Hi, my name's HobbitMama - I'm 34, a cello teacher, I live in Eastbourne, East Sussex with my fiancee and 3 children, and I think I have RA with perhaps some AS and maybe some OA. Gatchaman (my fiancee) is 37 and is a video editor, who's just arranged to work from home 3 days a week, to help with my 'condition', and is the most wonderful, kind, funny, beautiful, generous, loving and selfless man I know. He's a true hero.

My children are all fantastic too - Hobbit, my daughter, is 11 going on 17, again, one of the most wonderful children I know. The other two most wonderful children are my two sons. Wilbo (or Wada) is 7 and Little Bear is 11 months. I have the most amazing family, for which I am very grateful to have.

I said 'I think' I have RA/AS/OA because after suffering with this for well over a decade, I'm still only at the point where I'm waiting to see the rheumy. (Can you tell I've been reading the boards for a while? :) ) I have to say it is also somewhat ironic that as a disabled person, the only work I can do is teach an instrument I can no longer play as well as some of my students.

My GP, who I've had since I moved down here at 13, has always thought I was a hypochondriac, and although it's been really bad, affecting my gait and so on, since Wilbo's birth, nothing had been found because they'd pushed me from gynae to gastro and back. I even took out a loan in 2005 to get a laparoscopy to try and get some answers, as I'd split up with Hobbit and Wilbo's dad and had to get a job to meet the mortgage. Without knowing what was happening, I struggled with being a single mum and working all school hours as a TA, from 2005 - 2007, when I met Gatchaman.

There have been various theories as to my hip problem - apart from suspicions of it being a gynae or bowel problem, I also thought it might have been caused by a botched c-section, especially as it had got significantly worse after having Wilbo. Still, it wasn't until my leg gave way one too many times that I went and saw another (trainee) GP at my surgery, who thought it might be OA, so sent me off for an x-ray in mid October 09. A week later (v memorable, both Gatchaman and Hobbit's birthday on the same day), I saw my GP who said there was bone degeneration in both hips, pelvis, and lower spine - basically it sounded like it was over the entire x-ray. I said 'Well, it's nice to know I haven't been imagining things over the past decade', He didn't have much to say in answer to that. Still, he insisted that it was OA, insinuated that it was probably caused by my being overweight. I asked him what the next step was, and he said all he could do was refer me to the physio.

The physio, on my initial assessment, said he thought it was probably RA, as I seemed to be quite young for it to be OA, and combined with the other symptoms and the amount of pain I was in, thought he would refer me in 6 weeks if I showed no signs of improvement with the exercises. So, I decided I needed to change my GP before anything else happened. I tried to be discreet about it, but the surgery made a bit of a fuss. However I stuck to my guns, and managed to persuade them to get me under another GP - thank the UNIVERSE!! She immediately upped my painkillers, and sent me for a RF blood test. Negative. Bemused, she sent me for a CRP and I think, an ESR. Just before Crimble, I got the results - both were positive, and they have finally referred me to the rheumy, who I'm seeing on 10th Feb. A very long battle for something that should have been quite simple.

I now have it ragingly over my whole body - naturally, my 3 pregnancies have been quite good, some minor pre-eclamptic problems, but otherwise ok. It's afterwards that it gets worse and this time it's completely incapacitating me. I have problems picking things up, can't bend down, can't tie my own bloody shoelaces or put my own socks on, can't carry a saucepan with food in, and of course, looking after the children and the house is practically impossible, even with the huge amount of help I get from Gatchaman and my mum. The washing is piled so high now it falls on the floor and covers the bedroom floor, because it's all we can do to keep the kids fed, washed, homeworked, got to their school, swimming, karate, choir and tennis on time, even though Hobbit and Wilbo spend every other day at their dad's. My 60-something year old step mum, is at least twice, if not three times the speed of me, at everything. She took me to town the other day after my wedding dress tailor told me she couldn't shorten my dress. SuperGran (my mum) thought it would cheer me up. So she drove me right into town, parked as close as possible to the shop, we went in, tried 2 dresses on, went to another shop and tried another 2 on, before I had to go and pick up Wilbo for swimming. (She went to get Hobbit, as it's not possible to do both because of the times they go in/come out.) That, just trying on 5 dresses, triggered a flare up.

I don't know what the future holds, but we're hanging on in there. Just. Cry? I had a little one after the blood test results. Other than that, I haven't had the time or the energy to. Think I might need some anti-depressants soon though. I'm already on tramadol, paracetamol, codeine, naproxen, glucosamine, cod liver oil, let's shake, rattle and roll 'em some more, eh?