• Appointment disappointment: n. 1: a despairing feeling which often occurs after a medical appointment; 2: often a result of feeling misunderstood or having been treated with skepticism by a doctor or technician
• Bee sting: n. 1: pet name for injection site reaction; 2: red, itchy, hot , and hardened skin surrounding injection site
• Courses of RA: n. 1: any of several various patterns which Rheumatoid Arthritis may follow in an individual patient; 2: Although the course of the disease is progressive in most patients, there is much variation in the pace and range of destruction; specifically, patients differ as to how often flares remit or how many joints are involved
• Delusional response to RA: n. 1: Unreasonable behavior by Non-RA-ers with regard to Rheumatoid Arthritis caused by assessment that Rheumatoid Arthritis is not a painful, crippling, and progressive disease; 2: behaving as if RA-ers are able to do things that they are not able to do; 3: related to denial
• Dr. Dolittle: n. 1: a physician who does very little to help patients because of a lack of understanding of the impact of Rheumatoid Arthritis; 2: aka Dr. Do Very Little
• Full blown RA: n. 1: Rheumatoid Arthritis which does not remit; 2: Rheumatoid Arthritis which affects enough joints to make a normal life impossible
• Hysterical woman diagnosis: n. 1: ludicrous remarks written into a medical record which imply or state that a patient of either gender is crazy and not physically ill ; 2: misdiagnosis of a woman based upon erroneous assumption that she is malingering
• Leftovers: n. 1: pain, stiffness, and other symptoms experienced by an RA-er after disease fighting medication has been applied; 2: leftovers require additional disease management
• Preventative first aid: n. actions taken to prevent injury or illness, specifically as it relates to chronic illness or a compromised immune system
• Patient protection plan: n. similar to witness protection plan; secret identity for patients who do not co-operate with medical establishment
• Pyramid of Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis: n. 1: the use of mild symptom relieving drugs as first-line treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis, followed by gradual steps toward stronger medicines; 2: saving the most effective and modern medications until Rheumatoid Arthritis has already caused a great deal of damage; synonym: old school
• RA-er: n. 1: also spelled RA’er; a person diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis; 2: preferred term to Rheumatoid Arthritis sufferer or Rheumatoid Arthritis victim 3: contraction of RA warrior
• Surge (also: treatment surge): n. the early use of DMARD combination treatments for Rheumatoid Arthritis, especially including Biologic drugs to attempt to slow disease progression and limit or prevent damage caused by RA ; antonym: traditional Rheumatoid Arthritis treatment pyramid
• Under-diagnosis: n. the tendency of physicians to diagnose Rheumatoid Arthritis as a less serious diagnosis
• The Wall: n. 1: a barrier which obstructs productive communication about Rheumatoid Arthritis; 2: Non RA-ers may put up the wall because of denial of some aspect of the disease or because of fear of discussing an illness that is mysterious to them.

Copyright © 2009-2010 Kelly Young, All rights reserved.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 3rd, 2009 at 7:00 am and is filed under Don't miss this!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.