How I happened to be there :)

Well, that´s my first post :) I was hasitating with writing it for about 3 weeks, because I really don´t know how to begin :) probably I should start in a very classic way and tell few words about me and my story :)

I live in Slovakia, small country in central Europe. Maybe that will be the benefit of my blog, I can show you how the medicine system works here in small, ex-socialistic country (it does very well at all, as for me). My story to became RA Lady started some years ago... maybe 3, when I started to complain about pain in my knees joints, but it was nothing serious. 1 year later my GP sent me to Rheumatologist, to make sure I´m ok. Pain was still not any bad, only in knees.

It got much worse this year, while I studied one semester in Sweden. I should enjoy it as a student, but it was, unfortunately, time of many bad events and hard times. On April my feet started to hurt after walking, and also without walking, my toes did hurt a lot. I thought it was all just because of wearing very flat shoes that I love.

On august, it went really much worse. My knees, feet and hands were very painful and I was sooo tired every day. My GP made blood tests and found very high RF, so he sent me to my rheumatologist. She sent me to X-rays, but results were OK. She agreed that some of my joints are inflammed, but she couldn´t give me a diagnose without fulfiling some critiria. So I was about month on diclofenac, but that didn´t help at all. In October I was on blood tests again and the results were really scaring :) my RF was over 500 and CRP and aCCP were really very high.

There was no doubt I have rheumatoid arthritis. The day of my diagnosis is also the World arthritis day :) I was ready for that result, because I was reading about it a lot, and I felt I´m really not OK. I was partly "happy" that I have diagnosis, because we knew what´s going on and we can work on making it better. I trust my rheumy, she´s very friendly and explains me everything we talk about. She always makes a lot of time for appointment with me.

Now I am on methotrexate 7,5 mg and diclobene. My RA doesn´t go worse, but not also better. My knees hurt still a lot, and the same with my hands. But I strongly hope it will be better soon :) I have to go a long way with accepting the future and possible restrictions in my life, but I will do it all with great people around me and with perfect support of woldwide bloggers :)

Now, when I have my first article out, I hope it will be easier for me to write more often :)

And one more thing... EXCUSE my bad English and mistakes I do...