Joints

One of the first things to learn about living with RA is knowing when to stop. Not stop living but just stop period. Then you wait, for the pain, stiffness heat and swelling to subside. Sometimes flare recovery is fairly rapid. Today my knees and knuckles gave me the message that I was doing too much. Now they've gone cold and the inflammation has subsided and I can move relatively pain free again. My immune system is trying hard to overcome the powerful medication I take and kill me from within. It may yet win as any organ in the body can be in the firing line if it so wishes, heart, lungs, blood vessels etc. I take strange comfort in my new situation. Every day is precious now and our wonderful NHS is living up to expectations. The rheumatology team at Royal Devon and Exeter are great and the researchers at ARUK (Arthritis Reseach UK) are doing fantastic work. Naturally I contribute out of self-interest and my heart warms to all those amazing fundraisers who help to pay for all the new drugs and latest stem cell research. There will one day be a one off cure, not just a drug induced remission. Even this is a thousand times better than the prognosis of yesterday when total disability and early death were the norm. So I thank my lucky stars I didn't get it early in life like so many do.Grateful for small mercies.I'm still reasonably mobile, and if I seize up totally I can still smile even if I have to have it stitched in place. The grim reaper can wait a little longer and I stick two fingers up to him