In her mid-twenties, Patricia Rae’s mobility was given an expiry date.
She was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) at age 24 and admitted to a hospital for complete bed rest in an orthopedic ward. At the time, she was a serious rower at Oxford University.
She said it’s important to know that disabilities aren’t always obvious at first sight.
Rae recalls being the youngest patient in the wing by about 50 years.
A doctor told her that she should expect to be in a wheelchair, with limited mobility, by the age of 40.
While RA meant Rae had to transition from rower to coach, it didn’t mean the end of her academic career.
Today, Rae works as a professor of English at Queen’s and held the position of department head between 2002-07.
“It’s really hard when you’re young and you have this disease and you know that there’s no cure for it and you can be really laid low by people’s predictions,” she said. “That’s why you have to be stubborn. I’m very stubborn, you have to be.”
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One in six Canadians over the age of 15 are reported to be living with RA — a disease that causes the body to attack the healthy tissues around certain joints causing inflammation.
Although it’s commonly known as an “old person’s” disease, RA can affect anyone, at any age.
While Rae’s battle with RA isn’t immediately obvious, she still must take precautions in her day-to-day life.
She’s able to receive accommodations from the University to exempt her from teaching classes in the early mornings and to keep her classrooms close to the underground parking lots.
She must also be careful with icy walkways and the stairs in lecture halls.
Rae added that she believes Queen’s has never denied her support in terms of getting help with her illness.
During her time as Department Head, Rae was granted time off when she had no choice but to take a break to have her knee replacement surgery.
“High pressure professionally and RA is a pretty tough combination,” she said.
Despite facing challenges with writing on the board if her hands are too painful, Rae teaches three times a week, as well as holding office hours and working from home.
Some days can be harder than others for those living with RA.
“I will often feel really nervous before a class, I just can’t go through with it and I can’t stand up there and do it, but the minute it gets started I lose that fear,” she said. “I find that I always end up being lifted up by the experience and I always feel better coming out than I do going in.”
As with most arthritis sufferers ,pain is constant, but swelling episodes in the joints come in waves throughout life and cause more pain.
Sometimes Rae said she waited too long before taking care of herself and asking for help when her disease reached a difficult point.
“I don’t like asking for help from anybody because somehow it seems like asking for help is weakening a little bit and you’re afraid of weakening and then giving in and giving up, or something like that,” she said.
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Each morning, Rae takes the time she needs to start her day — her husband brings her lattes in bed and gets her son off to school.
It’s common for those suffering with RA to experience immense pain and crippling stiffness in the mornings.
Despite the everyday pain she endures, Rae said she doesn’t consider her RA a disability.
“I do think it shapes those of us with it, it shapes us in a very profound way. It’s inseparable from who we are because of that need to fight against pain and fatigue, that just becomes part of who you are,” she said.
Every weekday, Rae picks up her son, who was diagnosed with ADHD from school.
She does what any parent would do to make sure her son does his homework and eats dinner.
“My biggest challenge has been being an arthritic mother of a hyperactive [child],” she said. “I can’t give in to arthritis, though, because what’s going to happen to him if I give up?”
Educating people about invisible diseases like RA will further accommodate and help those living with these struggles, she said.
“I think the solution has to lie partly in educating people and cultivating a culture where people understand that even thought they can’t see your disability, it’s real,” she said.
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