Today Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior celebrates its 6 month birthday. The work of RA Warrior has brought me more surprises and blessings than I can explain in a single blog post. The fatigue, hand pain, and weakness of RA have made writing a blog unique challenge. And yet those symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis in my own life are also what make this blog possible.

Blogging suits me

Research and writing have always been fun for me. I remember in seventh grade getting a C on a perfect paper because Mr. M said that no twelve year old could have written that without help. I whimpered.

I was always a social butterfly, but RA made me extremely private. If you don’t know why, you might read this blog post: The Use It or Lose It Approach to Rheumatoid Arthritis. Anyway, blogging was the perfect solution to that problem.

The technology challenge has been the biggest obstacle, but we have accomplished a lot anyway. Lots of problems we’ve had with the blog have been due to my choosing an older Wordpress theme to redesign and my “do it yourself” approach. Things which should have taken only a few minutes have taken several days. I still have so many things I want to do with the site that I’m figuring out how to do…

Why an RA blog?

In part, my search for answers about Rheumatoid Arthritis symptoms, arthritis treatments, or arthritis facts for survival lead me here. And then there was my broken heart. Whenever I’d read forum comments or personal stories, I’d wish I could do something to make a difference.

I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, the unrelenting kind. So, I am always in pain. I know it’s not polite to say that. However, it is the truth which with I live and I would really like it if others could acknowledge that reality. I have to just sigh when I’m told to “feel better soon.” So far, I haven’t felt better for 5 minutes – it’s been almost 4 years.

Remember, a blog’s not a Rheumatoid Arthritis cure

As I explained in a recent post, writing an RA blog hasn’t cured many problems that are caused by Rheumatoid Arthritis. In addition to the RA itself, I still have problems with people who are what I now call “RA atheists.” RA atheists do not believe that Rheumatoid Arthritis is as bad as we claim it is.

Just this week in church, a man reached out to shake hands. I moved toward him. But, I was not close enough to him yet and he only grabbed hold of my fingers. Then he squeezed hard, lovingly crushing all four fingers. Since I didn’t have time to brace myself, I yelped in pain.

A woman who I know well was standing right next to us. I gave up trying to get her to believe in my RA a couple of years ago. She looked disapprovingly and said sardonically, “You are alright, aren’t you?” I said, “No, not yet.” Today, I can laugh, but then I wanted to run-hobble out of the church.

My birthday present

If you’ve enjoyed this RA blog, and you are looking for a birthday present, here are a couple of things on my wishlist:

• Soon, I’ll announce the launch of my spicy RA Warrior newsletter. You can sign up early in the sidebar. And pass it on.
• Link to this blog from your own blog or website. We moved from the Blogger domain 2 months ago, so old links needs to be updated.
• Recommend this site to others by posting links through social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Stumble. This needs to be done on a regular basis.
• Submit your Onset Story and RA Kitchen tips / recipes /RA-healthy eating strategies. Follow the links for instructions.
• Subscribe by email or RSS so that you won’t miss anything. The little orange & brown button on the sidebar says, “Subscribe.” The blog will be delivered to your computer.
•  Use the new Email gadget below the post to email posts to friends.

RA Warriors

My own life will never be the same because of this blog. Many of you have become valuable allies in the war against Rheumatoid Arthritis. I am grateful that we stand side by side, refreshing each other for each new round of the fight.

Recommended reading:

• The Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior’s RA
• 21 Things to Know About Finding a New Rheumatologist 
• To Tell the Truth: Will the Real Rheumatoid Arthritis Please Stand Up? 
• Rheumatoid Arthritis Makes Things Difficult
• Some Answers for Rheumatoid Arthritis Just Bring More Questions

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

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 at 7:47 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.