Friday, February 17, 2012

Living With Rheumatoid Arthritis is Not a Losing Battle pt5.



Begin Collecting the Little Victories
Author of, From the Ashes, Coming Soon from Solstice Publishing.
View pt1  pt2  pt3  pt4 
About the Author
Follow DMK at Twitter @slantedk
Installment #5:
My goal is to inspire and inform, concerning this disease. Education is the way my wife Susan has made positive changes in her efforts to overcome. Thank You for following this series. DMK

Resources, last week I gave you a website you could explore, today it is a magazine. ArthritisToday.

Here is an article to review:
By Donna Rae Siegfried 

Early on, I shared briefly how I started the ball rolling for Sue’s battle. I located an experimental drug program at the University of Arizona. Surfing the web I came across a program seeking subjects at the many different stages of RA.
It wasn’t an easy hurdle, I take you back to the morning we were going to the first visit/interview. Sue was crying, she looked at me, “I can’t lift my arms, I can’t even get dressed.” She looked so sad, it broke my heart.

I committed before that point, that we were in this together and I meant it. I helped her get dressed, I brushed her hair and we made it to the appointment.

I would like to tell you that from that point on it was all smooth sailing. No, it continued to be a battle, there were requirements to qualify for the program. Even though she had failed every medication needed to qualify, she was not currently on one certain drug required. That was how close we were. The only reason she wasn’t on it, was because we were new to Tucson, unemployed and without insurance.

Oscar, he was our contact at UofA and eventually became Sue’s angel. Sue again broke down; Oscar put his hand on her shoulder and assured her, "we will find a way".

I stop here to advise those of you on this similar journey. Your doctor and or nurse are so very important. Do not be afraid to get more opinions, or switch doctors, if you are not getting the care you should be getting. This is no slam on doctors; however, there was one that actually thought that Sue was imagining her pain. You do not have to commit to a situation that is not helping you progress.

Oscar gave us some contacts we had to follow through on and we did. One paid off and Sue began the medication regiment she needed to qualify.

The reason I do not share the specific drug is that as I have stated before and must again, it is different for every patient. The stories are similar, the journey mirrored, the drugs are different.

The takeaway of today’s entry is that you need to take control. 

I can’t emphasize that enough, you must take control. I don’t mean to tell your doctor what to do, I mean research, educate yourself, and if your doctor is unaware or not in any way following the latest treatments available or just shrugs them off and tells you “that isn’t for you,” move on, seek other opinions, do not be afraid of hurting that doctor’s feelings.

This is your body, your life, your battle, take control and begin collecting the little victories.
Have a Great Day. DMK
Begin Collecting the Little Victories
By DMK 
Author of, From the Ashes, Coming Soon from Solstice Publishing.
View pt1  pt2  and pt3  and pt4 
About the Author

Please support this blog by visiting my affiliates or the donate button on the left of this blog.
Thank You For Stopping By.


No comments:

Post a Comment