Dear Rick,
Hi. Thanks for contacting me. I just want to say first of all that doctors still do not know the exact cause of RA. So please do not blame yourself. I am sorry to hear about your daughter Courtney. The pain that both you and Courtney feel is immense and it’s both physical and emotional. My mom suffered just as much as me.
I would suggest you contact the arthritis office in Arizona or the national office fir advice on Doctors. I will add though that my doctor doesn’t take my health insurance either, but my medications are covered and I get blood work done elsewhere. The key is to
treat RA aggressively before joints are damaged. This can mean
biologics. I inject every two weeks. Everyone’s reaction is different
though.
I think diet does play a small part. Bread for me is not a good idea.
With your permission, I’d like to put you in touch with a man called Brian. He has a daughter with RA too. I sense that you could be a big support to each other.
I hope I’ve been able to help you. My book, Enemy Within is available in Amazon and is about my journey with RA. It is raw and honest. I do talk about natural remedies but I feel they actually made me worse not better.
Anyway I hope I’ve been of some help.
Best
Karen
Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 1, 2011, at 1:08 PM, ……. ” wrote:
Hello Karen, My name is Rick and I live in a small town in Arizona called Williams. It is located about 65 miles south of the Grand Canyon National Park. Any way I was reading your story in arthritis today magazine. I was in a clinic getting a physical. My daughter Courtney suffers with RA. I must have evidently passed this terrible disease to her at birth, in 1976. My Mother, God rest her soul battled this condition her whole life. It disfigured her tiny hands terribly. And I fear that will be the same fate for Courtney. What I am writing you about is, if you might know of some good doctors in the Phoenix, Az. area. Or how we would find one. There is a Dr. Epstein in Flagstaff, Az. but he will not accept my daughters insurance, even though her carrier would pay it. He evidently will not work with her insurance carrier, but is more than willing to see her “out of pocket” and then it’s up to Courtney to submit the paperwork and bills. This could be very expensive I fear. Unless he is willing to review her records and blood work from her previous study group she signed on with. But I doubt it because most Dr.’s probably want their own lab work. This is VERY frustrating. Courtney had been apart of a study that has been treating her the past year with shots. She was told that some would get the real thing and some would get a placebo shot. Well…….I for one do not think that even if she is getting the real thing, that this medicine is working. I have no idea what the shots contain. Is there a book on diet you could recommend, or is that necessary? Courtney tries to eat healthy, and is currently drinking “Just Tart Cherry” by “R.W. Knudson” “Organic” which very much seems to be helping with the stiffness in her knees, and other area’s of concern. Is you book about treatments or things you have tried? Does diet have a lot to do with RA? I also remember you mentioning bio-medicines you’ve had success with.Well ………….. I appreciate very much your time today, and wish you the best in life, and pray for your healing. Hopefully one day medicine will be discovered to help all the people that suffer with this terrible condition. Once again, thanks for listening to me………
