I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 20, and little did I know that it would be the beginning of a journey that would completely change my life.
That spring, I started experiencing pain and swelling in my elbow. I had recently started lifting weights and playing more tennis, so I chalked it up to tennis elbow. After all, I had experienced it before while playing other sports.
After a couple of weeks with no improvement, I showed my parents, who are both doctors. They agreed it was probably tennis elbow but told me to see a doctor if it didn’t get better.
Well, it didn’t get better. It got worse.
My elbow eventually had only about 20 degrees of movement in either direction, so I finally went to the doctor. After several tests, my inflammation markers came back off the charts, and I was referred to a rheumatologist.
That’s when I officially received my rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis.
Then the fun truly began.
I started methotrexate, prednisone, and meloxicam. A few months later, with no relief, I was also diagnosed with Sjögren’s disease. My medication dosages increased, but unfortunately, my body didn’t respond well. Between flare-ups, infections, and abnormal lab results, I was eventually moved to biweekly injections and then weekly injections.
I graduated college and started my first teaching job, all while trying to navigate flare-ups, steroid injections, overwhelming fatigue, and medication side effects.
By 25, I had developed rashes and more widespread body pain, leading to even more testing. That’s when I was diagnosed with dermatomyositis.
During that testing, doctors also discovered a grapefruit-sized teratoma tumor on my ovary, which required surgery to remove.
The following year, things took another turn. I started having more and more problems with my lungs, developed asthma, and eventually spent a week in the hospital after my oxygen levels dropped into the 70s.
Over the next year, I continued battling breakthrough flare-ups, rashes, illnesses, and so much more.
Eventually, I made the difficult decision to step away from teaching in person and transition to teaching online to help protect myself from germs and illness.
Now, at 27, I’m starting infusion treatments and feeling hopeful about what the future holds.
