What Rheumatoid arthritis (Reuma in Finnish) is to me ?

Pain, ache, agony, blood tests, surgical operations, hospitals and doctors.

What have rheumatoid arthritis given me ?

New wonderfull friends, life experience and tenacity.


I was 13 years old when I  noticed this illness on me. My mom and I started to clean our home on Christmas time, it was year 1979. I tried to clean my room but I couldnt because I had serious pain in my wrists, they were swollen and very much in pain. My mom ask me to go and see a nurse in my school.
So I went there and begd for appointment time to the doctor, but this nurse didn't even look at my hands or anything, just she told me to go home and rest "it is just growing pain" she said to me.
I went to see this nurse for beging time to see doctor many times for months, and always I got this same answer, just growing pains.

In June 1980 I couldnt keep myself up anymore I was too tired all the time, of course my infection level in my blood was very high. My mom was worried about me when she noticed my condition. So she made a decision to call to the private doctor. It took five days to get appointment time to a doctor, and during this five days my illness spread in to my legs.

Then came a day when I had appointment with my doctor. This doctor was a male and a rheumatoligist. Right a way when I entered to his practice he said "oh a new Reuma patient". I didn't know about Reuma, what is this illness I was thinking, am I dying or what is going on. I was young and scared. And the worse thing was that nobody told me anything about this illness in that time. This doctor just called to the hospital in Heinola, that is the best place to treat this illness in Finland.

Heinola Reuma foundation hospital is the best hospital to treat child patient who has this illness.
So I went to Heinola first of June in 1980. I had to be there 2 months. First two weeks I just cried, I didn't know anything about this illness and I saw little babies (6 month old was youngest) witch has this illness and young children with twisted legs and fingers. I was looking at them and thinkig is that me after few years ? It was painfull to look at and scary.
In Heinola, durng this two months, they started to treat my illness with medicine painkillers, cortisone and myocrisin (in finnish we call it gold(kulta) and my both wrists had to operate. Operation is called synovectomy. (In inflammatory arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis, some patients with isolated chronic joint swelling can sometimes benefit by arthroscopic removal of the inflamed joint tissue (synovectomy).

To the Heinola I went only few times after that, for exchange of medication.

When I was 16 years old, I began treatment in Muhos Päivärinne, Oulu
In Päivärinne I was operated on several occasions. (seven times).

The hospital of Päivärinne was closed in 1993 and I began treatment in OYS Oulu.

I have been in 31 surgical operation of those 30 years of disease.