14/50 - Grim hands

The remission lasted for as long as the initial active period did – ten years. She’s trying to readjust her thinking so that she can accept, reluctantly, the fact of the disease’s return. She can’t ignore it any more. Her hands have a constant, dull headache in them that spikes whenever she stresses the joints by lifting a coffee pot, or shutting a car door. Tying her shoes. For five weeks, her hands have hurt. Now her hope lies in her new VA medical card, her appointment upcoming. She tries to detach. She is re-learning the grim dance of rheumatoid arthritis.