At age 36, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. It
started in my feet later spreading to my hands.
God has an interesting way of getting my attention once again… I wasn’t
taking care of myself. That episode
lasted about 4 months where I paid more attention to my body, what I was eating
and getting some exercise (besides running after kids).
The tough thing about paying attention to my body and what
it liked and didn’t like was this was all new to me. I didn’t have a clue what that meant. Listen to my body? What
was I suppose to feel? What were the
specifics? Really? I wasn’t raised knowing about those types of
things. Guess now’s my time to
learn.
One of the side effects was I was extremely tired. How do you take care of two children ages 6
and 9 who are full of energy and a husband that can go full speed all day? I was picturing myself being an invalid and
being a burden on my family. I’m use to
waking up with my To Do list and getting everything done before going to bed at
night. Now I have to take a nap. What?!
The physical and emotional challenges were intertwined. Fortunately, I have the most amazing friend,
partner, and soul mate as a husband. He
was an encourager, took over many things that I couldn’t continue doing for
awhile, and kept up a positive attitude for all of us. The kids were the nurturers now too. WOW!
One day a week and one weekend day, I would go to a therapy
pool. The water was warm, I went through
the exercises my PT had given me, and did feel better afterwards as my body was
getting stronger and the inflammation was decreasing. My challenge was not in the exercises, it was
being there with other women – much older – who had deformed feet and hands and
could barely walk. I was 36! Is this what I had ahead of me?
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