My life with Rheumatoid Arthritis
We were not giving up!
My name is Laninka Siamiyono. I'm 26 year old from Indonesia and this is my story. When I was 13, I got the wrong diagnosis from 3 doctors. The first doctor said I had typhus but after the treatment my body still didn't feel good. Then my parents took me to the another doctor and the 2nd doctor said I had iron deficiency (anemia), but after the treatment nothing had changed.
My body was still weak and sick. The 3rd doctor said there is something wrong with one of my lungs and again after the treatment nothing had changed. It kept getting worse. I felt pain all over my body and it felt like it was killing me.
My parents and I got very frustasted but we didn't give up! We came to another doctor, my last doctor, and everything seemed clear. Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) was the answer. Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that causes chronic inflammation of the joints and other areas of the body.
Rheumatoid Arthritis took everything
Sometimes, I hoped my diagnosis was right the first time I went to the doctor so I didn't have to start using a wheel chair. I was born "normal". I did basketball, swimming, and other sports, but RA took everything from me. My confidence, my "sports", my smile. For 10 years I was hiding from the world. I didn't want to meet my friends, and the worst thing was I didn't want to meet my family either. I felt ashamed of myself. I didn't like see myself in pictures but then I realized, that this was wrong and why should I be ashamed of myself? Why was I hiding?
This is me. This body is still me. There's no difference between me before, and me now.
All I want to say is you must accept waht God gives to you... Believe in yourself and you will find true happiness. Don't give up on yourself just because you are different, and don't let anyone stop you from doing something you love to do.
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