Facing Forward
is a series that shares the lives of people living with arthritis and
other invisible chronic illnesses. The goal of the series is to see how we are
similar and how we are different - and to remind us to keep moving
forward because we aren't alone!
Name: Katie
Location:
Boulder, CO
Diagnoses:
RA (rheumatoid arthritis)
Age at Diagnosis:
6
How are you currently treating your condition?
Enbrel and Arava
Enbrel and Arava
What are the biggest challenges you have faced since your diagnosis?
When I was a child, my
RA was not very well controlled, as we cycled through many different
treatments. I was able to get my symptoms under control when I started taking
Arava at age 21. My biggest physical challenges were definitely when I
was a child. As an adult, my biggest emotional challenges have been
concern about the aging "infrastructure" of my body. I recently
had arthroscopic hip surgery, and it looks like that hip will be headed for
replacement at some point.
What are your favorite tips and tricks for managing everyday tasks?
Because my disease is
well controlled at this point, managing everyday tasks is fairly easy for
me. If I do start to have a flare, it's important for me to address it
quickly, typically with Prednisone.
How do you manage to keep facing forward every day?
If you could go back to diagnosis day and tell your past self one thing, what would it be?
Because I was so young when I was diagnosed with RA, it didn't affect me the way it would an adult. For me, it was just the way things were. I try to carry this attitude forward when facing new challenges. As an example, I developed OA in my foot a few years ago. I was extremely upset about it. After complaining to some friends about how I was feeling sorry for myself, a friend of mine said to me "Katie, even if you had no feet, you would find a way to do all the things you love to do!" This is absolutely true.
Would you like to be featured on Facing Forward? If so, please send an email to mariah@fromthispointforward.com.
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