Rheumatoid Arthritis Destroyed My Dads Hands.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post by me on behalf of Lifescript.com. All opinions are my own.

Before Rheumatoid Arthritis took over, my dad was a great guitar player. As I was growing up, not a day went by that he didn’t pick his guitar up and pick out a tune. In fact, he and my mom (and I) even had a little local country band. He has always worked with wood, building things for my mom. He has always worked in construction. Now, he is re-learning how to use a fork so he can’t eat unaided and do daily tasks for himself. Rheumatoid Arthritis destroyed my dads hands.

Some of his Rheumatoid Arthritis, especially in his feet was exacerbated by a Staph infection (resulting in the loss of a leg), but I can honestly say that the damage to his hands is from RA. Back in the Spring, we received a call that my dad had been stung by something, developed a Staph infection and was fighting for his life. We rushed to the hospital and I was NOT prepared for what I saw. Not only from the Staph in his leg, but from the way his hands looked! I hadn’t seen my dad in about 4 years and the man lying in that hospital bed certainly didn’t look like him. He was incredibly thin and his hands were horribly drawn. His middle, ring and pinky fingers on his right hand pulled to the side and hung limp while his index finger pointed straight out and his thumb upwards. Imagine someone making a a gun sign with their hand. That is what his right hand looked like. His left hand was not quite as bad but, still, wasn’t really usable. His toes were bent and couldn’t be straightened out. Now, the infection he had made the Rheumatoid Arthritis even worse but even without the infection, his hands were ruined by RA. It was the culprit.

I don’t know if you can tell in the photos or not just what his hands look like. These were taken after several therapy sessions so they are actually a little bit better. I don’t think he will ever get full mobility back. And he might never play his beloved guitar again, but he is getting better every day. He can feed himself and do things that he couldn’t even imagine just a month ago. It was suggested he use turmeric supplements to help with his joint pain. He refuses to use prescription pain medication so he’ll be trying a few different natural supplements and going from there.

In this photo with the kids, his fingers on his right hand a literally just hanging there and still sort of pulling to the right. He isn’t bending them, they are just like that. And on his left hand, same thing. That is how they lay

Seeing him like that made me want to learn more about Rheumatoid Arthritis. I want to learn the causes, the symptoms, the treatments, etc. I want to learn if there is anything that can be done to prevent RA. So I headed over to Lifescript.com’s Rheumatoid Arthritis Health Center to do some research.  Lifescript.com provides medical information, tips and advice that are all written by professional health writers, experts and physicians.

I learned that joint symptoms can include:

I also learned that there are symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis that I had never even thought about before! Things like:

There is tons and tons of info over on the Lifescript website. I am learning about alternative, natural treatments, nutrition and exercise, diagnosis and managing your symptoms once you are diagnosed. There is even a section on what you should ask your Doctor. If you need info on this devastating disease, I highly recommend checking out Lifescript so you know what to look for and know what to ask!!!

Visit www.lifescript.com for useful information on Rheumatoid Arthritis and other prevalent medical conditions related to women’s health.

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Lifescript’s Rheumatoid Arthritis Health Center features tips, quizzes, recipes and articles – all by professional health writers, experts and physicians – covering common RA symptoms, foods that compose an anti-inflammatory diet, new RA therapies and more. Please visit the Lifescript Health Center on Rheumatoid Arthritis for more information.

And to check out this free website, click here!

This is a sponsored post by me on behalf of Lifescript.com.

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