Joanne
Hello my name is Joanne. I am 27 years old. I am married and have a 2 year old. I live in a small town about 20 minutes from Rochester, New York.
When I was 10 in 1987 I was diagnosed with JRA. It took about 2 months of testing to figure out what I had. The flare up only lasted about 6 months. I remember lots of blood work. The prednisone made me very moody and chubby. I didn't know how to swallow pills so mom would crush the prednisone in ice cream. What an awful taste. Finally Dad taught me how to swallow pills. That's about all I remember of my JRA.
In the end of June 2004 I started feeling very stiff and sore. My neck and back hurt. Dr. gave me muscle relaxer. A week later my back was better but the rest of me ached. Sore trouht . Started having fevers. Dr. said it was a virus had to run its course. Fever 105, uncontroable chills and shaking every night. Rash every morning, sweating. I hurt to much to get out of bed. Mom had to stay with me to help with my 2 year old. 2 emergency room visits. 1 ambulance ride. Everything happened so fast its hard to remember. Lots and lots of blood work. My ferrin is very high and sed rate very high. Had 2 x-rays and 1 ct scan. After about 3 week of feeling terrible the said they think its Stills Disease. I was given 20 mg of prednisone. The next day I felt much better at least I could move. My Rheumatoid Dr. is great. I have to go for blood work every 2 weeks. I am trying to cut down the prednisone but cant get below 15 mg. I've been out of work for 2 months now. I don't really drive much I'm afraid I will get too tired. My left hip and knee hurt almost all of the time. I see my Rheumatoid Dr. next week to talk about different medicine. The worst part of the whole thing was telling my 2 year old Mommy hurt too much to hug you and play!!!! I have good days and bad days. I just try to enjoy the good days.
I am so happy to have found this web site. I would like to hear from others with Stills. Its nice to know I'm not the only one.
Joanne Cuozzo
joannelynnc@cs.com
