The invisible illness meme!

[lizbee]

I nicked this from weaverandom!

1. The illness I live with is:  Rheumatoid arthritis! Also social anxiety disorder, but that's managed through sweet medication.

2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: 1992. I was ten!

3. But I had symptoms since:  I was six or seven when I first noticed my feet were growing in an odd shape, and much younger when I started having teh pain.

4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: acknowledging that it's an autoimmune disease, and even when I'm not in considerable amounts of pain, sometimes I'm just not gonna have the spoons.

5. Most people assume:  that I'm making a fuss over a couple of aches and pains, or that I'm making it up all together. This includes doctors, as I have seronegative arthritis, which means the Rheumatoid factor doesn't show up in blood tests. OH THE JOY. My mother and all her female relatives have the same type, but it is quite rare (and, generally speaking, not as severe as sero-positive).

6. The hardest part about mornings are: flexing all the joints that have seized up overnight. Sometimes all I need to do is uncurl my fingers. Other times, like today, the whole lower half of my body is stiff. (I, er, did spend two and a half hours last night sitting on a cold floor at roller derby. Ongoing stretching can only prevent so much!)

7. My favorite medical TV show is:  Doctor Who is liek totally about a doctor!

8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: mah iPod. Forcing myself to exercise is much easier when I have a good playlist.

9. The hardest part about nights are:  the cat climbing into bed with me and kneading my neck -- oh, you meant illness-wise! Waking up in the middle of the night to find my knee is frozen. Bloody painful, let me tell you. It's been happening a lot lately.

10. Each day I take __ pills & vitamins:  10mg of Lexapro, an anti-depressant and the Pill, plus Voltaren if I'm having a flare-up, plus I have a prescription for muscle relaxants if I'm having migraines.

11. Regarding alternative treatments I:  think that if it works for you, great. Myself, I am trying to force myself to exercise more, to build up muscle strength and improve joint flexibility. I've tried things like wearing copper bangles, but all they did was turn my skin green.

12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose:  What the hell kind of choice is that?

13(a). Regarding working...: I don't really have the stamina for a full-time job. My immune system freaks out, and then I get sick a lot, or I call in sick because I just need time to recharge. But I do okay in part-time retail, despite the physicality of it. However, I did have to take time off this year because of knee problems, and I don't think I can see retail as a long-term option.

13(b). ... and career:  I'd like to go into publishing, but the thought of working and studying is a bit terrifying, and obviously I can't afford to study full-time.

14. People would be surprised to know: that RA isn't just a physical disease.

15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: Having grown up with a mother with RA, and having been diagnosed as a kid, it's not really a new reality for me. Mum was recently put on some different medication, and she said it was quite exciting and novel to be completely without pain. But it conflicted with her diabetes, so it was back to the old stuff.

16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was: learn to rollerskate. Seriously, when I was a kid, Mum would never let me do anything that might result in broken bones or injury. Which does have a certain logic, because I can sprain an ankle just by looking at it. But I did learn to skate, and I am still reasonably good at it. SO THERE. (I don't think I'll ever be a roller derby girl, though. I have too much fear of falling.)

17. The commercials about my illness:  er?

18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is:  I had surgery on my feet when I was seventeen, and I haven't been able to wear proper high heels since. I have one pair of boots that I can wear for hours, and when they fall apart, I'll be totally lost.

19. It was really hard to have to give up:  See above. I love shoes, man. I went through a phase of buying gorgeous high heels that I could only wear for five minutes. Very sad.

20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is:  daily stretching, and I am starting to exercise more.

21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would:  Fuck you, man, I am totally normal.

22. My illness has taught me: that ankles are very underrated.

23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is: "Oh, Liz, WHINGING again." But my current friends don't say this, because they are actually decent people.

24. But I love it when people: don't make a big deal of it when I have to pike out of stuff.

25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is:  Er.

26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them:  There are good days and bad, and you end up with a really high pain threshold.

27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: it's not really a big deal. You find your ways of coping.

28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was:  flatmates have been known to provide me with tea and chocolate.

29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because:  There's an Invisible Illness Week?

30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel: like I've taken up far too much of your time already. GO DO SOMETHING ELSE, DAMMIT!