The Girl With Arthritis

A good portion of my year so far has been spent at amusement parks. I go so often that I have already paid off my annual pass to my favourite one. I thought it might be a nice idea to share some amusement park wisdom as the summer has begun. Roller coasters affect people different. I can go on rides with large hills and loops- actually those are one of my favourite kind. Somehow the forces don't bother my neck or back, but they do for others. Don't do anything you don't feel comfortable with, but you do have to try things to know. Rides that go backwards, especially upside down, will put a lot of pressure on your neck and back. I don't recommend them if you have any type of problems with your neck, back or shoulders. You would be surprised how much force puts pressure on you as you go backwards whilst upside down: I was very afraid I would get a neck flare right after I rode my first and last backwards and upside down coaster. Be wary of rides that have no neck su

Recently I was asked (by the lovely Ms. Rainbow ) if since I got arthritis at a young age, did I have a transition period of getting sick or did I always accept? In all honesty, it was a very long, ongoing transition. When I was very little, I wasn't 'normal' like other kids were: I tired very quickly, my leg dragged, I was very stiff and I always remembered being achy. But I didn't know that wasn't normal until I was eight years old. At eight years, I had what I still call the 'worst flare of my life.' I could barely move and was in hospital for about a week and a half (I'm still a little fuzzy about what went on at that point). I had an extremely high fever and severe hip pain, and all my scans showed inflamed fluid on my joint. Unfortunately 'the greatest children's hospital in the nation' sent me home and said it was viral arthritis, and never followed up. Afterward, my joint pain was much worse in my hips- in fact, they were the only j

"If you actually have arthritis, doesn't it hurt to walk?" That was how the conversation went. I didn't know it at the time, but I had opened up a Pandora's box. Someone ( I'm not disclosing this persons name or relation to me) had just asked me about having arthritis: They heard me mentioning it to someone else. I'm usually honest about my diagnosis, so I told them I live with arthritis caused by the immune system. They asked how I deal with it, so I told them I take immunosuppressants and try to stay active. This person is very pushy and nosy, and I suspect a bit overdramatic. They continued to question me, as if making me prove something. They said, "so the pain isn't all the time?" And I said, "No, it's constant." I was asked, "but if you actually have arthritis, doesn't it hurt to walk?" And I said, "Yes." "Then why...?" "Because either I walk or I live in a wheelchair."

What doctors always forget to say to you when you get a diagnosis is, "congratulations, it's a chronic illness." They never mention how ongoing many diseases really are and just focus on the short term. It's often up to you to learn about what's going on inside of you, and trust me when I tell you Google is a scary place to go, especially at one am when you're panicked about what's happening. A word of advice: Google will stop being your friend if you are A)panicked, B) tired, or C) a horrible combination of both.  A lot of people don't realise that they have chronic illnesses, and become frustrated when they are not cured overnight or at least have sufficent symptom relief in the matter of a few weeks. When it comes to months of little to no improvement or even further progression, people can become agitated, anxious and downright depressed. It's a hard pill to swallow, which is why many people with chronic illnesses go through the five stages o