Don't forget to wipe your feet.

Well, hello! Welcome to my corner of the world.

So many people have taken to the web to connect, share and feel less alone. I guess that's why I decided to follow suit. Living trapped within a house can cause a person to go stir-crazy. So, this is my way of reaching out to those who are like me and maybe help others understand.

See, back in 2000, my world changed. I was officially diagnosed with something called Psoriatic Arthritis, also known as PsA. I knew about arthritis. I mean, that was something my grandma had. I can even picture her hands now. How could I as a 23 year-old have a disease that grandmas get? I would soon find out that my disease wasn't what my grandma had nor does it respect ages, races or sexes either. But let me begin a little further back.

Even before I finished high school, I knew that there was something wrong with me. I didn't have much energy and I had severe pain in both of my feet and sometimes both hands. At the time I thought it was just the fact that I was working at two places and going to school. Eventually, it reached the point where I had to quit the weekend job. That helped to lessen the pain but it was still there. Around this time, my family had to deal with my younger brother being diagnosed with Lupus. The entire family was tested. My results came back inconclusive. I could have Lupus and I could also not have it. My family doctor decided to put me on some arthritis medication. It seemed to help enough that I finished school and went on for a year of college. To this day, I still remember how my feet hurt just to walk across the stage to receive my diploma.

I began to notice other weird things happening to my body as well. My ring finger on my left hand began to ache severely and felt extremely hot to the touch. It wasn't long before it swelled just up to the first knuckle. I later found out that this was called a sausage digit. I call it my duck finger. Why? Because at one point the finger was so disjointed that it looked like the head of duck. My brother, Bill, called it a duck finger and the name stuck. I think it's funnier than sausage digit. I also began noticing that my head itched so bad during late fall/early winter. I began using dandruff shampoos but ultimately nothing worked for long.

My life took a series of twists and turns over the years up to 2000. With the medication my family doctor prescribed, I was able to get by a lot better than if I had been taking nothing. However, the pain reached the point where Tylenol would not quiet the hurt. That's when I went to a rheumatologist for the time. Presto chango! Here we are! Thou has Psoriatic Arthritis. I later found out that PsA is type of arthritis that also gives the gift of psoriasis patches on the body. Not everyone who has arthritis will get psoriasis and the reverse is also true. Not everyone who has psoriasis will develop PsA. However, they do have a greater chance of it. Now there's several types of PsA and I will most likely cover those as the blog progresses. Don't want to bore you too much at first.

Eleven years later, I am sitting here and typing this to you, the world. Some days I feel like I can do anything within my limits. Other days, I feel very glad the PsA keeps me from doing something stupid. You can expect honesty from this blog, if nothing else. Pain, PsA and fibro aren't pretty diseases. We use pretty colors to promote awareness. But the diseases are ugly. They hurt - physically, emotionally and mentally. There is such a great need for awareness and participation in easing these diseases. I offer links over on the right for more information on them and how you can help people like me.

Until next time, take a moment and be thankful.
Kay