A little knowledge......

stickywicket

“C's great these days. Her arthritis doesn't bother her at all. It's a miracle. She had some sort of injection for it.”

I've had RA long enough not to be remotely excited by such statements but, even so, I was interested. C is an old schoolfriend. She developed either RA or PsA (can't remember which :oops: ) in her early 50s and last I'd heard she was on DMARDS. She lives near my sister so the latter sees much more of her than I do.

“What sort of jab?” I asked. “Steroid?”

“I don't know but she's as fit as a fiddle. You should ask for it.” (My big sister is fond of telling me what I should do.)

“Was it a one-off jab or does she have it regularly?” (ie steroid or anti-tnf?)

“I don't know. I think she has it every month or so. Why don't you get it? Ask about it. Ask if you can have it.”

“If she has it regularly it'll be humira or enbrel or somesuch. I don't need it. Meth and hydroxy work for me. The anti-tnf's are the next stage up.”

“Well, she doesn't have any problems with her arthritis now.”

Fast forward to my sister's next visit some 3-4 weeks later. I asked how C was. It turned out her hands and wrists were 'terrible'. She'd no strength in them at all and 'couldn't do anything with them'. I so longed to say it was a good job I hadn't asked for C's miracle cure but I was good :roll:

Scene 3 – C rang me today. I asked how she was. OK as it turned out. Not bad / not brilliant but on an even keel. Still on DMARDS. She'd had a steroid jab in her knee last year and it'd helped a lot.

I tell this tale because newbies often complain that the outside world doesn't understand. My sister has seen me live through 53 years of RA, various meds and steroid jabs and several replacement joints. She still thinks there's a 'miracle drug' out there and all I have to do is start taking it. What hope have newbies

barbara12

Oh bless SW its a good job you have a sense of humour....like you say the outside world don't know what they are missing...

phoenixoxo

Nice one, s/w. The lure of the miracle meds! :?

Honestly, if I'd kept every newspaper cutting and saved every story sent to me by family and friends convinced that I could be cured of my arthritis, I'd have enough by now to open a museum!

It's tricky, because there's so much pain involved in seeing loved ones suffer, so reactions to news of a cure are emotional rather than rational, if that makes sense :?:

I like your style, btw 8)

Best wishes,
Phee

trepolpen

my mother-in-law read somewhere (express or mail) Yoga Can Be Good for Rheumatoid Arthritis , brilliant sit on floor with folded legs & after telling her not only could I not sit on floor , I could not get up either , she then tells me some hand exersive to do , would be great it only my fingers would straighten first

anyway when you do find this cure can you please pass it onto the rest of us

dreamdaisy

There's very little worse than a well-meaning but healthy idiot. I apologise for castigating your sister in such a way, Sticky, I'm sure she is a kind-hearted and caring woman (hence her insistence that you too should have this miracle injection for an instantaneous cure) but, as you say, having witnessed your entire arthritic life how can she be such a dolt? The expectation of modern medicine by those 'not in the know' remains as stupidly high as ever. Ye gods. DD

stickywicket

DD my sister is, as you suspect, kind and caring but also blissfully ignorant still about RA.

I think I gave up the 'miracle cures' after my first TKRs. Surgery, for me, is the miracle. Out with the old: in with the new. The knee is dead: long live the knee