A little less than one year ago, I woke up from sleep, and I could not get out of bed. The pain in my back and hips was out of this world awful. Moreover, severe stiffness of those joints made it nearly impossible to move them. I commanded my hips to move, but they would not budge. I began screaming at my hips and legs to move. However, they remained still.
In utter exasperation, I lifted my right leg with my hands and threw my leg over the side of the bed. The pain which radiated through my hip and thigh was unlike anything I had ever experienced. After 45 minutes of crying and forcing my legs to move using my hands, I finally was able to get out of bed. I made it to the bathroom and then went back to bed.
Day after day, this routine continued. Some days, the pain and stiffness allowed my legs to slowly move on their own. Other days, no matter what I did, I could not overcome the severe stiffness in my hips and back. I was alarmed by these new symptoms. I called my doctor and made an appointment.
At my appointment, I could barely sit. I was in so much pain. The doctor was unconcerned. She told me this is what happens when we age. We develop arthritis. These are the normal aches and pains of aging. I normally do not raise my voice with my medical providers, but when my physician completely dismissed the severe pain and stiffness in my hips and back as "aches and pains of aging", I nearly exploded into a hot rage.
I passionately said, "Excuse me doctor. I know lots of people my age as well as people who are 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 years older than me. NONE of them have told me about or exhibited pain and stiffness to the degree I have with the exception of my mom and grandparents who all have rheumatoid arthritis. Mind you, my mom's and grandparents' 'aches and pains of aging' are not 'aches and pains of aging' but due to an auto-immune disease."
My doctor agreed to run some lab work. The results showed I was having inflammation. However, my rheumatoid factor was not elevated to the threshold needed to make a rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis. Thus I was told I do not have rheumatoid arthritis but merely have arthritis due to aging. My physician refused to refer me on to a rheumatologist.
It has been nearly a year since I woke up with severe pain and stiffness in my hips and back. Some things have gotten better. There are fleeting days when I wake up and can get out of bed without grimacing from the pain and stiffness in my joints. Some things have gotten worse. The arthritis has spread. It now affects my knees and feet. Over the weekend, my left middle finger joints began hurting and were very stiff. The next day my right middle finger joints began exhibiting the same pain and stiffness.
I try to get through my days the best I can, but it is getting hard. I try to overcome the pain and stiffness by moving. However, no matter how hard I try to power through the pain and stiffness, I often hit a brick wall. Suddenly, the pain and stiffness make it nearly impossible to move. I have to go to bed to relieve the pain.
I have an incredibly busy schedule from now through next March. Finding the time and energy to get a doctor to refer me to a rheumatologist seems like an impossible task. I know God is running the universe. I hope and pray He sends the right doctor into my path to help relieve me from this relentless pain and stiffness in my joints (and muscles around my joints).
