by Tracy Lynn Smith

Created on: September 11, 2009   Last Updated: January 28, 2011

Weather you're an adult or a child you can get Rheumatoid Arthritis. Rheumatoid Arthritis is commonly referred to RA for short. Many times RA is usually passed down from two or more generations ago. Rheumatoid Arthritis is not only painful for the individual it can also be deadly and highly stressful for the entire family. Rheumatoid left untreated can attack the organs of the body.

People who have Rheumatoid have good days and bad days. The bad days are during flare ups which can happen at any time. A person with Rheumatoid can go to moving like a normal person one day and the next day have a flare up that cause them to barely be able to move at all. With proper treatment these flare ups happen less often and become less severe.

Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis is very expensive. Rheumatologists usually start around $150 for quick visit, the cost goes up if there is are complications. Although some families can qualify for some free medicine from the manufactures of the medication, many of the medications for sever RA need to be given through an IV. The cost alone for the IV runs about $1000 for an eight hour infusion. Even though a family may be able to get the medication for free or low cost, it can still cause the family to go deep into debt just to afford the treatment.

Many people with Rheumatoid Arthritis learn to be stubborn and try to still do the things that want to life. Not moving hurts more in the long run, so many will try to get out and lead a normal life until they are completely unable to. Oddly enough the normal person can not always see what is wrong with the person with RA. However during a bad flare up or long term damage can affect the way a person moves and their ability to pick up objects. Rheumatoid Arthritis left untreated will deform the body.

Sometimes the hardest part of living with Rheumatoid Arthritis is how other people treat a person with RA. People see a young person who should be able to move around without any problem, but they don't see the pain and damage the young person has. Then people will make comments to the person with RA like, “Wait until you get old.” These comments are made many times by the older folk. Hopefully these comments are not meant to be as rude as they may sound to the person with Rheumatoid Arthritis, but they are very hurtful. The reality is the person with Rheumatoid either won't live that long or will be disabled and have a hard time getting around by the time they

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>