Im new

[Guest guest]

Hi, I'm new and I joined to find out as much information as I can for my

friend. His name is and he has advanced Psoriatic and Rheumatoid

arthritis.

About 3 years ago his pain got so bad that his doctor put him on Embrel and

something else, I cant remember the name. These medications helped the pain

very much. Very recently he discovered 3 limps on the side of his head, where

the earlobe meets the face. After 3 weeks he decided to go to the Dr. to see

what this was. The Dr immediately took him off the Enbrel and other medication

and sent him for a biopsy.The biopsy came back inconclusive but learned it

was not a cyst and that it was not a solid mass which they said is bad. They

fear that it may be lymphoma and that the Enbrel is the cause of it.

After days of being off the Enbrel the pain started coming back,

didn't realize how bad it would be but he is suffering so badly and as the days

passed he started losing the mobility in his fingers and now hands. His son has

to help him get dressed in the mornings and his hands hurt so bad he cannot

hold a steering wheel to drive but he must work. I dont know how he does it.

The Dr's keep telling him how sorry they are that they can't give him

anything for the pain because his operation is on Wednesday and he cannot take

anything with blood thinners.

So this is where he stands now. Just to mention that when he went for pre

testing in the hospital for the operation they discovered a problem with his

heart too but the Dr said that it was a heart murmer and that he can go ahead

with the operation.

When is out of the hospital he will join this list and until then, I

will give him the information that you teach me.

What does everybody do to manage the pain? My friend is suffering so badly.

Right now he is so limited on what he can take. The Drs say that if his

tumors come back to be cancer, the chemo he would take would also act as a

painkiller and as scared as my friend is about the operation and the biopsy of

the

tumors, he cant see beyond his pain right now.

I also want to add that Enbrel is a very dangerous medication. My friend

could have cancer from it. When he 1st started taking it he decided every

medication comes with side effects and warnings so he ignored it but in my

opinion

this medication is so dangerous it should be taken off the market.

I look forward to getting to know you all and I hope to share a lot here and

pass it onto my friend.

Thanks,

Debbie