#rheumatoid arthritis
Yesterday was National Rheumatoid Arthritis Awareness Day. It’s a bit of a pointless holiday, and I didn’t even know it existed until about 3 hours ago - I’m guessing due to the fact that the Arthritis Foundation is shit, has a 1 star rating on Charity Navigator, and has been accused of misusing funds in the past. So….they probably haven’t had time to roll out an advertising campaign.
In any case, if you didn’t know, RA is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system is a worthless idiot and attacks your body’s own soft and joint tissues, and can potentially render them useless through damage and deterioration.
I have RA. But I am lucky. My RA was diagnosed very early and I had it treated very aggressively.
I am also lucky because I have insurance that helps offset the cost of my revoltingly, ridiculously, disgustingly expensive medication. One month of Enbrel costs anywhere between $3,400 and $3,800. See?
It’s such an expensive medication that I actually have to use two insurance plans to afford it. Which means, if I did not have insurance, I’d be paying approximately $45,000 per year simply to stay alive.
And that is for justone of my medications, as you can tell from the above photo, where I’ve blocked out all the other medications I am also required to take to stay alive. Paying for Enbrel out of pocket would leave me unable to afford rent, food, or clothing - other things which are also required to stay alive.
Though I am currently fortunate enough to have a job that provides me with healthcare, I’ve been without insurance in the past. Back before the Affordable Care Act, I was unable to stay on my parents’ plan when I graduated and then was constantly denied coverage due to my pre-existing conditions. I basically roamed around LA, terrified of getting into a catastrophic accident while simultaneously attempting to treat pneumonia in the back of a CVS.
Obamacare is not without its flaws, I acknowledge that. But if your garbage disposal is broken, you don’t burn down your house and start over - you fix the fucking garbage disposal. So in honor of National RA Awareness Day, which is, as we’ve established, a real thing - please consider writing or calling your representatives (especially Paul Ryan) and telling them that repealing ACA without a replacement would be disastrous. It is important, and saving lives, and making it so people don’t have to choose between bankruptcy or having their immune systems kill their own bodies.
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Contact Your Representatives: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
Contact Your Senators: https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/
Contact Paul Ryan: https://paulryan.house.gov/contact/
Dear husband,
I’m sorry that I was naive enough to think when we married that my health issues would be temporary. Over these past eleven years, they’ve multiplied and they’ve crept into every corner of our lives. They affect everything. What I’m capable of is very limited, and I’m sorry that I’m not the wife I know you deserve.
I’m sorry that you’re now my carer. I’m sorry that your dream of being a doctor was shattered last year during a health scare that still continues. I feel responsible for you giving up on your medical career because you were left paralyzed with fear for me. Medical texts may be interesting, but when you’re sitting in the waiting room of a neurologist’s office and waiting with MRI scans of your wife’s brain, things change.
I’m sorry that the threat of multiple sclerosis will be hanging over our heads for the rest of our lives, or until it gets diagnosed.
I’m sorry that I told you your idea of becoming a researcher through doing more degrees was unreasonable and not feasible. I said it in frustration and out of fear, and you’ve since given up that idea too. I’ve suggested since that we move an hour or more away to be nearer the university so I can support you, but you refuse. You say moving isn’t a good idea for me. I know you’re right, but it just makes me feel more of a failure for acknowledging it. I’m 29 and still incapable of change. This is not the life I expected. I wanted to be so much more than this. I feel like I’m taking so many things away from you.
Thank you for looking after me every day, for taking me swimming and for walks, for taking me on exposure therapy outings to cafes. Thank you for rubbing my legs when they’re sore and for making dinner all the time. Thank you for always telling you love me and you wouldn’t change a thing. Thank you for telling me that you’re happy the way we are.
I pray that our future will see me become stronger, more resilient, more independent. I pray that I can face anything that life throws at me. And I hope that you will continue to be there for me, my one constant, and find your own way in the world. When you find something you’d love to do this time, I hope you’ll chase after it even if I don’t adapt well to it.
Thank you. I’m sorry.
Zinc supplementation may exacerbate rheumatoid arthritis (RA), new laboratory data suggest.
In monocytes from rheumatoid arthritis patients, plasma zinc concentrations and Zip8 expression were increased, and Zip8 expression correlated with more severe disease. Thus, inhibiting zinc influx into monocytes and macrophages could prevent excessive inflammatory responses that occur in diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis – the researchers concluded.
Fatty fish, for the fans of seafood, is nothing short of a blessing – it is the perfect combination of health and flavor coming together to tickle the taste buds while nourishing the body at the same time. Some of the healthiest varieties of fatty fish, like salmon, sardines, and mackerel, are rich sources of omega-3 fatty acids, proteins, vitamin D, and B6. And according to new research, the omega-3s found in fish like salmon could be the key to a lower risk of potentially fatal heart problems.
