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Hello, my name is Sylvia. I am currently 17 years old. I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when I was 15, almost 16. I don’t want to bore you guys with a very long detailed story, so I will try to be short.
It all started with pain on my left index finger and my legs. Weeks passed by, and my pain was getting worse. I would be late for class all the time. It would take me 30 minutes to put on a pair of pants, tank top, and a shirt. Not to mention, I couldn’t button my own pants. The pain in my fingers and arms would stop me in doing a lot of things I wanted to do. One day I had to go to school, and I could not get up from my bed. My legs, nor my hands, were strong enough to pick myself up. I sat there and cried. I was crying not only because I was in pain at that moment but because I was tired of constantly being in pain. I cried because I was frustrated that I couldn’t do things on my own because my own body was damaging itself. I cried because I couldn’t turn my arm to turn the knob to open the door and because I couldn’t do the simplest thing of opening a water bottle.
The next 2 days were the same thing, so I considered independent studies. I couldn’t keep missing school or getting to my classes late. It was honestly the hardest decision I had to make. I lost most of my friends, my school activities, my prom!…everything that a normal teenager does while in high school. I’ve been on independent studies for 2 years now and will hopefully graduate in June.
I now attend a good hospital with a great doctor every 3 months for a checkup to see how everything is going. I take this medicine called enbrel. I have to inject myself with it once a week in my stomach. December will be my 2nd year using it, and I’m still not use to it; I don’t think I will ever be. It hurts to inject it, but it’s nothing compared to the pain it saves me from. Enbrel is what keeps me going. Once in a while my bones do hurt, but enbrel is, for now, my savior.
I’m realizing that I have made this longer than I intended. But God does everything for a reason, and now I’m more sure of that than ever. When I was in high school I failed a lot of my classes and was no where close to graduating. Now that I’m on home studies I’m much more dedicated to my homework and I have caught up on all my credits, and I am on my way to graduation. If it weren’t for me getting arthritis, I would never have started home studies, therefore, I wouldn’t be on track to graduate . So as I said, God does everything for a reason , and I believe this is the reason I have arthritis, so I can become a better person in life.
Sylvia
California
Submitted 3-25-13
The informational content of this article is intended to convey a personal experience and, because every person’s experience is unique, should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional healthcare advice.
