When it hurts too much to open a jar or a door -- that's life with RA, for one USU student

By Holly Scott

May 18, 2005 | Paige Catron's date was going to arrive any minute. She started feeling nervous as she put on her make-up and combed her hair. She popped in four Ibuprofen before he arrived. Her date picked her up and they made their way to the Fun Park to go rollerblading.

"We got our rollerblades and started putting them on and I was nervous as all get out!" Catron said laughing.

Catron thought to herself, "I am going to stand up in these things and I am going to do something to my knee and my ankle because I am just not a stable person anymore."

Catron cinched up her rollerblades as tight as she could, and she and her date slowly made their way around the rink. Catron was shaky and concentrated on staying in control. She couldn't stop easily so she gripped the edge of the wall for extra support.

If she fell she was going to fall safely. "I was going to pull my hands in and fall on my shoulder," said Catron. "I didn't want to fall on my hands and be a baby and cry."

Catron has rheumatoid arthritis, or RA, and that is why she was nervous.

Activities such as rollerblading, volleyball or basketball don't come as easily as they used to--now they come with a lot of pain and Ibuprofen. "To prepare for this date I stocked up on Ibuprofen and took some extra Prednisone . . . to go rollerblading!" Catron said with a giggle.

"I really think ahead when I know something's going to be more active so I can get through it," Catron said. "I don't want to be like, 'Oh, my gosh, my wrist hurts, now my knee hurts.'"

Paige Catron, 21 is among the 2.1 million Americans affected by RA. The Arthritis Foundation explains RA as a disease in which the joint lining becomes inflamed as part of the body's immune system activity. RA is one of the most serious and disabling types of arthritis and mostly affects women.

According to the Arthritis Foundation, RA progresses in three stages. The first stage is when swelling occurs along with a lot of pain, stiffness, warmth and redness around the joint. In the second stage rapid division and growth of cells occurs, which causes the lining of the joint to thicken. In the third stage the inflamed cells release enzymes that may digest bone and cartilage. This frequently causes the joint to lose its shape and alignment, as well as cause loss of motion and increased pain.

Catron's roommate, Dana, said she can always tell when Paige is walking down the stairs to her apartment.

"It sounds really slow and limpy and she never runs down the stairs because she can't," she said. Dana said that just by looking at Paige walk you can tell she's not strong and it looks as if she hurts because of her motion and how she carries herself.

RA is a disease that is autoimmune, which means white blood cells that normally fight diseases instead attack healthy tissue and cells in the body. According to the Arthritis Foundation researchers are finding that the earlier a doctor diagnoses and treats arthritis, the better the chances are for patients to live a more normal, healthy life. However, making a diagnosis is not easy.

The process is difficult because there is no way to specifically tell you have RA. Doctors rely on symptoms, lab tests, medical history, physical exams, and X-rays to make their diagnoses.

Catron is still in the early stages of her arthritis. She was diagnosed with the disease only a few months ago, but has noticed symptoms for a year and a half. After going through four doctors, her symptoms finally pointed to RA.

"It took forever. No one knew what it was," she said.

Catron first started noticing her symptoms when she thought she had pulled a muscle or a ligament in her shoulder. Catron explained her pain was so strong that even to touch her shoulder hurt.

After three days the pain disappeared.

Catron described those three days as being "pretty much hell." Her hell appeared again two weeks later.

"I can remember that I was on a date one night and I couldn't pick up my fork to eat my food," said Catron. "My hand felt like it was burning, I looked down and it was just huge and so puffy and swollen." Catron called doctors that night, but they told her to just wait a few days in case it was a bee sting or spider bite.

Within three days Catron's pain in her hand was gone, just like her shoulder episode.

Catron continued to have episodes like this for three months with the pain moving to a different part of her body each week.

It almost became like a game -- each week pain would show up on the opposite side of her body and work its way down.

"I could guess where it was going to be the next week," Catron said. One week in the right side of her jaw, the next her left shoulder and the next her right hip and so on.

RA is apt to start in almost any joint, but the Arthritis Foundation states, "It most commonly begins in the smaller joints of the fingers, hands and wrists. Joint involvement is usually symmetrical, meaning that if a joint hurts on the left hand, the same joint will hurt on the right hand."

The Arthritis Foundation reports physical symptoms include fatigue and stiffness, particularly in the morning and when sitting for a long time. Typically the longer the morning stiffness lasts, the more active the disease is. Other symptoms include weakness, muscle pain, loss of appetite, depression, weight loss and anemia.

Catron says she tries to shower in the morning because it helps loosen her up and relieve some of the morning stiffness. It takes her two hours before she is as loose as she can be. Daily activities like getting ready in the morning and combing through her hair now take longer.

Catron said it is hard to be a student with RA. When she takes notes her hand gets tired quickly, her handwriting is sloppier and her notes aren't as thorough.

"One time I had to take a test and it hurt to use my right hand, so I used my left to fill in the bubble sheet. It was the messiest bubble sheet I had ever seen!" she said.

Paige now takes elevators whenever she can. Even if it is from floor one to two, the stairs just aren't worth it.

Catron hates opening doors at school the most. The force on her hands to grip the door and pull it open hurts too badly.

"I prop the door open with my shoulder and shove my way in," she said.

"When I go into the Taggart Student Center by the Hub I never use the right door, always the left because I can't handle opening the right. It's a lot heavier," she said.

Catron misses being able to escape real life and play a game of volleyball to give her a pick-up.

"I enjoy being active and it's just really hard because that is my escape," she said.

Catron used to play basketball and volleyball several times a week, as well as participate in intramural teams. Those things are now out of the picture. Instead Catron escapes by doing new things.

She now enjoys putting some headphones on and riding a bike. "I'm not intense at all I just do slow peddling, but it just feels good, like I'm getting some exercise…it's kind of my outlet," Catron said.

She said sometimes she looks in the mirror and says, "OK, Paige, you can do this. You need to be happy you can still do things." She reminds herself that there are millions of others who are suffering from the same disease. "They can be active and make it . . . and so can I," she said.

Catron worries about her future and what limitations she'll have when she's older. She has learned to laugh at situations that make her want to cry.

For instance Catron was visiting with her grandma one time and she offered her some peanuts.

"My grandma tried to open the jar and couldn't, so I said, 'Here grandma let me do it,' because she's just an old little woman. So I take the peanut lid and I turn it with all of my might and the lid wouldn't budge. So me and my grandma didn't get to eat the peanuts! There was this old woman and young girl that couldn't open the jar. We laughed and thought what is the world coming to? We would have to call someone to come open the blasted jar of peanuts. It was pathetic and I thought, 'Oh my gosh, Paige, what are you going to do with yourself in the next 50 years of life.' We just ended up having sandwiches . . . it was so stupid," Catron said.

Catron worries about simple things in her future like picking a baby up out of a crib. "I worry about the toll the medications I'm on are taking on my body. When I'm 60 what will the medicine have done to me?" she asked.

Right now Catron focuses on what she is able to do. She was able to make it through a night of rollerblading without falling. Her date wanted to rollerblade fast and do tricks.

"I felt like I had to tell him so I didn't feel like a sissy," Catron said.

She told her date, "You know, I have arthritis and I can't do those things because it hurts."

He said, "Oh, really, that's weird."

"I don't like to tell people because I feel like they're thinking, 'Liar, you're not 60 years old, my grandma has it and you don't!'" she said.

He blew off the fact that she has arthritis. She blew him off as a candidate for Mr. Right. She's still looking for someone who will accept her as she is -- RA and all.

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