I’m fifty one and have never married. I know what’s said about people still single at my age, but there is a reason. I picked the wrong men and ended up a single mother. After I left the army, I moved in with my sister (her son suffered terribly with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis). I didn’t plan on it being permanent, but I fell in love with her kids! We stayed together 20 years. She made me choose between dating and her, so I gave up dating. Since I was choosing the wrong men, the decision was not hard.

Over time, she made me choose between others and her. Eventually, I found myself isolated and the target of her anger and continuous punishments. It’s not ALL her fault. I did things that hurt her, but she could not forgive me. After we separated, I went to my parents. Amazingly, at that very time my father needed surgery, so I cared for him. Unfortunately, he acquired an infection from the hospital that lasted 2 years. I cared for him until he died. By then, I was also caring for my mother, who’s frail health, physical and mental, deteriorated rapidly. I took care of her 24/7 for 5 more years. When my own health was threatened, I had to turn her care over to my sister.

When I was young, I longed for a husband who would love me and our children, but it was not meant to be. I do Not regret my decisions or caring for those wonderful people, but I have given up most of my life. I am now trying to find myself, so I’m not ready for love quite yet. I’m recovering from too many things. But I need to know if many people find love at my age? I mean, I know some do, but I would like to know if anyone has been through similar things and found love? I’m unsure if I’m wording this right, for it feels a bit awkward to write out.

i had been running on a track to get into shape every day, and my knees got sore after a week so i stopped. now they are not getting better, but worse; i can hardly walk across my house…my dad had a knee replacement due to arthritis, and i was wondering if a joint injury can set off this condition in people that may be prone to it. i am only 39 and never had anything like this before.
i know it sounds nuts but i am in a lot of pain and cant afford a doctor. any suggestions?

i have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. my knees are always huge. It makes me look bull leg but im not! Plz help

A friend of mine has medium to lower-high arthritis in her both knees. She cannot do too much of walking. And if she joggs one day, she needs to take rest for at least 7/8 days before jogging again. Doing squats hurt her knees as well. She cannot swim, she is aftraid of swimming.
She wonders what kind of leg exercises she should do, and if skipping will help. At the same time, she wants to know what type of activities she should avoid.
Thanks in advance for all of your suggestions!!!

Well my dad just found out he has arthritis in his knee and I just want to know what can he do other than just take medicine. Does he have to change his diet, life style, exercises, etc.

when i was 3 i was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (jra) i am now 13 and am in the 8th grade and i have missed over a month of school. doctors cant figure out whats wrong with me at first they thought it was just my jra i have done x-rays,MRIs (magnetic resonance Imaging), and have been put on every drug you can think of! Now i don’t know what to think……will they ever figure this out will i have to repeat the 8th grade!?!?!

I have juvenile arthritis which means that i cant do sport very often, i just got a new sport teacher who is a total bitch. She says that i can do sport but im just faking it when i have blood tests and specialist notes to prove it. Yesterday i had sport so she got all of the people who wernt doing it (me and about 10 other people) to write over and over that sport is not an optional thing, i tried to tell her that i couldn’t write that over and over because im already doing all of my school work on a laptop. She just started screaming at me and sent me to time out (this thing were they send misbehaving students to sit in the back of a senior class) i felt that i had done nothing wrong so i went outside the school and called my mum on my mobile so she came to the school. We went into the vice principals office and spoke to him about her and he said that it shouldn’t have happened and that he would speak to her. He then wrote a note in my diary saying that if i ever couldn’t participate in sport i was not to be punished. Once i got to my next class one of my friends who was writing lines told me that once i left to go to time out that she said that all i do is sit in the corner feeling sorry for myself and that i should grow up and deal with it. At lunchtime i was called to the yr 8 home room over the PA system. I went and inside there was about 20 people witting in silence. The teacher in there told me that this was detention for not participating in sport so i showed him the note and he said that i needed to show it to my sport teacher, just as he said that she walked in looking angry and glared at me when i walked up to her to show her the note. She just looked at it and said ‘i don’t care if you get the queen of england to write you a note, you still have to participate in sport every lesson.’ i just looked at her and shook my head. At that point i thought it might be a good idea to tell her not to tell people that i sit in the corner feeling sorry for myself so i said ‘i would appreciate that you wouldn’t say that i sit in the corner feeling sorry for myself’ i said it very politely and she just went off screaming HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT TO ME. HOW DARE YOU CALL MUMMY TO SPEAK TO THE VICE PRINCIPAL. I DONT CARE HOW YOU FEEL IN THE SITUATION ITS TRUE, YOU DO FEEL SORRY FOR YOURSELF NOW GET OUT OF MY SIGHT! I just left the room and ignored her and once i got home i told my mum about what she said when i wasn’t there and how she was screaming at me. SHe says that she is going to go up to the school on tuesday (we don’t have school monday because its a pupil free day) and speak to the principal and the vice principal again about her. I don’t really want her to because i know she will just do some more screaming at me afterwards. What do you think i should do
i can do sport sometimes, but ive only had this teacher twice, and both times i have been totally unable to participate and its going to remain that way untill i get more corterzone injections to my wrists and knees. Untill then, even walking is painful.

I told my doctor physican assisant, that is who I see and I told her I get sharp pains in my hands, which is now starting in my knee, I asked about Arthritis, she laughed at me and told me I was too young for that. ( I am 20 ). Everyone els tells me you can get arthritus at any age! Does anyone know? Should I get a second Doctor opinoin?

Juvenile rheamutoid arthritis?
hi i have jra and i am 16 im thinking of publishing a book on it for ages 12-18. They will give me there stories and ill put it together with my story. I want them to realize they are not alone.. we are all going through the same thing and the same medicine that is making us sick every time we take it… Do you think this will be a good idea?