The Girl With Arthritis

Updated October 2022 Lately, I've spent a lot of time reading articles online. One of my favourite places is All Women Stalk: I like the beauty and hair advice, and I really like the name. Last night I was on All Women Stalk and one article was very interesting to me: 7 Skin Problems That Are So Easy to Treat. I expected this article would talk about things like dry skin, but I was proved very wrong. One of the problems that are so easy to treat is psoriasis. Psoriasis?! Easy to treat?! Over my dead body it's easy to treat. The article states that the number six easiest skin problem to treat is psoriasis. This is what the website says: "You might not realize how common psoriasis is. In fact, it’s one of the most common skin conditions that affect adults. It produces red, scaly, dry patches of skin and can appear most anywhere on the body. There are several types of psoriasis, and some require nothing more than taking a prescription pill. As long as you remember to t...

I find it funny how adults preach to children that they should treat those with disabilities no differently from others, however adults tend to do the opposite. When I tell my peers about being chronically ill, I don't usually get treated differently after. It does happen, and sometimes it's with extra consideration. It's really nice. Adults, on the other hand, usually treat me differently from others. Occasionally it's just to make sure I'm doing okay, which is always appreciated. Other times it's as if they don't believe me. But more often than not, it's just different from other kids. Adults are often surprised I lead a more normal life than they expect. I would like to set the record straight: People with chronic illnesses are normal people.  I'm not a hypochondriac. I'm not a saint. I'm not looking for attention. I'm a teenager with a chronic illness. I'm a girl who loves her friends. I think homework is the bane of exis...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I certainly did. I've had the pleasure of being surrounded by family for the past few days. Although sarcastic by nature, I don't mean it sarcastically: it was actually nice to see my family again. Mostly.    There was one event in particular that stands bright in my memory. It was towards the end of the night and only a few were left. My younger cousins were playing nicely when the inevitable happened- a crash and some crying. An object that wouldn't be heavy to an adult but very heavy to a very petite eight year old fell on said child's foot. Even though we're still questioning if it really "just fell" or "if he threw it at me," one thing I can't question is that the child was really hurting. What I thought was interesting was the reactions of three people. The first person had a wonderful time with the child, however it was quite miserable for the child. He really enjoyed jokingly telling ...

A lot of people have the notion that some kinds of arthritis are 'better' than others. Some people argue it's worst to have an autoimmune arthritis than an osteoarthritis, and it goes farther to which kind of autoimmune arthritis is the worst. I think what we don't understand is that it isn't which kind of arthritis is the worst, it's how each individual's disease progresses that judges how severe it is. Let's take a conversation from about a year ago. It was between my mum and the parents of a friend of mine. My friend's parents had run into my mum and they began to chat. My Friend's parents knew about my arthritis and asked about it. At that point I was not doing well in any sense: Not only were my joints a mess, my kidneys weren't so hot From the medication. Anyway, before my mum brought up that my Friend's dad asked what kind of arthritis it was. My mum told them juvenile psoriatic arthritis, to which he replied "Thank God it...

I few years ago I had the opportunity to meet a group of sixty or so other children with arthritis. Of the about sixty, ten were boys. Research shows that women and girls get arthritis more often than men or boys. So whilst it's tempting to say that "men have it easier... again !," let us remember that even though three in four of us are most likely female, there is still a boy or man there. Of course, both women and men have a hard time! And girls and boys have it very difficult too. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be a boy with arthritis. Of course, this is just my point of view and I could be completely wrong, but I do like trying to see things from another point of view. And what I see, shows that boys have their own set of struggles. Boys are expected to be tough and just bare pain. Also, people just expect boys like to play sports so they're probably more likely picked on when they can't play or preform poorly. And, like the sports, people exp...

Yesterday was a grand day. I got to spend the day with two of my aunts and we shopped and had a wonderful meal together. I rather like getting to spend the day with family exclusively, as I notice a lot of times people seem to forget that one another exist. Too many walls are built for love to be able to pass through. Then again, that seems to be the point. There have been many times in life when I've found that I have lost friends. Usually there are no fights, we just stop corresponding. And, of course, there are times when trust is lost and promises broken and it's in those times when people forget that anger is not the only emotion in the world. Perhaps though, that is just when you know that your ready to move on. However in those situations, I feel it is better to simply let communcation slip rather than to be hurtful about another (especially behind one's back). It shows  a lot of respect towards the other person as well as yourself to simply keep hurtful thoughts to...

I recently read a book called The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Who is one of my favourite Youtube stars). Anyway, not to spoil the story, the main character has cancer. She is very straightforward with the idea of dying and suffering, also making jokes of it. What made me love the book so much is how much I related to her. She told us readers so many truths of chronic illness. Things that I've been through, even if it wasn't cancer. Quite a few times I found myself crying at parts people would not cry at because I knew what the character felt. I knew the emotions, the fears, the pains. One of the things the character said was that in the ER they always ask on a scale of one to ten, how bad is your pain? And that when she couldn't breathe and was in terrible pain, she held up nine fingers (she couldn't talk because of how badly she could not breathe). Later the nurse came in and said she was a strong person because she gave pain that was way more than ten a nine....

I have often read of people with arthritis having constant flare-ups, extreme swelling and muscles so weak they have so much trouble doing many things. And I count my blessings I do not have these problems to an extreme extent. With that comes a guilty feeling. I've only had one flare-up in my life, of which lasted a month and required hospitalization. I've never had one again. It doesn't mean I'll never get another one though. The point of this post is that I feel extremely guilty to call myself an arthritis patient feeling I have not had half the experience most other's seem to have.

As we have found my kidney problem is rather minor, I can say confidently nearly everything is back to normal. So, I'd like to post less about the news today and rather write what comes from the heart. It's often said people with hidden disabilities suffer more than they should. This is very true. Those with more outward conditions tend to be helped more, and this is due  to the fact people know it's the right thing to do. However, when you can't see what's going on you don't know anything is wrong. For this, I don't expect a stranger to hold the door or offer a seat on a crowded train.When I'm with family and friends though, I'm rather quiet in the fact I won't complain about pain or feeling sick. I don't expect life to stop just because of me. I don't want to burden my family or friends with my arthritis. Honest. Why should I always have to kill the fun? Every time I have, I always seemed to make everyone miss out on something. I...

Last night as I talked with some mates through a webcam, I was on this website for people who are 'chronically ill.' I cringe at that phrase. Chronic = very serious and long lasting. Illness = I'm sick. And I know I have a chronic disease: I know that I'm sick and probably will be for a very long time. But anyway, some of the things I came across on this website was really funny. Suggestions that people who are ill get that are simply  hilarious. What medical words really mean, or at least to us. It's a huge relief to know there are more people just like you. But what I laughed at, sometimes my friends didn't when I read it off. I know they wouldn't get all of it so I didn't read all of it to them, just things that I forget people don't understand. Like when people tell you that you take too many medicines and they're making you sick. They don't know. When I know I'm going to the hospital, I'll tell my friends I'm going to be ab...

As a person who is practically on a first name basis with their rhuematologist, when people talk about medical procedures and such I can almost always say 'Yeah I've done that too: Did you get it with contrast?' Or something of the like. I only recently realised it's not the most comforting thing for someone to hear. Honestly when I say 'Oh I'm nervous I have to have this done' or 'I just got this test', to hear 'Oh Don't worry I had it done and it's very easy it goes like this...' or 'I did too! Did they use..' puts me at ease. But recently my friend had a health scare and I tried to be there for her. I know it's scary and she wouldn't stop talking about it and how afraid she is to go see the specialist. I thought it would be smart to say things like 'Better to know than be left in the dark' when she said she doesn't want to continue on. I would've thought everyone was the same way. Or when she said ...

To be perfectly honest, teenagers scare me. They don't listen, they always seem to be up to something, they don't plan ahead and I'm always afraid they're going to do something that will mess up their life. I think if you looked at me, people would tell you I need someone to look out for me. But that's not always the case. You see, I'm always looking out for some kids. They're the ones that make you want to back off too: 'Mean' girls and sulky boys. I feel like everyone needs someone to look out for them. I watch out for quite a number of people, not just my friends. I look out for the disabled in my school (rather, as many as I'm aware of). I keep an eye on severals girls, some of which quiet and need  a friend and others who are popular but unstable. I worry for one boy who is so smart but just doesn't apply himself. Do I talk to all these kids? Some of them sometimes. Not often. I'm not stalking them: I just invite them to sit with m...

Now that I've told you the truth about Methotrexate, I think it's clear how clueless everyone is about it. Through no fault of their own, of course. When I first started it again (orally this time) I was in Disney World with my parents and other family members. I had only been taking it two or three weeks before the trip. I didn't realise how sick I would get. The worse thing was the mood swings. I won't specify but there was a lot of tension that week. My depression and mood swings were not the best thing to mix with stress. I cried a lot. Also, my jaw hurt an awful lot that whole week. I was tired all the time as well, and though we use a wheelchair in there anyway, I was literally stuck in it except for getting on and off rides. AND my mum had made reservations to all my favourite restaurants but I had lost my appetite that week and forced myself just to taste all my Disney favourite foods. I got nauseous too, and thank God I never got sick. The worse part of thi...

I'm definatly in a holiday rush. A little stress yes, but that is mostly from school. I'm too busy to be stressed! I'm pumping out paintings for the family like mad, trying to do homework, decorate, keeping human contact, and trying to enjoy myself. Of course, this has brought (as expected) soreness and more fatigue. I'm dropping dead in my bed later at night than I would like because I can't even pull myself off the couch. My rheumatologist put me on a pain reliever everyday but I'm wondering when it will work... My bestfriend (who lives very far away from me and also has her own Arthur) is dealing with some boyfriend problems and I've been feeling guilty because I can't help her much. :( Recently too I've learned to stop caring what people think of me. It works well too (so long as you're not having a bad hair day). I move awkwardly because of Arthur and I've come to accept that. I have a hard time making eye contact because I'm ve...

Most kids my age tell me that it's wrong to say 'Merry Christmas' so I should say 'Happy Holidays' instead. Most adults say 'Merry Christmas,' in fact a poll taken in one state of America said only 2% of people like 'Happy Holidays' and 98% like 'Merry Christmas.' This poll had many people of many different faiths. I can understand where the kids come from though: In school we learned to sing "We Wish You a Swinging Holiday," made 'winter trees,' and one year in middle school when a Jewish friend of mine brought in a dreidel so he could teach us how to play at lunch, he got scolded and it got taken away. I'm not going to agree or disagree with any of this just to keep the point of this status clear. So, this year I decided to split the difference between the ages: I say 'Happy Christmas.' :)