Re: For the new year

[Guest guest]

You too Sue! Thanks for all the effort you put into the pages and groups.

Shaw L.

Goal for now is to get to where the scale can read my weight!

Nevada

JLambsr@...

[Guest guest]

We all suffer, we all have our pain. Our families, our friends, our

lives go on. Do the best you can with what you have.

Happy 2007 everyone. I will be on the roof of our City Hall, doing a

fireworks show this New Year's Eve... what will you be doing?

Happy New Year to all. I will be spending a comfy evening at home with

dh and fil, possibly my cousin, and possibly ds, (the girls will be

out partying with friends, since they are 21 and 23 and

therefore " legal " so to speak) reading, munching, and watching the

ball drop at midnight on TV. Tomorrow is dh's birthday, so I will be

making dinner and a cake for that. Being a nurse, when I worked at the

children's hospital for many years, I usually chose to work New Year's

Eve and New Year's Day in order to have Christmas Eve and Day off, so

we have never been big New Year partiers. Then when the kids were

small, New Year's Eve was more a family night.....they were allowed to

stay up late and sleep in sleeping bags on the living room floor and

have munchies and play board games all night with Mom and Dad, LOL.

I have to agree that one must do what they have to with this disease.

My posts probably read like I do a million things for pain relief and

so on (the DMARD's, the NSAID's, the physical therapy and so on), but

arthritis is really a small part of my life. I do make some

accomodations (for example, when hospital nursing got to be too much

to handle physically, I transferred to office nursing...and I finally

broke down and applied for a handicapped parking placard!) but I still

work full-time, and when not at work care for my 94 yo fil and

disabled dh and chauffeur THEM about to doctors and various errands

and appointments. And I do still find time to stop and " smell the

roses " so to speak

[Guest guest]

hi everyone, i have been lurking for some time and have learned a lot

from everyone who has posted, I was diagnosed with pa midyear 2005,

from all i have read I have had pa for many years prior, just never

diagnoised, I am on mtx, folic acid, lortab, plus have high

cholestrol, high bp, depression, actual i have been diagnoised as

clinically depressed for about 20 years, have p on my elbows, and

legs, I have pa in my fingers both hands, toes ankles, knees, shulders

back, i have days when i can't stand to touch myself let alone have

someone touch me, and that always seems the time someone pats me on

the back or arm, oww, my rheumy put me on prednisone and I developed

diabetes, he put me on celebrex and i had a mini brain attack, so i am

very wary of adding new meds, but the pain is not getting better so

next visit will discuss bio, but i have good days and some days i just

chill, but i work, and life is still good as long as i am alive, i

agree with what patti wrote, attitude is more tham 50% of the battle,

my husband has been disabled with degenerative disc disease for 16

years, and he has keep his attitude positive and that is helping with

me. I am so glad i found this group as i can relate to what is

happening to others and have a better understanding to what is

happening to me, i do have one problelm i haven't been able to fix and

that is shaking hand, in my job i deal with lots of people ans some

want to shake my hand and I feel I need to let them without explaining

what i have, but for the small period of pain i endure because it

makes the other person feel better, and thats what i try to do, think

of the other person. that way I don't feel sorry for me,

Happy new year to all, and hoping you all have a upbeat new year.

>

> We all suffer, we all have our pain. Our families, our friends, our

> lives go on. Do the best you can with what you have. I truly believe

> that attitude is 50% of the battle. The " poor me, poor me " attitude

> gets you nowhere. I have been battling this disease for 30 years and

> when I'm feeling sorry for myself, everyone suffers, no one more than

> I.

>

> Take what you have, make the best of it and move forward. Sometimes

> reading the posts just depresses me and I have almost quit this group

> many times. Even though I am a lurker and have posted about 3 times! I

> have had babies, raised kids, work full time and live... it is

> possible. You really just have to move foward.

>

> I doubt this will be posted but well... it was time it was said.

>

> Happy 2007 everyone. I will be on the roof of our City Hall, doing a

> fireworks show this New Year's Eve... what will you be doing?

>

>

> [Editor's Note: Patti, I think you said it well. We did not choose

to have PA but we CAN choose to concentrate on the positive aspects of

our lives; to celebrate what we can do more than mourn over what we

can't; to find joy in small things like sunsets, babies, poetry,

humor. You and I have both have had this disease for decades and have

accepted many things about it. Many of the people on this list are

new to the disease and, unfortunately, have to go through a process

before they get to the stage of acceptance and gratitude. That's why

we have to be here to help them. There are a few people here who like

to revel, and I do mean revel in having people feel sorry for them but

those people are few and far between. Most folks are just suffering

and looking for someone to throw them a lifeline. That is what you

can do for them. Help them learn to accept their new normal and help

them understand that they have choices to make - and they CAN choose

to live happy lives notwithstanding some of the challenges this

disease brings.

>

> We were invited to a party in NYC for New Year's Eve but we will be

there next weekend for a wedding and our dog died on Christmas morning

so we have decided to have a low key evening tomorrow by having dinner

with two friends in Woodstock, NY. I hope your fireworks are a blast,

literally and figuratively. Kathy F.

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks Sherry Z, thats exactly how I feel. If it wasnt for

wonderful people like you on here I wouldn't know that there is

light at the end of the tunnel and something to look forward to to

keep battling on every day. I am trying my hardest to fight and

also work with my body at the moment to let me get on and do things

but it is getting worse all the time and until I get onto some

proper medications and exercises to help me control this I know that

I have to put up with being in a bad way. Being on my own I am a

very strong and independent person, so to be humbled by something

that is making me unable to cope properly at the moment is a hard

fight mentally. I have continued to keep a strong front for my kids

sake but the rate at which my fingers are starting to deform is

scary. By the way - I love the 15 minute timer idea, gave me a

chuckle, but i really think it would work and reckon I might just

try that myself!!

And I am very sorry to hear Patti that my winging or anyone elses

venting or confusion makes you want to quit this group. I don't know

if you meant your post to hurt, but it did. Some of us newies are

pretty fragile and in a new strange world at the moment. We need

this group and people like you to give us strength and courage to

keep going. You can use your experience with dealing and coping

with the disease to help others like me. I tell myself to suck it up

enough. I am sorry if I have been using this group as my sounding

block, I need to be able to talk to someone who understands. And I

have been given some great advice and inspirational ideas and

support from people which is what I need right now. I made the

absolute bestest of what I could of Christmas with lots of laughs

and New Year was great staying up with the kids playing board games,

very different to out partying last year! I am my own worse enemy

most of the time but I am a struggler and a fighter so I know that

eventually I will conquer this and discover a new wonderful happier

me. I am now at the acceptance but still learning stage of how to

work with and try new ways and new approaches. And I will continue

to use this group for the great support and advice it offers to help

me get there.

Love your support Kathy F and I'm really sorry to hear about your

baby. My dogs are a big part of my family too.

also best wishes and Happy Birthday to Brent

and Hi to in Cairns, and Teena in Melbourne:o)

, keep strong. It is scary and it hurts but it can and will

get better. We just have to learn to be patient with ourselves. I

was flinching away from hugs from the kids, but what i do now is

just take a deep breath first and then I can slowly release the pain

with my breath release. Not so you can really notice it though. It

works for me and now I can have plenty of hugs again which I love.

It still hurts, but the mental diversion of doing something seems to

make me able to cope somehow if you know what i am trying to say.

All the best to everyone and heres to a wonderful 2007 filled with

laughter and joy.

Janice

>

> Agreed! I am one of those newly diagnosed - only 6 months.

Thanks to

> this group I think I am past the grieving stage and well into

> acceptance. And I think you guys got me there MUCH faster than I

would

> have on my own - for that I am eternally grateful.

>

> Patti - as one who has learned to live well with this disease, you

have

> so very much wisdom to offer to those who are still terrified that

this

> disease will ruin their lives. That's the role I see for myself,

> anyway - a person who will post to say, " I know this is scary, but

it

> won't always be so scary, so painful, so debilitating. Hang in

there.

> It will get better. " Encouragement can turn the despairing into

the

> hopeful!

>

> Kathy, your wisdom and compassion is, as always, much appreciated

here!

>

> Happy New Year to all, and may this be the year a cure is found!

>

> sherry z

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 31/12/2006 00:58:46 GMT Standard Time,

pyropatti@... writes:

Take what you have, make the best of it and move forward. Sometimes

reading the posts just depresses me and I have almost quit this group

many times. Even though I am a lurker and have posted about 3 times! I

have had babies, raised kids, work full time and live... it is

possible. You really just have to move foward.

Hi Patti.

I agree to a point with what you are saying. I do think we have to have a

good attitude to dealing with this disease to enable us to cope. I think in the

early days of this disease though, a lot of people, probably most, go through a

period of mourning, a period of fear, a period of worrying about the future.

(If I feel like this now, how am I going to feel in 10 yrs, 20, yrs time?) You

can only see it getting worse. You can't see the light at the end of the

tunnel.

So, they join this group and most of them will lurk for a while and say to

themselves, 'This looks like a safe, caring environment, lots of people who seem

to know what they are talking about.' They decide to venture in, give their

story, let us know their worries and fears and ask their questions. Our job is

to make them feel part of the group as soon as possible and allay their fears

(if we can) and switch on that light at the end of the tunnel. Ian might

say, 'Keep the light shining' lol As I said in an earlier post, There are

probably a lot of people who sound very down when they initially contact us but

look

at how many sound much more positive within weeks.

I hope no one thinks I am being negative. I think anyone who 'knows' me in

this group knows that I am very seldom negative. lol

I had a look ahead to see if you had any other posts in my unread mail of

which I have 337...............................................ooooooohhhh

maaaaaaaaaaan Now I AM on a downer! lol. Anyway, have you gone back to lurk

mode? If

you have just nod. lol

I hope everything is going well with you.

Take care,