Story
Arthritis doesn't kill you but it does take your life.
A quote my Mum read somewhere when we first started researching about Rheumatoid Arthritis, when my Dad was diagnosed with it in 2003. It's an extremely accurate quote too.
In my Dad's case it slowly destroyed his limbs. He had huge trouble with his hands, arms, elbows, knees and feet and was in constant pain. His immune system was severely weakened so just a minor cold would knock him out for a couple of weeks. He never gave up though and continued working part time at the local University even though some days he could barely hold a pen and my Mum frequently drove him to work because of his difficulty in walking distances.
The Rheumatoid Arthritis struck him by surprise. There was little warning and he went from being a strong, able late 50something to someone in crippling pain in no time at all.
On April 12th 2008 he died suddenly of septicaemia due to complications of his RA and the hideous drugs he was on that ravaged his digestion system.
RA is an evil disease that we don't know enough about. While it won't kill you in the conventional way that cancer and heart attacks may do, it will ruin a person's life and shorten their life expectancy.
More research is desperately needed in order to figure out how to prevent it and how to cure it, or at least how to manage it well for everyone afflicted.
I might not be a runner, nor a cyclist but I can write. I fully intend on writing every day on my blog www.halycopter.com for the rest of 2010 and have so far done so without failing once.
If you've enjoyed any of my entries this year and can spare a couple of quid then please do. It all helps in stopping people suffering from this horrible disease.
A quote my Mum read somewhere when we first started researching about Rheumatoid Arthritis, when my Dad was diagnosed with it in 2003. It's an extremely accurate quote too.
In my Dad's case it slowly destroyed his limbs. He had huge trouble with his hands, arms, elbows, knees and feet and was in constant pain. His immune system was severely weakened so just a minor cold would knock him out for a couple of weeks. He never gave up though and continued working part time at the local University even though some days he could barely hold a pen and my Mum frequently drove him to work because of his difficulty in walking distances.
The Rheumatoid Arthritis struck him by surprise. There was little warning and he went from being a strong, able late 50something to someone in crippling pain in no time at all.
On April 12th 2008 he died suddenly of septicaemia due to complications of his RA and the hideous drugs he was on that ravaged his digestion system.
RA is an evil disease that we don't know enough about. While it won't kill you in the conventional way that cancer and heart attacks may do, it will ruin a person's life and shorten their life expectancy.
More research is desperately needed in order to figure out how to prevent it and how to cure it, or at least how to manage it well for everyone afflicted.
I might not be a runner, nor a cyclist but I can write. I fully intend on writing every day on my blog www.halycopter.com for the rest of 2010 and have so far done so without failing once.
If you've enjoyed any of my entries this year and can spare a couple of quid then please do. It all helps in stopping people suffering from this horrible disease.