ARTHRITIS SYMPOSIUM

Tonight I went to an Arthritis Symposium.  There was a Rheumatoid Arthritis doctor who spoke and some activities to do.

First the doctor spoke about RA.  Most of the information I knew and could have given the talk myself.  Then he started talking about setting goals.  That was when I realized this talk was about how to set goals and how to communicate them to your physician.  We talked about our goals as a breakout group and how we could attain those goals.  We talked about what difficulties and what we would talk to our doctor about in an appointment.  We talked about communication with family, friends and people at work.

The most interesting part were the other people at the symposium.  There was a couple (he had psoriasis and she had RA), an older woman and a very vibrant and talkative woman.  The older woman, it turns out, needs to find a new doctor since her doctor spends only 5 minutes with her in her doctor appointments.  The woman of the couple is about to start Xeljanz so I was interested in her thought process in choosing this medicine.  The talkative woman was VERY talkative.  She is not taking any medication because she is afraid to take any medication.  I find this approach very interesting but if she wants to white-knuckle her RA flares, bless her.  That is not for me.

Anyway, I am glad I went.  It was nice to be around others with RA and be able to talk about it without getting the "oh poor you" look.  We laughed so hard and told our stories.

Until tomorrow...