remission

instead of dead. I am still alive, and we still have each other. All of us

have blessings, spouses, children, friends, pets, careers, hobbies, the sun

comes up, the weather changes for good or bad, flowers are beautiful, it doesn't

matter what it is. There are still things out there to bring us joy and

satisfaction.

Eventually you will become at peace w/what life has dealt you. For me, this

has been one of the most satisfying feelings in life---to be at peace w/what is.

stephanie <stephieann2@...> wrote:

Hi Shauna!

I'm a few days behind in reading my emails but I

wanted to thank you for sharing this with all of us! I

love to come upon posts such as this! Please know that

by sharing this, you have been an inspiration to me!

And I struggle with that quite a bit between my

RA/FMS/MPS and anxiety issues:)

--- shauna4343 <shauna4343@...> wrote:

> Dear :

>

> I began experiencing symptoms of RA at age nine.

> I was finally diagnosed at age 17.

> I am now 54.

>

> You are experiencing the five stages of grief.

> You are now in stage three: anger.

>

> You are grieving for your lost " life " and that is

> normal.

>

> Stage one is: shock,

> followed by denial,

> then grief,

> followed by bargaining

> then finally

> acceptance.

>

> Darlin, I've been doing this for 45 years.

> Been through it all.

>

> The only advise I can give you is this.

>

> It's going to hurt no matter what you do so

> you might as well enjoy your life.

> That doesn't mean dropping out to drugs and alcohol.

>

> It means waking up each morning and being thankful

> for that alone.

> Then choosing to be happy b/c it's going to be a

> hellovalot better

> day if you do.

>

> Being pissed off all the time only makes the pain

> worse.

> It amplifies it, exacerbates it.

> There are soooooooooo many others far, far worse off

> than you or I.

>

> I find joy in riding on the back of really big

> motorcycles.

> Gardening, drawing, microphotograply.

> Listening to music.

> TV is so stressful and damaging to our immune

> systems.

> Cooking and then serving my fare to others.

>

> It ain't easy, , but it's your life.

> You only get one, be thankful and enjoy it.

>

> It's going to hurt no matter what you do,

> so choose to rise above and do what you enjoy doing.

> It's better to be in pain doing something you love

> and enjoying your life

> than being in pain, lying around, complaining about

> it and

> missing out on your life.

>

> Good Luck,

> Shauna

>

>

>

>

__________________________________________________________

Never miss a thing. Make your home page.

http://www./r/hs

---------------------------------

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[Guest guest]

Here's something a friend of mine reminded me of when she was first

diagnosed with RA. When she starts feeling sorry for herself about

all of the pain we have to go through, she thinks that at least we CAN

feel pain. There are so many that are paralyzed and are never able to

move. Even though the pain is extremely hard to deal with and can get

the better of you, at least you can feel it and it reminds you that

you are alive. I also think that we are sometimes better off because

dealing with an illness like this makes you appreciative of everything

and not take things for granted. I see so many people that have

nothing wrong with them that don't take joy in life.

Hope these thoughts help,

Autumn

[Guest guest]

Very true. Some of the most miserable people I see are folks that are

billionaires and some of the richest have no money. this is true of those w/no

pain. They do not appreciate how fortunate they are...

a_mccombs2003 <amccombs@...> wrote: Here's something a friend of

mine reminded me of when she was first

diagnosed with RA. When she starts feeling sorry for herself about

all of the pain we have to go through, she thinks that at least we CAN

feel pain. There are so many that are paralyzed and are never able to

move. Even though the pain is extremely hard to deal with and can get

the better of you, at least you can feel it and it reminds you that

you are alive. I also think that we are sometimes better off because

dealing with an illness like this makes you appreciative of everything

and not take things for granted. I see so many people that have

nothing wrong with them that don't take joy in life.

Hope these thoughts help,

Autumn

---------------------------------

Never miss a thing. Make your homepage.

[Guest guest]

I was duel diagnosed with SLE and RA thirty years ago. After a very

active time in the 80's and early 90's I now am enjoying a slow down

of problems. This happened just in time, as my husband was diagnosed

with RA three years ago. His RA factor was 680 the first time and has

never gone below 400. He is on many medications and has suffered

with many nodules, extreme weight loss, MRSA, cataracts, abscesses

and more. This last summer the RA was in his lungs and heart which

landed him in intensive care. He now is having problems with adrenal

failure. We have a small farm. He is an inspiration to me, through

all the pain and suffering he keeps going. I work and he keeps the

house up and feeds all our animals still. He tells me he has accepted

his time may be short here, but he is so grateful for our daughters

and grandchildren and having me in his life. When I was so bad with

my SLE he cared for me and encouraged me everyday. I count myself so

lucky to have him to share life with. Each day he awakes and asks me

how he can make my day better. I so want to say, by getting well.

Not because I want him to do more or be more. I just want to spend

more of this life with him and have his pain go away. He is always

doing something to uplift his mental health, always focusing on the

positive. I am so blessed to have him, Jackie

> Hi Shauna