When we finally found out, there was definitely a huge sense of relief that we, you know, we finally knew what it was, and then we, you know, we could go ahead and treat it. But there was also a bit of a shock because, you know, you know, I always thought of somebody with arthritis -. I didn't know one arthritis from another arthritis, and I just, you know, assumed older people get arthritis and, you know, not somebody in their early 30s. So there was both of those, you know, feelings.
I would say, you know, as far as what I've had to learn to be a supportive partner, um, is to definitely have patience, you know, with her when she's in pain because, um you know, I've had different ideas of how she, you know, could go about, you know, getting the treatment that she needs and everything else, but you know, she's not always ready to hear what I have to say, you know, especially when she's in pain. And usually that's when I try to make a point, you know, so um, that's not the best time to try to make a point, so patience is a big -, you know, knowing when to back off and just be supportive, and, you know, when the time is right to, you know, to start talking about different ideas.
But, you know, kids don't realize that, and so they don't know. They want something. They're asking for it, or they're just being kids, -, they don't know Mommy has RA and she's in pain today, and you know, they might get a different reaction, you know, depending on the type of day, you know, Mommy is having.
The best thing to do is to empower them by, you know, helping them to get as much information about, you know, the disease as, as they can, so they feel, you know, they feel empowered. I guess that would be the best supporting role you could play.