Can't Move.
I couldn't move, paralyzed in the torpedo-like position. It only happens about once a week, but it still hurts. I remember when life used to be different. When I could wake up, jump out of bed, and go running. Those thoughts are merely dreams now. I"m eighteen years old, and I have had Psoriatic Arthritis since I was thirteen. Of course I didn't always know it was arthritis. I remember thinking, something is wrong with me; I can't do things like other kids. Everything started back in the summer of 1998.
That summer had started out like any other summer. All my friends and I were excited for the break from school. Those first few weeks I stayed up till two or three in the morning just playing Nintendo. After a while, I would wake up with my back burning with pain, and my feet were all swollen and it hurt to put any pressure on them. It was almost as if my entire foot was bruised. It came to the point that in the morning I couldn't walk. I would crawl on my elbows and knees up the stairs, just to get to the restroom. Even when I got there I couldn't use my wrists to support my body. So, using my elbows, I would hoist myself up using the countertop and the bathtub. I knew something was wrong and told my mother what had been going on. She took me to see the doctor, his diagnosis was possible carpal tunnel, but he wasn't sure. They were going to do a lot of tests to find out. A year went by, and we still could not solve my mystery case.
I went through ninth grade, finding out I couldn't do the things I used to do. I no longer could play volleyball, basketball, softball, or even play my clarinet. As tenth grade started, because of my ailment, I was reluctantly forced to drop band class and Marching Band. High School started out awful. During all the time that had passed since I started having stiff and painful movements, my fingers had started to deform.
