Rheumatoid Arthritis Awareness Month

tRi Ghana • February 2, 2024

The Rising Pheonix GRASP WARRIOR STORIES

February is dedicated to creating awareness on Rheumatoid Arthritis simply referred to as RA. To climax the month of raising awareness, I share with you some stories of people living with Rheumatoid arthritis.

Margaret

My name is Margaret . I am 36 years old, a pharmacist and married with 2 children. I have been living with RA since 2002. It all started on my journey back home (Accra) from KNUST. On arrival at the Achimota station, I experienced intense pain running through my entire body.

Discovering that I had RA was not a straight forward route (it never is). It was in 2005 that I had a diagnosis after several hospital visits, prayers and varied lab tests and x-rays. Taking medication became a great struggle for me after diagnosis. My knowledge of medicines’ side effects often made me non complaint. This led to osteoarthritis that makes me limp. I have done several sections of physiotherapy and visits to the chiropractor to help with the pain.

The symptoms of RA affect my energy levels. I need good rest often. I struggle to walk long distances. I used to move from bed to work and back to bed. Then it got to the roller coaster stage when I had periods of good health and terrible flares.
Once I begun faithfully taking all my medicines, courtesy the tRI family and our wonderful Dr, I have become more active and independent now. I am able to keep up with more activities. I am seriously working towards remission. I can say I am enjoying the life God has gifted to me.

Thanks to my awesome class mates and study group members (KNUST, BPHARM 2003 class) who were always supportive.
My family and in-laws refuse to see me as ill or disadvantaged. Their expectations haven't changed and it has helped me to strive to be the best I can be.
My mum remains my number one caregiver. Thank you mummy!

Many thanks to my husband who has been extraordinarily supportive. Caring for me through the worst and best of times. God has been faithful and has kept us. We can only get better.
Thanks also to my bosses and colleagues at work , and a few angels whom God has positioned in my life to support me always in all areas. For this, I am always thankful.
We need support like this to help us manage this condition and live life to the full.

As we raise awareness about this condition, I want everyone to know that RA is not a death sentence. It will not lead to immobility if treated with the right medicines as soon as symptoms are correctly identified. Healthy living, medication and emotional support for people living with chronic illnesses are sure paths for them to reach remission.
Medicine is a means by which God heals us all. Do not push patients with uncommon illnesses to go off their medication. It often worsens their condition.

I will like to encourage anyone going through a similar situation to believe that God is real and no matter what, He is with you so never ever give up. Remain positive and be an inspiration to others. Through this experience, I have turned some of my weaknesses into strengths. God has exceptionally favoured me through all the pain, so that instead of being gloomy I choose to be a #RAyofSunshineThroughThePain.

Saada

My name is Saada , a Senior Stenographer in secretariarship and a student at Chartered Institute of Bankers. I have a small super market I am managing. I have also enrolled in a bridal and cosmetology school. I am 31 years old and diagnose with Rheumatoid Arthritis for almost 2 years.

Living with RA is not something one will wish for anybody because it comes with a lot of pain, and without the help and support of family and friends, it makes it even worse. When I was first diagnosed at 37 Military Hospital, I thought I was the only one, and this made me cry almost every minute until I met doctor and my Rheusolute family. I realised God has a reason for everything.

Rheusolute has taught me to take every step at a time. I am living my life normally by taking my medications, doing all my lab tests, and visiting my doctor regularly. RA definitely won't stop us. We will beat it and survive.
I am a #RAyofSunshineThroughThePain.

Pearl

Pearl is my name and I am living with Rheumatoid Arthritis. I just turned 27 years and this is my story.

I am a young girl who loves to be herself and do the things I love to do best. Currently, I hold a degree in Accounting and graduated from the University of Professional Studies in the year 2014. It is my dream to become a Fashion Consultant but for now I am working with one of the leading IT firms as a Pre-Sales Executive- Finance.

While growing up, I thought some diseases only attacked the AGED. Little did I know the young could be attacked as well until I was diagnosed of one, that is, Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA).
It all started 4 years ago. I experienced serious allergies, my eyes were always puffy and hurting. I kept treating it as an eye problem and normal allergy but I began to feel unusual pain in my knees and I had to bandage them often. I also developed back pains once a while. I still thought it was just the normal joint pains that will come and go often associated with the weather.

One day, a friend advised that I saw a doctor which I considered, after almost 2 years of enduring the pain. A series of tests were run. Some came out normal while others showed symptoms of Arthritis. Then, on one of my review days, It was finally confirmed that I have Arthritis and needed to see a specialist. I was then referred to another hospital. Since I knew nothing about the disease, I started reading about it.

Upon my research, I found out that Rheumatoid Arthritis is a chronic progressive disease causing inflammation in the joints and resulting in painful deformity and immobility, especially in the fingers, wrists, feet, and ankles and it is an autoimmune disease, meaning my BODY'S IMMUNE SYSTEM attacks and destroys healthy body tissue mistakenly which results in the pains I feel often. What I read was pretty scary. The specialist I met at Korle-Bu told me though it couldn't be cured, it could be well managed.

When these pains occur, my knees become swollen and warm; also, my fingers get swollen and hurts and becomes almost non- functional. It’s quite a painful experience and I became a burden to others because within that period I was handicapped. There were few times I cried and asked myself if I could ever be happy with someone without the person thinking less of me.

I am grateful to my family and friends who have been supportive.
When I finally met the specialist, she explained to me further assuring me it could be managed through constant reviews and taking my medications religiously. She advised that I join a group of young people living with RA.
Though my journey just begun, I must say I am pulling through and the support group is equally very helpful.

As part of the awareness creation process, I want to make my age mates aware that it's possible to be diagnosed of the disease. I strongly advise that if any one feels any unusual pain and symptoms similar to what I had, he or she should see the doctor immediately. There is no room for assumptions like I did.

Franklin

Living with a chronic disease like Rheumatoid Arthritis, commonly referred to as RA, is no joke. I was a very active sports person (ball games and athletics) until RA knocked on my door in 2014.

I had been experiencing the symptoms of joint aches, swelling, stiffness, fever and fatigue for a good part of that year without getting the correct diagnosis. Then on the eve of November 2, 2014, I experienced pain I have never had before. They say the pain a woman experiences during childbirth can be likened to the pain of breaking 20 bones in an adult (hey, I didn't say it oo ask them). For a sports person, imagine the pain from a dislocated ankle, shoulder or wrist, and multiply that by 20. That's the closest description I can give you to the level of pain I experienced that night. This went on from 9pm to the following day. I did not sleep a wink. To minimise the pain, I had to lay halfway to the side and stay in that exact position till morning. Any other position I tried to assume would have been used against me in ‘RA's court of pain’.

My brother had to literally carry me to the hospital. A triple dose of pain killer injections did not work. To say it was terrible is an understatement. I could not hold a spoon, toothbrush or cup. I walked and acted like a stroke patient. The pain was intermittent for the next five months before I was finally properly diagnosed of having RA at the Rheumatology Clinic, Korle- Bu, by our loving Rheumatologists (I see you doc, thanks a mill for having our backs).

I now live with the realisation that I can't be actively involved in the sporting activities I loved so much. My life is now plagued with severe aches and pains manageable only by daily medication and some unpleasant lifestyle changes. It's astonishing the amount of money we spend monthly on drugs and medical tests, trying to live the semblance of a normal life, but God sees us through.

Do not be deceived, we may look and act okay on the outside, but you don't want to know what's happening inside. Even getting out of bed is sometimes a struggle. The good news is that although the old Franklin was burnt by the flames of RA, like a Phoenix, a new Franklin was reborn from the ashes.

What keeps me going is my faith in God that He can do the impossible, a show of concern and understanding from friends and family, a support group (Rheusolute) like no other, and the hope of going into remission, while waiting for a cure to be found.

We are not asking that you have pity on us, no, that will only weaken our resolve. Rather, we ask that you understand and encourage us when we are not at our best. This will help boost our morale and like the mystical phoenix, we’ll keep rising high till we hit remission or till a cure is found; whichever comes first.

My name is Franklin , and I am a #RAyofSunshineThroughThePain

Marivic

My name is Marivic. In the year 2007, I started suffering from joint pains and it became serious in the year 2009 so I was admitted at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for two months. During my admission, I was diagnosed with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) which is a chronic remitting and relapsing autoimmune disease.

Before I was diagnosed with JIA, my family thought it was something spiritual so I was taken to different kinds of churches for my healing and also to go back to school but still there was no improvement and it was rather getting worse. I lost all hope and thought I would die because it got to a time I was not able to talk more so to move. After I was diagnosed and discharged from the hospital, I realize my life had changed because I was not able to do some of the things I used to do just because I wanted to avoid having a flare up.

Now, by the help of God, my doctor and my drugs, I am able to control having continuous flare ups.
I just hope and pray that one day God will heal me completely.

RA is not a visible disease. Many of our warriors endure so much pain but in silence. They act brave as if everything is fine, but there is a serious war going on underneath all the brightness. Sharing our stories ensures that vital information is spread for support from the public and to encourage warriors to war on and stick to their prescribed treatment plan, in order to get to remission.

You can also create awareness about RA by wearing a GRASP wristband. To purchase a wristband, kindly send us a message on Facebook or Twitter, or call +233 544 089056 and arrangements would be made to get them to you.

You can also make a donation towards our cause using the following details:

Account name: The Rheumatology Initiative

Account number: 0083024480808601

Bank: ECOBANK Ghana

Branch: Dansoman Branch

Swift: ECOCGHAC

Routing: 132112

Mobile Money: 0544089065

Monies donated go to assist patients in critical conditions who need lifesaving medications but cannot afford it.

For further information kindly contact us at:

(Website: www.trighana .com, Email: trighana@gmail.com / Call: +233 544 089056)

Thank you in advance for your support.

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