Re: new group started- {{PATTY}}

March 22, 2005

Amen, sister! You go, patty-girl- keep hanging in there. I'm 48 with

only 1 child left @ home, Chas, who is 18. I've lived the last 15

years with fibro and probly about 10 with RA. There are days- like

today- when I made it to work on 3 hours of sleep and all the pain

meds I could safely take. I have definitely benefitted from the wise

counsel of those who have already walked the path before us. My mom,

who has gone home to be with the Lord, lived with RA for...she was

diagnosed at 13-I guess, 65 years. I only hope I am able to be half

the person that she was. I have been so blessed by the brothers and

sisters here in this group, and I guess I never thought about our

ages. I just know that I am loved and prayed for. And that's awesome.

God bless you!

jane

> In a message dated 3/22/2005 9:49:29 AM Eastern Standard Time,

batai@c...

> writes:

> just need people still working and who are close in age. sorry.

>

> Now you've got me curious. I've never gotten the impression that

this

> group is composed of mostly people over 50. Interesting. The

majority of messages

> are ageless.

> BTW, I'm 47. I've had RA since age 26. I've worked full time and

had 4

> children since my diagnosis. I'm currently very disabled, but,

still manage to

> work part time while continuing to raise my 4 children. IMO,

you're really

> limiting yourself by choosing to hang with only those in a certain

age group. Many

> of us have been fighting this disease since our much younger days

and have a

> lot of wisdom to share. RA is a lifetime disease. Each age and

phase brings

> new things needing support, answers, advice and coping solutions.

Who better to

> know what it's like than those of us who have been there and done

that? How

> cool is it being able to gain all that from a group as diverse as

this one? This

> group, with all it's ages and phases, has much to offer in the ways

of

> getting through life to the very best of our abilities, while

keeping our sanity

> intact.

> Patty/NJ

>

March 22, 2005