Hi everyone.

Let me also welcome those who are new to the group. It is not always active, but
a nice place to come when you are in pain: physical or mental. I joined the
group last summer when the pain was the worst and my spirits the lowest. Just
finding a place to talk about this with others who understand-that it is NOT a
cold-was a great help. It is also great to learn from the experiences of others,
though I am often moved to tears to read some of those experiences (like yours,
Shirley!) I agree, also, that many doctors do not know precisely what to do with
PA or understand its many variations, and we can often suffer the consequences.
I empathize with all the young people, like Lorena, who are faced with this
disease. At 38, I am somewhat older than 20 :-), but I also feel cheated by this
disease. My father just got diagnosed with it too: he has the inflamation in his
ankle and toes, so he can no longer jog; and the psoriasis is spreading; but I
have been dealing with it for 9 years already. So it is useful to turn here to
people who understand what it is like, but as I have learned with my wife, it is
also ok to turn to people who love you. This seems like a lot to throw into a
young relationship, and your friend/partner may or may not be able to handle it,
and it is certainly not the way we want to go through life; but your
friend/partner may come through for you. In the end, the PA is part of who we
are, as much as I often need to look at it like an alien invader.

That all said, I personally am doing better than usual at the moment. I had been
taking celebrex and hydrochloroquine; they are trying me on an oral gold
treatment that seems to work. My case is technically mild because I do not face
the deformations and inflamations that seem to plague many others; yet that
seems to underestimate the pain involved. And the colon doctor has seemed to
find the right drug to keep my IBS under control without losing my ability to
see. The oral gold has a risk of diahhera, but I will take that over the pain if
necessary. I actually woke up on sunday morning and, for the first time in over
a year, imagined practicing tai chi again. The pain in my feet used to be so
constant that I could never even imagine standing in one position or moving
slowly for long. I was so surprised that the pain was not there that it took me
a while to remember what it was like to be normal. So for me, I feel like I
found a small oasis in the desert. I hope to stay here for a long as I can. I
hope that those of you who are in pain might find your way here for a while too.

yours

Drew

History Department - UMKC
CH 205
5100 Rockhill Road
Kansas City, MO 64110
816-235-5728 (-5723 fax)

"Never underestimate the power of the Dark Side."