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I was first diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at the young age of six. It began with pain in my hips and then spread throughout my body to all my joints.
Taking my arthritis to school
I have to admit I don't really remember too much about my younger years of living with this condition. It wasn't until secondary school that I began to find everyday life more and more difficult. The pain became debilitating and I was walking less and less. All I really wanted to do was to keep up with my friends, and be 'normal'. I used to sit in the dining hall at school because I could no longer manage to get to classes, and my friends brought my work to me. It is funny to think of this now, that I must have been the only child who seemed to be 'bunking off', whilst never actually leaving school.
A new way to get around
Eventually I admitted to myself that I could no longer manage and ended up using an electric scooter and wheelchair. I went to college to study for an NVQ in Secretarial studies and Business. I still needed to use a scooter and making new friends was tricky.
A long recovery
At the age of 17 I had both of my hips replaced, and at 18 both my knees replaced. The recovery took a long time, which I wasn't expecting. I am very impatient and it took me a while to get my head around it and it was hard work physically to get the movement back in these joints - but it came with time.
The pain I had in these joints was gone and I slowly began to use my wheelchair less and less, even though this brought a real sense of insecurity to me. My confidence grew in my new joints, but others joints were still letting me down. I then had to have a subtalar fusion in both my ankles as they had become very deformed and painful to walk on. I felt I wasn’t getting the most out of my new joints.
What I have learnt
Although I have my bad days with pain, I think the whole experience of living with this disease has taught me so much. I now drive and am a freelance florist working from home. I live totally independently in my gorgeous apartment. Although I am still very much single, I am still looking for my Mr Right.
A 'positive thing'
I don’t feel bitter. I just think that life’s experiences make you into the person that you are today, and that can only really be a positive thing.
