Today I will finish the revision outline for my book and send it to my editor. Today I will get blood drawn for the second time this week, because my sodium is low. Today I will go to my rheumatology appointment, and unlike last time, she will not tell me that my rheumatoid arthritis is in remission. Today I woke up and it hurt to stand, to walk. But I walked around my apartment and stretched and then it felt a little better.
The more I move, the better it feels. It’s the initial movement that’s so painful; pushing through that pain and knowing I’ll be rewarded for it.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder. When I say, I have rheumatoid arthritis, I think that people assume I have osteoarthritis, which is itself a natural part of aging. With rheumatoid arthritis, your immune system begins attacking the synovial lining of your joints, and your joints, in response, swell. The synovial lining is what lubricates the joints.
For a over a year I have been taking Humira, which is an…
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