My name is Marina. I’m 18 years old. I have had JRA since I was 14.
The disease has affected;
- My neck (I cannot turn it anymore. Inflammatory tissue between the first and second vertebra.)
- The area between my shoulders
- Both of my hands
- My right leg
The question with my disease is not, “are you in pain?” but, “how much pain are you in right now?”
Unfortunately, my disease is grievously overlooked. And when people do know the disease, they’re like, “isn’t that an old people’s disease?”
No! It can happen to anyone, unfortunately.
So I’m here to spread some awareness. This disease is out there, affecting young and old people’s lives every day. Including mine.
Please be aware. And consider us, too. Because society doesn’t consider us at this moment, because JRA, JIA and all other forms of arthritis don’t have the recognisable status yet. Which makes it incredibly hard to find a suitable job.
Arthritis is evil. It’s an evil disease that slowly and surely attacks more and more joints in our body. And it hurts. The healthy people can’t possibly imagine the pain this disease brings.
So please reblog if you’re a victim of arthritis, know someone with arthritis, or simply because you care about this, and help me spread the word over tumblr. Because the voice of the patients, our voice, deserves to be heard.
Thank you for reading this.
~ Mari
I feel the obligation to reblog this. I’ve spent countless times talking with Mari through Skype while she was going through particularly painful stages of her disease, and it always pains me that I’m not able to do anything to console her pain or even be physically there for her. She’s a fantastic human being, and she doesn’t deserve this. Nobody deserves to constantly be in pain.
(Source: batched)
