A site for information...

Google Rheumatoid Arthritis and you are going to get all kinds of information. Some factual, some practical, some complete non-sense, some with traces of truth and some that really make things more confusing.

Sadie’s site isn’t intended to be a place to learn about what arthritis is, but is intended for our family to inform family and friends as to what is going on with Sadie’s health and the process of her JRA (Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis). As her mother (and one who also struggles with RA), I have searched sites, read other blogs, googled cures, taken her for allergy tests, tried unconventional, changed diets, attempted a number of supplements, got non-traditional and sometimes odd ball ideas.

Recently I found an amazing site called the RA Warrior. The site is appropriately named as Kelly (the author and fellow sister in Christ) is a warrior in her own battle against RA. Since my finding her site in November, I have been inspired, encourage, enlightened, relieved and grateful. Finally someone is speaking some of the unspoken truths about arthritis. So, I wanted to share one of my favorite articles (I have many) called: Is there a cure for RA?

Touchy subject: a cure for RA

It seems like the there are thousands of the websites about Rheumatoid Arthritis which tout one cure or other. One of them must be real, right? I wish.

The other day someone became particularly angry with me after I typed this: There is no cure yet for RA. I’m sorry. I wish there were. People really want to believe there is a cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis. At my first rheumatology appointment, I asked whether there might be a cure. When I read my chart years later, it sounds like he thought I was a nut.

A food to cure RA
No, there is no food to cure Rheumatoid Arthritis. Wouldn’t that be great if we could eat yummy berries or fish instead of taking shots? Everyone I know would rather drink juice and swallow fish oil than take medication.

Nutrition is still important for RA’ers. We can use diet as one more weapon to fight inflammation. However, there other reasons: RA’ers are predisposed to several conditions which can be combated in part by nutritional methods. Examples are heart disease and osteoporosis. Look for more nutrition posts soon.

A medicine to cure RA
We are seeing some AIDS patients living for decades. Most of us know someone whose cancer has been cured. Could it be that medical science has just done so much in our lifetimes that we expect a cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis to materialize soon?

I’ve never read a science or medical abstract which uses the word cure. So, I asked a friend who is always current on research for Rheumatoid Arthritis treatments to give me an opinion on RA cures. My friend said that we are decades away from a cure, especially since we do not yet understand how Rheumatoid Arthritis begins.

Are some people cured of RA?
What is so confusing is that Rheumatoid Arthritis has at least four possible courses. It may remit completely for a small percentage of people and never return. RA may flare and remit alternately without progressive damage or with increasing damage and disability. Or, RA may flare in an uninterrupted fashion, creating more damage all the time.

It is almost impossible to tell what causes a remission in someone whose Rheumatoid Arthritis remits anyway. If Rheumatoid Arthritis has been cured, then it will not return. And more significantly, if any substance could cure RA, it would work on the severe unremitting RA which has no natural remissions. These RA’ers can show only modest improvement even on disease modifying medicines (DMARDs).

Is this cynicism about an RA cure?
This site is written by a person living with Rheumatoid Arthritis who wants to see this disease eradicated from the face of the earth. If there were a viable cure, I would want to know about it and be cured. I believe there are at least two real problems with mistaken beliefs about an RA cure:

1) Some people do not treat their Rheumatoid Arthritis as they put their faith in a false cure, so they suffer greater permanent damage from RA.

2) As long as the public is confused about what RA actually is, what it is like to live with it, and what treatments and cures are available, it will remain difficult to educate the general public or obtain widespread support for a greater movement to find a genuine cure for RA.

In other words: It would be better for us if the world heard this: Rheumatoid Arthritis is a horrible incurable disease that causes irreparable damage. Let’s find a cure.
by: Kelly author of RA Warrior

If you would like to read more of the RA Warrior site, please click on the link. She has great information both for those suffering from arthritis to those who aren’t sure what to say to a loved one they know with RA (or better yet, what not to say).

Those of you who come here and know me… you know my heart is one that is trusting Sadie’s disease to her maker. He knows the hair’s on her head and the number of days she has. He knows her suffering and her struggles. We know He does all things for the good of those who love Him and for the gift that she is to our lives we are grateful. However, that doesn’t mean that as a mommy and a daddy we don’t’ ache for her. It doesn’t mean we don’t wish her to be healed. It doesn’t mean we don’t struggle at times to understand it all and feel confident in His plan for her. Please continue to pray for her healing, for her salvation, her heart, her spirit and HIS WILL for her life to be clear.

I hope you will check out Kelly’s blog as I know you will find great information.