I sat in the lobby and realized I was the youngest person in the room. This was not a shock. It wasn't the first time this happened. My mother has rheumatoid arthritis. She has had it for as long as I can remember. Over the years, I have been in many waiting areas. She used to take us with her to appointments when we were children. I was always aware that my mother was too young to be in a rheumatologist's office. Most of the patients were much older than she and didn't have three children tagging along. On Wednesdays Ed would take us to get frozen yogurt and to visit Roy D, our great grandfather. (I didn't like Roy D very much. He was rather grumpy. ) My mother would go to the hospital for blood work. She has taken gold, methotrexate, azulphidine, arava, plaquenil, vioxx, celebrex, humira...you name it...she's had it. Most of these drugs can cause damage to a person's liver or kidneys. That was the reason for frequent blood work.
I went to see a rheumatologist earlier this year. I don't have any problems, but given my family history of RA, I kind of feel like a ticking time bomb. As I sat in the lobby, I looked around at the familiar types of patients. The one thing I was shocked by was the woman who stopped me as I was leaving that day. She caught me by the hand and said, "I know you're young, but I promise you will be okay." After her touching display of concern, I didn't have the heart to tell her that I'm not sick; I was there simply for extensive lab work because of my family history. I smiled and thanked her.