New Guy

[Mac]

I may be the odd man out around here. I didn't get diagnosed with RA until I was 62, for which I am ever grateful. I'm male but understand this is a disease more common to the ladies. I'm still in the workforce although I'm retiring soon.

My RD is working on getting things under control and we seem to be gaining ground. I've learned the amount of pain RA causes is just amazing. Mine has come in about 6 different flavors, none of which were good. Some were worse than others.

Distilling 62 years of life into a paragraph or two is a chore. By and large my life has been full and somewhat unusual. I don't feel cheated or deprived by having RA. I have no doubt there are some here who can say the do feel cheated or deprived and mean it from the heart. I feel your pain. Really. I do and sometimes the pain is substantial.

So I've come to listen, learn and share the experience. Maybe I can lend a hand. Someday I'll need a hand. The good news is that this isn't my first hard knock in life and I know sometimes we need to suck it up and continue on our way. Somehow we will get through this - together.

You can call me Mac.

[Mockingbird]

Hi Mac glad to meet you- I think we all can use some up lifting cheerleading when we go thru the tough days, they can feel like an eternity. RA is one of those things that you just can't let get you immobile because it is so hard to get going again. It can be hard. Glad you came to offer perspective :)

[Mac]

Hello, Mockingbird. Good to hear from you. I've been dealing with RA for a year now and doing it by myself. I had lots of questions and some doubts. All I had was my own perspective. Then I met others with RA and they were in the same boat. We began to chat and some of the clouds parted. It still hurts but now things are easier. Getting hooked up with a forum seemed the right thing to do, not just for me, but for all of us. It is the unknown that is so fearful. When we shine some light on the unknown, things get brighter. And here we are... letting a little sunshine in.

Mac

[kageyd]

Mac, I just registered and posted as Kageyd, age 69, rich and wonderful life (with some hard knocks along the way) and expect to make my way through this new challenge, so you and I share an optimistic philosophy. I'm now in the learning mode, and as you'll see from my Introduction post I have reason to have great faith in public forums as tremendous sources of information. Kageyd

[prasanth5]

As long a s we are detected with RA, we are thankful to the alimighty. But this is certainly not a dreadful disease. It is more of a nagging type. As somebody has said the sufferers learn to live with it. And it is not that ladies are always the one affected, a study revealed that children under 12 also are diagnosed for the ailment.