Beginning of a new era - I’m a blogger

Well who’d of thought  it, up until a few months ago I didn’t even know what Social Media meant. Yeah sure I’ve got a facebook account that I never really use and I’d heard of many others including Twitter and even had an odd look,  then after reading  an autobiography of a TV personality who had RAD I followed a twitter link to say how much I’d enjoyed it and hey presto I’m hooked!  This blog has come about from several angles, firstly for me….I feel a need to document my illness in order to come to terms with it and face the future, a place to record what has happened and will happen to me. Secondly I have been encouraged by my fellow tweeters to share my story and lastly I  am about to embark on my first Biologic.  Starting any new med is a huge hurdle for most of us, full of doubt and fears and sprinkled with hope, but Biologics seem to be the ones most people fear the most.  That includes me and my hope is that as I tell my story and share my Biologic journey with you it may help in your own quest for remission.

I see this as a place to share  - not at this stage with friends and family – but with my fellow RAD sufferers….I hope as time goes on and I grow stronger I will feel able to share this with those closest to me, their love and support is never ending, but this is something I need to do on my own,  so for now I want to remain ‘anonymous’.

I will be starting Enbrel next week but before I share this new experience with you I need to fill you in on the past…I think this will be a kind of therapy for me…I have 23 years to cover, and as I have started writing this has it turned more into a book than a blog so I apologise if it's too long, but you cant tell half a story! Looking back I think how foolish have I been, was I weak, why did I deny my illness for so long - I'm sure many of you will be saying as you read this story 'for heavens sake pull yourself together woman' and thats exactly what I am trying to do.  I have split it into several posts to cover the last 23 years and have tried not to make it too long. I am going to include photos, I want to be a 'real' person not just some words on a blog!