Re: hate that people don't know what RA is

[Guest guest]

elizabeth i understand just what you are going through a lot of my

familey doesn't understand to maybe some day they will sherrie--- In

Rheumatoid Arthritis , " " <catdelouise@c...>

wrote:

>

> It is a real pet peeve of mine that the general population does

not

> distinguish between RA and regular arthritis. My extended family

> and some friends just don't understand. I hate when my aunt

> will say, " Oh yeah, my arthritis bothers me too " . It is nowhere

> near the same thing! I told my family that I am not coming for

> Christmas, and I can tell they just don't understand, but the trip

is

> just too much for me. I cried about it because this is my

father's

> side of the family and he passed away last year. My family thinks

> that just because I have rosy cheeks and that I am young that I

> am not sick!

>

>

[Guest guest]

I agree that most people don't know one kind of arthritis from another and Osteoarthritis is so much more common that they think all arthritis is Osteo. You might try a description of the disease instead of the misleading name. You have an autoimmune disease in which your body thinks your joints are harmful to you and is trying to get rid of your joints. You have to take medicines that were developed for chemotherapy to keep your immune system in control. Maybe others can come up with a better way to point out the true nature of RA and related diseases. God bless.

----- Original Message -----

From:

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Sent: Monday, December 20, 2004 7:18 AM

Subject: hate that people don't know what RA is

It is a real pet peeve of mine that the general population does not distinguish between RA and regular arthritis. My extended family and some friends just don't understand. I hate when my aunt will say, "Oh yeah, my arthritis bothers me too". It is nowhere near the same thing! I told my family that I am not coming for Christmas, and I can tell they just don't understand, but the trip is just too much for me. I cried about it because this is my father's side of the family and he passed away last year. My family thinks that just because I have rosy cheeks and that I am young that I am not sick!

[Guest guest]

,

I SO hear you... like, totally, dudette!

I'm 23, but I was diagnosed with RA at age 12. I never had a normal adolescence; I couldn't go to school and had to have tutors at home. I didn't go to Prom or Homecoming or... well, I didn't go to high school. My friends, when I was first diagnosed, often said things such as, "Oh, arthritis... I know what that is! My grandma has that and she can't come camping with us."

It's bad enough to hear it now, but when you're a teenager and trying your best to desperately cling to cool and hip, the last thing you want to be informed is that you're "just like" someone's 90 yr old tottering grandparent who is also suffering from Alzheimer's and liver failure and can't leave the house. I know people were trying to be sympathetic. They just went about it in unthinking manners, the way children often do.

Jenni

(Today's "Silver Lining": I'm on so much prednisone that I've never had a zit in my life while my friends turned into pizza-faces. I also don't menstruate.)

[Guest guest]

Print out some info on RA and send it to family members that need educating.

DH is just now really understanding that RA isn't "just" in my hands.

Hugs, Jacy

~May the worst of the new year be better than the best of previous years.

jacymail@...IM: jacygal - ICQ: 96949087www.geocities.com/mtn_rose

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----- Original Message -----

From:

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Sent: Monday, December 20, 2004 08:18

Subject: hate that people don't know what RA is

It is a real pet peeve of mine that the general population does not distinguish between RA and regular arthritis. My extended family and some friends just don't understand. I hate when my aunt will say, "Oh yeah, my arthritis bothers me too". It is nowhere near the same thing! I told my family that I am not coming for Christmas, and I can tell they just don't understand, but the trip is just too much for me. I cried about it because this is my father's side of the family and he passed away last year. My family thinks that just because I have rosy cheeks and that I am young that I am not sick!