Guest guest Posted August 30, 2001 Report Share Posted August 30, 2001 Hi Kathi, My name is Elaine and alot of your story sounds similar to mine. I am a work-a-holic and found that the stress from my job was making me worse. The doc put me on sick leave and my employer laid me off. I have found other jobs that have been less stressful and have even worked fulltime with the government on a 4 month contract. My Rp acted up a bit and then I concentrated on looking for part time work. It's taken a while to get the meds right but I think that I am finally at dosages that lets me get on with my life. Nursing is a very stressful profession and I highly admire anyone who can do it! From the time I was a little girl I always wanted to be a nurse. I was a candy stripper in highschool and enjoyed it until one of the patients died. I just couldn't handle that part of the job and I admire anyone that has the courage to continue with a nursing profession. Bravo my dear you are so honorable!!! In Canada our nurses are having alot of problems with work. There is a shortage of nurses throughout the country and they're working conditions are not good. The government controls there employment and the don't make very much money. They want to have there salaries increased to a top rate, which means not all nurses would make this much, off $36. That's about $23 U.S., not much money if you ask me. I say pay them what the politicians make they are equally if not more important. Sorry I guess this is a touchy subject with me. When you said you had a resting heart rate of 120 I was stunned because I also have the same and have been questioning the docs on this with not much success. The new rheumy seemed concerned and wanted me to have an echo cardiogram and an electrocardiogram, but I have been sent yet. Hopefully they will follow through. I thought that it might be one of my meds as it wasn't something that has come up in the group. But who knows. Please let me know if you have any luck finding out why and I will let you know if I have any luck. And Kathie, you have found the most wonderful group. Everyone here is very supportive through the good time and bad. We all rant, rave, whine and celebrate here. It has been a great saviour of my sanity. You will get everyone's posts, some days it will be 100 emails and other days it will be 20 or so. You don't have to read every. So welcome Kathie and anytime you have a question or just want to vent, type away!! we are here to listen. Take care and be well, Elaine To: RP GROUP Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2001 6:31 AM Subject: Fw: Hi Hi> Hi Angie,> My name is Kathi and I acutally signed up yesterday under the e-mailaddress> of baseball@... and then had 145 messages this morning fromvarious> messages from the Polychondritis group, so thought I had better start over> with a seperate account from my family. I am not the most computerliterate> person in the world, but I am learning.>> I guess I will start by telling you that I was unofficially diagnosed with> RP in April and then officially diagnosed in June when I made a trip to> Boston to see Dr. Trentham. I have been battling the symptoms now for 3.5> years and went from Dr. to Dr. with no luck. I spent 100's of hours onthe> internet researching various disorders and came across RP and contactedDr.> Trentham via e-mail at that time. I am fortunate that I am a Registered> Nurse and had the medical background to keep researching. The symptomthat> I began with and continue to have to this day is persistent hoarseness. I> had that for a year before I began having other problems and then it was> like everything came crashing down around me. I started having daily low> grade fevers that would at times go to 102-103 degrees. Joint pain and> swelling, specifically in my hands and feet, SEVERE nausea, a restingheart> rate of no less than 120, rash on my neck and upper chest and fatigue that> became almost devastating. In December and January of last year I had my> first 2 episodes of ear pain/swelling. In February of this year, I wokeup> one morning with no vision in my right eye for about 10 minutes and was> diagnosed with Uveitis. It was about 6 weeks after the eye problems thatI> found the RP on the internet. I am now being treated with methotrexateand> prednisone and use drops for my eyes. I have had many improvements but> continue to battle the hoarseness and the fatigue is becoming overwhelming> again (it had shown improvement weeks 3-6 of methotrexate). In the last> several days, I have also started to have eye problems again.>> I am desperate to talk to people with this disorder. In the last 2 weeksI> have had to go from working full time to working part time. If I don'tshow> significant improvement by my next MD appt. (with my local physician)which> is in October she is going to recommend that I quit working all together.I> am having great difficulty accepting all of this. I am a type-A> work-a-holic personality who feels her world crashing down around her.>> On a personal note, I have been married for 21 years. I have 3 children> ages 20,19 and 14. I am very fortunate that my husband and children areas> supportive as they know how to be. Right now, it is very difficult for me> to even tell them how to support me because I am not sure what it is Ineed.> I also have a strong group of friends who are supportive. The local> physician that I am using is a Rhuematologist who has been like an Angel> sent from heaven to me. I talked with Dr. Trentham yesterday and he isvery> pleased with the way she is handling this. She has been very kind and> supportive also.>> As you can tell, right now I am feeling pretty lost and desperate. Ithink> that simply conversing with other people who are experiencing this will be> so helpful. I would appreciate any advice you can give me or any contacts> you can set me up with. Just remember, I am still learning how to use the> computer!!>> Thank you so much,> Kathi>> _________________________________________________________________> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp>>>DISCLAIMER!!WE ARE NOT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS, THEREFORE ANY INFORMATION THAT IS RECEIVED HERE IS FROM EXPERIENCE ONLY. PLEASE CONSULT WITH YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE TRYING ANYTHING THAT IS SUGGESTED. WE ARE NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR YOUR PHYSICIAN AND ARE NOT TRYING TO BE. REMEMBER EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT AND TREATMENT MAYBE DIFFERENT FOR MANY OF US. THANK YOU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 30, 2001 Report Share Posted August 30, 2001 Hi Kathi, My name is Elaine and alot of your story sounds similar to mine. I am a work-a-holic and found that the stress from my job was making me worse. The doc put me on sick leave and my employer laid me off. I have found other jobs that have been less stressful and have even worked fulltime with the government on a 4 month contract. My Rp acted up a bit and then I concentrated on looking for part time work. It's taken a while to get the meds right but I think that I am finally at dosages that lets me get on with my life. Nursing is a very stressful profession and I highly admire anyone who can do it! From the time I was a little girl I always wanted to be a nurse. I was a candy stripper in highschool and enjoyed it until one of the patients died. I just couldn't handle that part of the job and I admire anyone that has the courage to continue with a nursing profession. Bravo my dear you are so honorable!!! In Canada our nurses are having alot of problems with work. There is a shortage of nurses throughout the country and they're working conditions are not good. The government controls there employment and the don't make very much money. They want to have there salaries increased to a top rate, which means not all nurses would make this much, off $36. That's about $23 U.S., not much money if you ask me. I say pay them what the politicians make they are equally if not more important. Sorry I guess this is a touchy subject with me. When you said you had a resting heart rate of 120 I was stunned because I also have the same and have been questioning the docs on this with not much success. The new rheumy seemed concerned and wanted me to have an echo cardiogram and an electrocardiogram, but I have been sent yet. Hopefully they will follow through. I thought that it might be one of my meds as it wasn't something that has come up in the group. But who knows. Please let me know if you have any luck finding out why and I will let you know if I have any luck. And Kathie, you have found the most wonderful group. Everyone here is very supportive through the good time and bad. We all rant, rave, whine and celebrate here. It has been a great saviour of my sanity. You will get everyone's posts, some days it will be 100 emails and other days it will be 20 or so. You don't have to read every. So welcome Kathie and anytime you have a question or just want to vent, type away!! we are here to listen. Take care and be well, Elaine To: RP GROUP Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2001 6:31 AM Subject: Fw: Hi Hi> Hi Angie,> My name is Kathi and I acutally signed up yesterday under the e-mailaddress> of baseball@... and then had 145 messages this morning fromvarious> messages from the Polychondritis group, so thought I had better start over> with a seperate account from my family. I am not the most computerliterate> person in the world, but I am learning.>> I guess I will start by telling you that I was unofficially diagnosed with> RP in April and then officially diagnosed in June when I made a trip to> Boston to see Dr. Trentham. I have been battling the symptoms now for 3.5> years and went from Dr. to Dr. with no luck. I spent 100's of hours onthe> internet researching various disorders and came across RP and contactedDr.> Trentham via e-mail at that time. I am fortunate that I am a Registered> Nurse and had the medical background to keep researching. The symptomthat> I began with and continue to have to this day is persistent hoarseness. I> had that for a year before I began having other problems and then it was> like everything came crashing down around me. I started having daily low> grade fevers that would at times go to 102-103 degrees. Joint pain and> swelling, specifically in my hands and feet, SEVERE nausea, a restingheart> rate of no less than 120, rash on my neck and upper chest and fatigue that> became almost devastating. In December and January of last year I had my> first 2 episodes of ear pain/swelling. In February of this year, I wokeup> one morning with no vision in my right eye for about 10 minutes and was> diagnosed with Uveitis. It was about 6 weeks after the eye problems thatI> found the RP on the internet. I am now being treated with methotrexateand> prednisone and use drops for my eyes. I have had many improvements but> continue to battle the hoarseness and the fatigue is becoming overwhelming> again (it had shown improvement weeks 3-6 of methotrexate). In the last> several days, I have also started to have eye problems again.>> I am desperate to talk to people with this disorder. In the last 2 weeksI> have had to go from working full time to working part time. If I don'tshow> significant improvement by my next MD appt. (with my local physician)which> is in October she is going to recommend that I quit working all together.I> am having great difficulty accepting all of this. I am a type-A> work-a-holic personality who feels her world crashing down around her.>> On a personal note, I have been married for 21 years. I have 3 children> ages 20,19 and 14. I am very fortunate that my husband and children areas> supportive as they know how to be. Right now, it is very difficult for me> to even tell them how to support me because I am not sure what it is Ineed.> I also have a strong group of friends who are supportive. The local> physician that I am using is a Rhuematologist who has been like an Angel> sent from heaven to me. I talked with Dr. Trentham yesterday and he isvery> pleased with the way she is handling this. She has been very kind and> supportive also.>> As you can tell, right now I am feeling pretty lost and desperate. Ithink> that simply conversing with other people who are experiencing this will be> so helpful. I would appreciate any advice you can give me or any contacts> you can set me up with. Just remember, I am still learning how to use the> computer!!>> Thank you so much,> Kathi>> _________________________________________________________________> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp>>>DISCLAIMER!!WE ARE NOT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS, THEREFORE ANY INFORMATION THAT IS RECEIVED HERE IS FROM EXPERIENCE ONLY. PLEASE CONSULT WITH YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE TRYING ANYTHING THAT IS SUGGESTED. WE ARE NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR YOUR PHYSICIAN AND ARE NOT TRYING TO BE. REMEMBER EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT AND TREATMENT MAYBE DIFFERENT FOR MANY OF US. THANK YOU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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