A Young Wife’s Tale

This was originally posted on April 25, 2009. It was the second blog post I wrote. It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come. And to know David’s arthritis could be this bad again.

My husband, David has Psoriatic Arthritis. He was diagnosed a year ago, at age 23. He’s only ever had mild psoriasis on his scalp. We actually didn’t know it was psoriasis until the rheumatologist told us. David has a family history of rheumatoid arthritis, so we were relieved to know he does not have the rheumatoid factor, although I recently learned that it could develop into rheumatoid arthritis.

Yesterday, I blogged about David’s appointment with his new rheumatologist. As the nurse was asking David what medications he was taking, David mentioned that he has been taking less than one pain pill a week. I knew he was taking less, but I didn’t realize how much less. The only other medication he’s been taking is Humira.

Since December, David has been off of most of his medication. He has been in better moods, he has only flared when he’s done too much, and even then, they were mild flares.

Throughout his appointment, David talked. He answered ninety percent of the questions asked. At past appointments, I’ve done at least fifty percent of the talking. He volunteered information he thought the doctor might like to know. It was pretty amazing

We became active on our new health insurance December 4, but didn’t receive our cards until the middle of January. David ran out of all his medicine, except his Humira, because it’s provided by Humira Patient Financial Assistance. HR wouldn’t help him get a temporary card. They kept saying he could pay for everything out of pocket and then submit the receipts for reimbursement. I don’t know about you, but we don’t feel like putting thousands of dollars of charges on our credit card and waiting months for the insurance company to reimburse us.

Here’s the thing: David has been fine without his meds. In fact, he’s been active. In Dallas he played Kinect and wrestled with his nephews. Since we’ve been back, we’ve gone out with friends a few times, played Kinect a bit, walked Henry to the mailbox a couple of times…David hasn’t noticed much of a difference without his anti-inflammatory drugs, Lyrica, etc.

Today, during David’s appointment, the rheumatologist only seemed concerned that David is able to work. While the ability to work may be a good measure of health for some, it is not for David. David is a computer programmer. He could do his work lying in bed. It isn’t a job like say, a plumber or a paramedic, that requires a lot of movement.

The rheumatologist thinks David doesn’t have arthritis. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even believe David has psoriasis. He thinks David has fibromyalgia. However, David is not tender to the touch, and from what I understand you need at least 11 out of 18 tender spots to be diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Still, the Lyrica (a fibro medicine) is helping David significantly.

Here’s the rest of David’s story… …or so it would seem to be never ending. If you haven’t read my previous post read it here before continuing. The reason I was so happy when i was diagnosed is because I thought “Ok, this guy is a renown rheumatologist and medicine will fix this.” Medicine helps [...]