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Mighty Family!!!! I have missed you guys so much and thought and prayed for you daily ❤️

Months ago I was at my very worst. My health had gotten so poor that I was fully bed bound and unable to do anything on my own. I also needed constant care with my memory getting so bad I forgot my name, who my family was, all friends a missing blavk hole where they should have been in my memory. I kept getting lost and confused not remembering basic words and my hands were still excruciating with their inability to work getting even more drastic. My pain was a 10+ though doctors only think pain is a 1 to 10 we know it still can rise to the thousands.

Suicidal thoughts were so bad I was actually planning though losing a best friend's to suicide at 15yrs old still kept me and will always keep me from taking a step no one can come back from that haunts family and friends and leaves things so very messy and heartbreaking.

My so-called pain doctor was still doing nothing after 3 years and countless appointments begging for help I'm any form. He kept me on the same teeny tiny dose for years and wouldn't try any other meds or any other options. I had had no episodes ever of overdose or failing any drug tests but still he refused to help at all despite my first appointment with him where he promised to help me get to where I could shower and dress myself daily.

I wanted to ditch him as my doctor soooo many times despite him being my third and last option since we hadn't been able to find any replacement.
I realized the stress and misery he brought me always and especially after every three month appointment. It wasn't worth the useless dose of medicine I was on. Many doctors left me in a lurch to taper off my meds on my own. I knew how to do it so I called and said I was dropping him as my doctor. From that moment on I felt relief like the biggest weight was gone. Yes my pain was excruciating but my mental health was the biggest mess because of so many doctors refusing to help and leaving me since I was 'too complicated for them'. They just didn't want to put in the work at time.

Why be a doctor if you don't want to help anyone?!

Steadily my mental health improved immensely. I had moments where I was happy though still in pain. Naturally I am a very optimistic and happy soul but moving to a new state and having the cruelest doctors unsurprisingly made me so much worse.

I have a home health nurse that actually wants the very best for me and that was priceless and enough.

And then I got a brilliant and lovely rheumatologist who actually asked intelligent questions, explained answers, and was invested in taking as much time as needed to finish solving my health. He UNDERSTOOD!!! And at my second appointment with him he told us the answers we had been searching for for 17yrs! Since I was 13.

On top of my many inherent diagnoses I had psoriatic arthritis spine arthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis!!!!
The thing that we all thought was lupus but just barely didn't fit was the psoriatic arthritis!
It was the last piece of a puzzle we had tried solving many a time.
Interestingly I had finally narrowed my research to these diagnoses and was months away from figuring it out too.
But I was very happy to have the answers early!

My first appointment with the rheumatologist he gave me arthritis medicine and WOW did it work and so much better than any medicine my hundreds of doctors over the years had tried.
My hands improved!!!! I had feeling in them again and was able to do so much more than I had since I was 16 when I had my waist down reconstruction surgeries that would lead to arthritis all over my body especially to where I was completely unable to use my hands by 17. It was so embarrassing and painful that my body seemed so intent on not working eight. Oh how I just wanted you be normal!!!

And my last but of good news is I at LAST got a new pain doctor after being without officially for three months. My mental health anxiety and depression had improved so that my stress and thereby my pain had decreased to #9 on the pain scale!!! After being a 10 for almost 8 years!!!!!

My new pain doctor was COMPLETELY the opposite of my last one.

From a guy who ALWAYS worse fancy suits and thousand dollar shoes to one in jeans and a t-shirt.
From a guy who never smiled and wouldn't put in time and effort to a guy who smiled the whole appointment and was ready and Excited to put in the work to help me live my very best life!
From a guy who was too proper and cold to one who was so friendly and happy about his job.
From one who was terrified of any teeny hit of using medicine to one ready to take any risk if it meant helping his patients be safe but with less pain.

My new doctor was like the twin of actor Vin Diesel and he was so SO SO tall!
Even better since the drive is so hard for patients to do always, he would do telehealth for two appointments, one in person, and then another two telehealth appointments etc. Yay!!!!! Hallelujah!!!
Lol I was and still am so happy! And he wanted a telehealth appointment a week after the first appointment yo make sure my new meds were the best option.

For YEARS I have wanted a doctor who was there to help always and one who helped me with my meds rather than drop me in a black hole and leave all alone to figure out and guess by myself. To actually be a TEAM and work together to help me help my body so I would LIVE like I had begged all my doctor to help me to no avail! I could have a LIFE that I loved and do fun things and spend time with my family!!!! No more sleeping life away in pain and misery and hopelessness!!!!
It only took 17 years! Haha!

So now I am BACK and back to my happy self. I still have aches and pains full body and I have all my health issues and more besides but I am in a better place than I have ever been.

All of your support and love and encouragement to take time for ME was what I needed. I am so thankful for it and for all of your help over these many years.

Now if only it could get easier to post with no problems like before I would dare to call life quite perfect right now ;) 🙏

So consider this a reminder thar life is worth it! If things suck now, just remember that if one day they come up with something that can help you and your conditions, I PROMISE you will want to be around then to live your best life.

Hold onto hope! DON'T GIVE UP!! Please please don't. Through sheer will and the grace of God I am still here and gosh do I look back now and say it was worth the wait I wouldn't want to relive it lol but having a possibility to go to the movies again and do fun things out in the world with my family? It is priceless! Please hold on. Please. You and your best life are worth it! You are Not alone in this.

I am cheering you on and I am on your side. Your happy is out there! You CAN do this!!!!

#AmplifiedMusculoskeletalPainSyndrome #Arthritis #Asthma #Anxiety #bedbound #ChronicFatigueSyndrome #CheckInWithMe #ChronicPain #ChronicIllness #ComplexRegionalPainSyndrome #Depression #Disability #DistractMe #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #Endometriosis #Fibromyalgia #GastroesophagealRefluxDisease #HypothyroidismUnderactiveThyroidDisease #Grief #Insomnia #Lupus #Lymphedema #Headache #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #Psoriasis #PTSD #plantarfasciitis #PanicAttack #PanicAttacks #Psychosis #PsoriaticArthritis #RareDisease #RheumatoidArthritis #AnkylosingSpondylitis #MentalHealth #MemoryLoss #MightyTogether #SuicidalThoughts #Scoliosis #Migraine

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What do you find most challenging about enforcing your boundaries? In what ways can you improve?

Once we’ve gotten over the hurdle of identifying a limit or need and setting a boundary in response to that need, what’s next?

Well, the next step is to continuously enforce that boundary in ways we feel are best. This step can definitely be challenging! Enforcing a boundary takes work. But not to fear! We are ultimately in control of our boundaries and can work on improving them any time we want.

Mighty staffer @xokat says that her biggest challenge in enforcing boundaries is her people-pleasing tendencies. Thanks to the unreliability of her health which in turn makes her feel guilty and like she has to “make it up” to others, she tends to overcompensate by allowing others to skirt what she needs. Which, at the end of the day, hurts her more than helps. But she’s working hard to center her needs and make decisions from there!

What about you?

#52SmallThings #CheckInWithMe #MentalHealth #Anxiety #Depression #ChronicPain #ChronicIllness #RareDisease #Disability #selfcare #boundaries #Caregiving #Cancer #Grief #Autism

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How has your self-care been recently?

In a perfect world, we’d all have the time, ability, and funds to prioritize self-care on a consistent, daily basis. But things, understandably, always seem to stand in the way: work, school, taking care of a house (or trying to secure more stable housing), family, and — you know where we’re going with this — fluctuating health conditions.

So let’s do a little self-care check-in. How has it been going lately? What have you been doing? (It’s never too late to start!)

🫶 P.S. You are worthy of self-love. You are worthy of the time. You are worthy of the effort. You are worthy of it all.

#MightyMinute #CheerMeOn #DistractMe #CheckInWithMe #ChronicPain #ChronicIllness #RareDisease #Disability #Caregiving #MentalHealth #Anxiety #Depression #Cancer #Grief #Autism

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Think back to a moment when you stood up for yourself. What brought you to that point? How did you feel afterward?

Let’s start here: What even is a boundary? A boundary is a limit or barrier that separates two things from each other. When discussing our personal boundaries, we are establishing and identifying limits or needs based on something we feel is best for us.

Today’s challenge is to reflect on a time when you stood up for yourself and set a boundary. What brought you to that point? What feelings came up that influenced you to speak up? How did you feel after setting that boundary?

#52SmallThings #MentalHealth #Anxiety #Depression #CheckInWithMe #PTSD #Trauma #ChronicPain #ChronicIllness #RareDisease #Disability #Caregiving #Grief #Cancer #Autism

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What clarity are you seeking right now?

Clarity is a fickle thing — it’s both something we all strive for while also being an illusive concept (because we don’t always get it). Sometimes clarity can hurt, and other times it can be a true moment of beauty or simplicity. It invites an ending while also opening up a possible beginning.

We can get clarity about a lot of things: decisions we have or haven’t made, relationship dynamics, questions surrounding our health, or even what we learn about ourselves.

What “a-ha moment” are you seeking in your life right now?

#CheckInWithMe #MightyMinute #MentalHealth #Anxiety #Depression #ChronicPain #ChronicIllness #RareDisease #Disability #Grief #Autism #Caregiving #Cancer

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Overcoming

When I come to this group, it's so obvious how much strength is here. There are so many posts from people asking for help, which is a huge sign of strength, and even more comments with people showing their support and sharing life lessons that they've learned along the way. Everyone here knows that this world is full of suffering. There's nothing anyone can do about that. But you all are evidence that this world is also full of overcoming that suffering. This is evidence that you are all full of strength and the power to change yourself for the better. How many people here believe in the power of themselves? Do you have any examples of how you've demonstrated this to yourself or others?

Also, I'm so grateful for all of you and would love to get to know you all better outside of The Mighty, so if you're on Instagram, feel free to reach out at:

www.instagram.com/thomas_of_copenhagen

~ Thanks to all. Thanks for all. ~

Speaking of thanks for all, I was hoping we could acknowledge everyone who comments below. I know it seems like a small gesture, but many people here have never opened up to anyone before and being open and honest with strangers can be quite scary. So, if we could show our gratitude by giving their comment a simple reply or heart, I’m sure they would really appreciate your team support. What do you say?

#MentalHealth #MentalHealth #Depression #Anxiety #BipolarDisorder #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #Addiction #dissociativedisorders #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #ADHD #Fibromyalgia #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #PTSD #Cancer #RareDisease #Disability #Autism #Diabetes #EatingDisorders #ChronicIllness #ChronicPain #RheumatoidArthritis #Suicide #MightyTogether

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TRUE or FALSE: I’m comfortable setting boundaries with myself and others.

Let’s continue on our self-care journey, shall we, Mighties? Our next checkpoint is setting boundaries. How comfortable do you feel about setting boundaries with yourself and with others? Does it come easy or do you find it challenging?

📚 Here’s a Mighty story to set the tone: How to Set Boundaries to Protect Your Mental Health

#52SmallThings #MentalHealth #Anxiety #Depression #ChronicPain #ChronicIllness #RareDisease #Disability #CheckInWithMe #Trauma #Grief #ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder #Autism

How to Set Boundaries to Protect Your Mental Health

"Setting boundaries is the ultimate test in self-care."
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