Life with RA: Time to Laugh

Life with RA: Time to Laugh
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Some days this disease and Life with RA come close to pushing me over the edge. Okay, maybe more than just some days. Truth is, living with Rheumatoid Arthritis or Rheumatoid Disease can make you laugh, cry and scream. Sometimes all at the same time.

Take this morning for instance.

It started while making my morning coffee. These days I'm using a French Press, so I'm not tempted to drink every last drop from my 12-cup coffee maker, which is tucked away neatly in storage and only makes it's way upstairs when coffee-drinking-company stays over.

As the kettle heats up the water on the stove, I begin my morning ritual of gathering my daily supplements and pills. My hands are stiff and sore, and the kettle hasn't come close to whistling, so I'm moving slowly and gently taking each item off the shelf, opening it up and putting it away.

Okay, so that isn't exactly how it goes. That is how I want it to go but it doesn't.

It's actually more like this:

Reaching into the cupboard, my stiff hand doesn't quite grasp the intended supplement bottle and instead, knocks two bottles over while the third bottle falls from my faulty grasp, hitting one of the two fallen bottles, which then hits the other bottle. All three bottles end up tumbling out of the cupboard and bouncing off the counter, before crashing to the floor. And if that isn't bad enough, one of the bottles – my gummy supplements, did not have the lid secured.

They went flying EVERYWHERE!

Now I have little raspberry shaped, red gummies all over the counter, stove, and floor.

Gabby, my dog, comes running in, thinking she's hit the jackpot with treats covering the floor, while I'm screaming, "OUT!" and trying to sweep the gummies off the stove before they melt. I'm sure it would've been hilarious to witness, but I'm grateful Big D was already at work when all this took place.

After getting every last gummy off the floor and put back in the bottle (yes, I put them back in the bottle—don't judge), and all my supplements ready for taking, the kettle starts whistling and I'm back to making my morning coffee.

While the coffee steeps (or is it brewing?) I've never known what to say when using a French Press. In any case, the coffee is sitting in hot water and I grab a packet of Emergen-C to put in water and so I can take my pills and get Vitamin C at the same time.

One would think my hands would have loosened up after the flying gummy incident, but no. Today my RA was especially cruel to my hands and tearing the top of the Emergen-C packet proves more difficult than usual. Finally, since no one is here to witness me doing something I constantly tell my everyone else not to do, I use my teeth to open the packet.

You already know what happened.

I’m covered in orange, sticky powder!

I scream. Gabby comes running into the kitchen, and skidding to a stop by the corner of the pantry, she stares at me. She doesn't advance or retreat. This faithful companion of mine just stares at me. I swear her eyes are telling me to go back to bed.

Finally, after getting everything cleaned up, I give Gabby a treat and sit down with my first cup of coffee.

It's cold.

And thus began my fit of uncontrollable laughter, tears streaming down my face, with Gabby barking and running circles, while attempting to herd me and my desk into quiet submission.

This is Life with RA.

What is it about RA that makes you laugh and cry at the same time?

Until next time.

Sipping cold-coffee hugs,

Ann

P.S. If you enjoy my writing, please comment below and share it with others. And if you want to be sure you don’t miss anything, we can add you to our email community — just send me a note and ask — Ann@AnnPeck.com

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