Don't Judge Me for My Good Days: Psoriatic-arthritis.com

-
Image
  (This was posted Feb 16, 2024 - but I thought it was such a great topic that I wanted to repost it.) Please don't judge me based on my good days. Looks can be deceiving for someone with a chronic illness. What looks like a good day might actually be a good day. Or it might be a good few hours. Or it could be someone doing their best to function through the pain. You don't honestly know what someone is going through, especially when they have lived with the pain for a long time. You'd be surprised how much pain people can learn to smile through. Read the full article at psoriatic-arthritis.com
Post a Comment

Arthritis Battle Scars

-
Autoimmune arthritis, lupus and other diseases are very invisible diseases. However, they do leave their marks. Paleness. Weakness. Hair loss from medicines. Braces. Crutches. Canes. Orthopaedic shoes. All sorts of battle scars.

A term I've always had a love hate relationship is the word deformity. When used correctly, it's a dramatic word that can bring a persons attention. But it can be used in a hurtful way- usually by ones tone of voice. Regardless, it's a completely correct fact when I say that I have a deformity.

I have very inverted thigh bones. While knock knees are not typically a problem in a healthy person, they can be a huge problem in people with arthritis because it means you move in a way that accommodates pain and inverted knees. Thus, my knees are really bad because I had hip arthritis when I was little. And they're quite a sight: always puffy from the fluid in my knee and touching each other. I've got long legs, so my knocking knees are more apparent. You can even tell they knock through my jeans. In fact, I can get my knees to go 180 degrees around- actually more.

Of course, I'm very lucky I only had two joints affected. I can only imagine what others who have had many joints affected go through.

Anyway, I'm proud of my knocking knees; My inverted bones. They're my battle scars. I'm proud of 'little' me not crying or complaining. I'm proud that I've made it to this point with only two joints that are different. It's nothing to be ashamed of. Willows bend and twist, and are yet so beautiful. Why should humans be different?

Comments

  1. AriannaApril 3, 2013 at 6:34 PM

    I have pain in every joint, but no deformities yet. I still have some "scars", though. Red hands, a limp, wrists braces and a cane on days when I need them, bags under my eyes from lack of sleep, bad posture from Scoliosis.

    I'm still trying to find the ability to use my cane with confidence and ignore the looks I get. I think it'll be awhile before I can embrace that battle!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ElizabethApril 4, 2013 at 6:09 PM

      That's going to be a hard battle, but one well worth it.

      Delete
  2. RArainbowApril 21, 2013 at 6:34 PM

    I love what you wrote about willows twisting and bending and being beautiful. Well said :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. RArainbowApril 25, 2013 at 8:28 PM

    I referred to this beautiful post on my site today, hope that's okay with you :) All the best!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ElizabethApril 26, 2013 at 4:38 PM

      That's quite fine, thank you for referencing it! :)

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Physical Therapists I Have Had

-
I've had a wide variety of physical therapists in my time. My first was a young woman. I had to go to Physical therapy for a few weeks to recover  from a flare when I was eight. She was very nice, and I don't remember too much actual 'work,' because mostly it seemed like we played games and such. :) My next physical therapist came when I was about twelve. She was an older woman who always started out sessions by loosening my hip. She was very nice indeed, though she did not tolerate when I started giving up the last few minutes of the session: I had to be giving way more than humanly possible at ALL times. Sometimes I wondered if this was like military training. I had another physical therapist around that same time. He was an older man and very kind. I remember we had a lot of laughs. After he taped my feet so I wouldn't be so flat footed, he informed me I could stop walking like a robot. I only saw him a handful of times, though I did like when I got him. ...
Read more

I'm Nothing but His Toy

-
Image
I've been doing a lot of writing on this blog about why the past few months were so difficult for me. But this is, by far, the most significant thing that happened to me. While I'd like to say this is something that is 'over and done with,', I can't: This is still something I'm dealing with. I'm actually nervous to share this post so publicly because I'm scared of the responses I'll receive. Please try  to understand. Fall semester was supposed to be amazing. I was going to hang out in all my favorite places with all my favorite people. But instead, it ended with me afraid to leave my room and almost completely isolated. My perfect semester was interrupted by him . I don't know if he likes me or is obsessed with me, but regardless, I find he likes to be in my company. Often, without my knowledge. He's walked behind me and followed me home. Sometimes, he sees me approaching my apartment building, sprints to the entrance and waits for me...
Read more