TOLERATING ATHRITIS
Kgasa’s full of hope despite living with rheumatoid arthritis
Everyone experiences pain at some point in their lives. But for some people like Goaba Zoe Kgasa (28), chronic and often debilitating pain is an everyday occurrence. Kgasa remembers how at 21, she got her first symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis, an autoimmune condition, where the immune system aggressively targets the body’s healthy tissues and joints rather than germs and viruses. When this happens, the joints can become stiff and inflamed and cause pain. RA affects the small joints of the hand, wrist, and feet before affecting larger joints and if left untreated can cause deformity and disability. “I was a healthy, optimistic student, studying Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply with a part time job as a debt collector. Life had its challenges but it was good, I was good,” she told The Midweek Sun. She woke up one day and her wrists were achy and sore. It would be the beginning of life with the chronic condition with its invisible pain and life-changing impact. A year later, the pain would get more severe and had spread to other parts of the body. “I would feel stiffness in my fingers and fleeting joint pains moving from my knuckles to my wrists, shoulders, elbows and knees would get swollen, making it near impossible to move around.” It wasn’t until after the onset of her symptoms that she was finally diagnosed with RA. Her young age contributed to the difficulty in pinpointing the cause of her symptoms, as the disease more typically develops in people several decades older. She had to give up work and school and had to move back home. “It was painful having to give up things that were important to me. Suddenly I couldn’t take care of myself, couldn’t provide for myself and had to rely on other people to take care. Some days you can’t bath or dress yourself, or you get so fatigued that you can’t complete a simple task, you give up your hobbies and social life because your body can’t cope,” she said. A lifelong disease such as this one, Kgasa explained, doesn’t just bring physical challenges. Depending on how you view it, the mental and emotional impact can be even more debilitating than the disease itself at times. You get disheartened that formerly simple tasks are no longer as easy to do. “I battled depression and anxiety and lost so much weight during that time. I couldn’t wrap my head around how out of nowhere I suddenly didn’t have input in anything in my life. It pained me that I couldn’t take care of my son or provide for him and I had lost my independence,” she shared. Now, living five years with the diagnosis, Kgasa works on controlling her RA with a positive attitude, physio therapy and medication. She never knows when the flares will come, but she has learned what works best when they do come. She says warm baths with Epsom salt and apple cider vinegar or a heating pad can help tame her pain. When the pain is on the extreme side, she increases the dosage of her pain killers. People have misconceptions about RA, Kgasa says. Many are surprised that she experienced the disease at such a young age. “A lot of people don’t believe it can happen, they think it’s witch craft. But she explains that “it can happen to anyone at anytime and everyone’s RA is totally different.” She also had to learn that people can control their RA in very different ways. Some people make a certain change to their diet and it really helps their pain. But other people make the same change and don’t benefit. That can be frustrating, especially for those who are newly diagnosed, Kgasa says. “You have to give yourself and your body so much grace,” she says.
Kgasa also points out that RA is different from other kinds of arthritis, such as osteoarthritis and psoriatic arthritis, which are more common. Each affects people differently. “With chronic illness, most of us had to give up some things, lost others, and had dramatic life changes, but how we choose to view it can make all the difference. I have not given up on life and though pain may be a fact of my daily life,” she says, adding, “I am not ruled by it.” Kgasa says her passion right now is focused on making her businesses successful. One, POTKAM Group deals with general supplies, building and maintenance amongst others. She also makes hand knitted beanies and scarfs and also runs Palm Creatives for her skincare line. She says the good days far outweigh the bad. She focuses on the positives, including that her first-hand experience can help others who are struggling. She has become an advocate on social media for RA awareness, sharing her experience and she has also created a Whatsapp group where she helps people who have questions about their RA find not just answers of where to find some medication but emotional support as well. “I always use the hashtag #WheelswithHope to reach out to anyone who might be going through a hard time or feeling like giving up. I want them to have hope, that even in their darkest days, you can still do better and have great things happen to you,” Kgasa said.