Love Without Limits: Caring for Someone With RA

Penny has her arthritis in her feet and in her hands and some in her knees. There were trips to the doctor, especially to the rheumatologist, that I remember quite well and remember her trying so many different types of medicine. They all had severe side effects. She decided, and I agreed, it was better to try to live without it as much as possible. Things have become more difficult for her at times and there are certain days that she has more pain and discomfort than others, and I can tell that right away. The sound of her voice, the look on her face. She tries to hide it a little bit, but she's not very good at hiding it. When she's not feeling like it, I'll jump in and fix something for us to eat. I kind of try to look out for her. She used to just jump in the car and go places and I worry about her doing that. So a lot of times I go with her just to kind of keep an eye on her. I would take it away from her if I could. She's done everything she can to make my life perfect and... I love her. One of the biggest things that we've don in the last half a dozen months or so is we gave up our house and moved into a small apartment, which is much easier to care for and keep clean. Penny and I do some things together that, you know, just spending the day together. We can sit here at this table while I work on my stamp collection and she will have her computer, playing computer games. We make jokes back and forth with each other. You know, we enjoy each other's company. If I were to give advice to anybody, especially someone who has just been diagnosed or to their spouse, I would simply say have a great deal of patience and love. I try not to get negative. I think that frustration can become a negative in life very easily and try to understand what that person's going through. Anything you can do to help out, you know, is gonna help you as well as them.