Kageyd new from New York

[kageyd]

Age 69, long time osteo sufferer (7 years with a great artificial hip, decades of problems before that....), recently diagnosed as beginning RA by an excellent rheumatologist. She looked at relatively recently gnarled finger joints, some inflammation (x-rays) around my hips and knees, and even though I am sero-negative and no other blood test markers, she's sure I'm in early stages of RA. I started on sulfasalazine, and after a month inadvertently exposed my legs to too much sun and got a bad rash there (not generalized), stopped the sulfasalazine. Then my blood test came back as getting a bit low on WBC counts, so we're momentarily in a holding pattern as to what to do next.

Mostly I'll just be reading here. I was also a victim of atrial fibrillation and learned so much from an excellent forum on AF that I found a wonderful surgeon who, on second attempt, has left me in regular sinus rhythm for 18 months now -- so I am a believer in the common wisdom that often appears on good forums. I'll help out when and if I can. (Kageyd - my lifelong professional nickname).

[naturelover]

It is very nice to have a elderly person ready to put forth ideas about RA to other members. Thank you. My wife and my sister, both are having mild RA and been under going treatment for the same. They doing and coping with the intermittent pain. Hope others take time to get any clarification you are ready to give.

[Terrie]

Hi Kageyd...Welcome!! :) I'm new here also.

Yes, you're right about finding useful info on Forums. Drs. wouldn't think to mention lots of handy info since there is so much or they don't have the time sometimes unless a Person specifically asks.

Sorry to hear about your Osteo(my Mom has OA) and your other conditions. Good to know that you have Good Drs. though. I hope that he figures out what to do about your white blood cell count and that it returns to normal.

Doesn't Osteo give a Person swollen knuckles also? I was just wondering since my Mom's knuckles are swollen.

[kageyd]

Yes, Terrie, my knuckles were slightly swollen over the years, but about two years ago they began to take on a "crooked" look, with the upper segments kind of pointing to the sides. My rheumatologist (whom I met during a brief bout of gout (I guess that's a rhyme:) a couple of years ago), looked at my fingers recently, and saw that the changes were definitely bilateral, so she guessed RA (OA is often one-sided). We did a complete blood test and x-rays, and I'm negative on the blood markers, but the wear around my one intact hip (the other one is now artificial, in place 9 years) shows RA like patterns. The absence of the RA and CCP factors (or is it CCT, I forget) means my RA will probably be less aggressive; I sure hope so. Anyway, I'm learning all I can, and she's trying me on a slow start of sulfasalizine; all the literature says getting an early start can definitely slow progress, so it's worth a try, hoping that side effects are not an issue. Last week my white count was back to normal, so that's a good sign.

I enjoy your posts, and I promise not to talk too much about football; when you grow up baby-sitting the kids of a now Hall of Fame player (Bart Starr), it's hard to let go of your interest - though I fully understand your concern with what is clearly the overemphasis on football, especially at the top college levels, where the idea of student-athlete is too often a total farce.

Take care. kageyd