Finally! After two years of hesitation, I have finally found the courage, with the encouragement and support from my beloved husband, to start a Blog on my Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) journey. It’s My RA Diary! This is a diary of my deepest emotions, experiences and thoughts of my life after being diagnosed of RA. ‘Life of Pi’ definitely has a myriad of more exciting stories to tell than mine, which is one of RA. But my stories aren’t boring either because these are very real life stories. I hope my diary can reach out to many millions of sufferers out there just like myself, and let them know that we are not alone in this fight!
I can totally understand the fear, shock and moments of loss that come with this rheumatic disease. I felt like many years of my life ahead are being robbed off my future lifespan and what followed, it left me thinking how painful I have to live through the remaining of my life wondering if I can ever feel normal again! It dawned on me for a while that could it be a retribution for not loving my health all these while and taking it for granted for as long as I live till the punishment was bestowed upon me for being ignorant? If it was, I am regretful; very regretful… I was foolish to not know how to take care of my body and my health.
Arthritis at 28 years old? What a joke! It is a shame making my illness known. I am ashamed of going to be mocked at or being called a drama queen, for acting all painful every time. Oblivious to many, it is a very real sickness! And in fact, a chronic type. Unfortunately, then, it didn’t initially occur to me as something serious (so long as it isn’t cancer) until I started to experience the flare-ups of the cripplingly painful progression of this disease. The thought of deformity scares me! I was at a great loss, near depression. All I could lean on at that time was the love, patience, motivation and support from my dearest husband and family members. Lucky for me, I went through this crisis with realisation that I cannot lose sight of HOPE! Because I still have a compelling future ahead of me!
It becomes clear to me that the sooner we stand up again to understand more about this illness, the greater the chance we have at stopping the progression of the degeneration, and the better we get at coping with the disease in our life forward. The ultimatum is to aim for a remission and a hope for a cure!
I never stop believing that a cure is possible. There are miracles in this world. A cure for RA is definitely a find! And I trust that the answer lies with alternative approach of treatments. Before RA became a part of me, I never even spare a second of my time to familiarise with alternative treatments, thinking that with conventional medicines and pills making wonders for the past 27 years, what is the point of wasting time on something that may take forever to work? With RA, my perception and view of these have totally changed. For the past two years, I had been spending hours and hours researching and studying RA, and I am now convinced that a body can naturally heal itself, albeit in a manner that may take a long time (say, years) to materialise.
I am now an advocate of alternative treatments for chronic diseases! If a cure never exist, I aim for a total remission. I end up building my own holistic treatment regime, doing trials and errors under self monitoring. Sure enough, some didn’t work out as desired while others resulted in many desirable effects, though not lasting but there are some which I swear by its effectiveness. I have worked very hard till this very point, and with each passing day, I am feeling stronger and steps closer to this goal. I can feel the synergy building up inside of me… Remission is near!
My Blog is not just about my struggle for answers for RA but it is also about who I am, what I enjoy as a person, as a wife, a daughter, a mother, a sister and a friend. Life with RA is always not going to be easy but feeling normalcy makes me feel a whole lot human again. What is normal in life can be as simple as watching my children enjoying a sunday splash, looking all pretty for a long-awaited event or enjoying a reunion with ex-classmates.
If you are with me and wish to listen to my stories, stay with me throughout my Blog to learn more about improving your health and perspective on RA; and how you can stay the happy person you have always been before RA came into your life uninvited.
P.s. Before you leave, do not forget to have a look at my RA profile!
P.s again. While I will openly share all my current and past experiences, information and recommendations pertaining to my RA battle plan, however, please by no means, take for granted that these information, resources or related endorsements are guaranteed to work for you; nor consider those information presented here to be replaced or substituted as medical advices. It is crucial that you always consult your physicians or health-care providers for any known or suspected medical conditions or concerns because I am not a medical professional or expert.