Any Nurses With RA?? How do you Cope?

[grbrico]

Hi All,

Im a near 41 year old wife and mother, and was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis 5 years ago. I also have PCOS... and if you know anything about that... I pretty much in a nutshell dont stop producing insulin. My weight keeps climbing despite medical intervention... and with the RA I have... Im pretty much miserable all the time... then this past summer... my lovely husband and I were doing what I love more than anything... FISHING.. lol... loading our boat up, I had an accident where I fell about 8 foot and landed on a concrete boat ramp where my lower back took most of the impact. Im a heft girl.. bout 270... so that was a lot of weight to hit in one spot. I had been out of work for a few months... and have gone from working in ICU/CCU to LTC because I can't do the 12 hours any more.....

But to the meat of my question. For those of you who live with RA... and keep in mind... my lower back pain will be something that will haunt me now for the rest of my life.... how do you cope? What things do you do differently? What career paths have you chosen. I excelled at ICU/CCU.... I loved it... I love trauma... I love being able to think quick on my feet and acting.... I still have the brain... but the body has gone to pot.... I have been super upset... not only has this injury cost me dearly... financially... I just dont know where to go from here....

I chose LTC mainly because Im so in love with the elderly... they are my favorite patient population... but as the Midnight charge.... its still very physically demanding...

The center where I work now... will not pay for educational assistance... I would work on my BSN but I need to play catch up...

I laugh when I am meeting new nurses.. because they are so territorial.... and I guess I was like that where I came from... it will take some time getting used to this new place...

Point blank.. I love being a nurse.. I love helping people... I'm easy going yet... a stickler making sure patient care and safety is my utmost concern. It saddens me... that I worked so hard to get my license... (Im a 2nd career Nurse... my first was business management....) however, I find..there isn't enough hours in a shift to do what is necessary.. gosh.. this post is going off in several directions... I reckon I need to hush..lol

I am already on all the medications that I can take for my RA. Meds they were using for the PCOS insulin resistance... make me sick as a dog... guess you could say I have an adverse reaction to that.

I dont want my nursing career to end... I do so love it... we live in a very small rural town... any suggestions on what someone like me can do? Where my career can head towards.... I would love to be a DON in a nursing home.. but I know absolutely nothing about LTC... so will have to pay my dues there before I can even think about heading in that direction....

okay.. Im ending this... Im sorry to post today guys.. just having a very emotional morning.... after years of trying to figure out where I fit in this world.. and the years I put into getting my nursing license... and the years I spent trying to learn as much as I could while I was a nurse... I've been hit pretty hard with this these last couple of months... any suggustions would be wonderful....

Sorry I sound so down... Im usually a very upbeat and funny person.... today... Im just so blue....

HUGS,

Rae:o

[LilgirlRN, ADN, RN]

I have RA too, I work in the ER. I've gone from ER nurse to working just as the triage nurse in the past 2 years. I've had a tech that could take patients to their rooms, get patients out of the car etc, but due to cutbacks, I rarely have one. I can't get patients out of the car and they know that, I call in the back and have someone else do that. I was just diagnosed in March or so, haven't gotten things under control yet. Tried different meds, the last one was Enbrel, it did nothing for me. I go back to the rheumy tomorrow. Good luck to all of us :)

[CaseManager1947]

I am now a glowing 60 years old.... and was diagnosed at 43. I keep pluggin away... the first thing I did was go back to school to advance my educational status... smartest thing i did. I don't know your entire situation, but that salvaged my working situation for sure. I now work in CM , which has taken some of the burden off my aging joints, + Remicaid has helped me a lot. Keep the faith, sister ... I'm in it to winit.

morghan

[Transplant Nurse, BSN, RN]

Similar problems, but not the same. I have Systemic Lupus, and have a lot of the arthralgias, and my problem is skin and peripheral vasculits with the joint pains. One thing to consider, is even in peds and NICU you have to be able to perform a code. I was involved in a code not long ago and my hands would not cooperate. The hospitalist was mad I could not draw up the syringes quickly enough and my dexterity sucks as far as my hands go. Just think about this before you get your hopes up on NICU especially considering chest compressions at >120/minute and bagging them at >50 respirations/minute etc. There is still some mobility and dexterity required unfortunately.