Does Psoriatic Arthritis Stand in the Way of Your Dreams?

Some people dream of being president. Other people dream of becoming doctors, lawyers, or veterinarians. However, all my life I wanted to be a mom. I am blessed with wonderful parents and a nearly picture-perfect childhood. I’ve always dreamt of giving the same gift to my own children someday.

It wasn’t until after the birth of my third child, that my health really took a turn for the worse. This was my first experience of my psoriatic arthritis standing in the way of my dreams.

Does psoriatic arthritis stand in the way of your dreams?

The random health issues and symptoms that I’d experienced over the years finally all made sense, culminating in the diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis and several other autoimmune conditions. Yes, I’ve been able to achieve my dream of becoming a mom, but what about actually being a mom?

What kind of mom can I be with psoriatic arthritis? I struggle with this question, probably more than I’d really like to admit.

How can I follow my dreams with the symptoms of psoriatic arthritis?

Some days it feels like that dream, that hope of being the mom that I’ve always wanted to be, is slowly slipping from my fingers. As each new medication comes and goes, my dream of being everything I thought I’d be, seems to get farther and farther away. It is difficult to hold onto hope. It is difficult to justify whether it even makes any sense to have dreams at all. Shouldn’t I just be happy with what I have?

No matter what your dream is, whether it is a certain job, lifestyle, or experience when you live with psoriatic arthritis it can feel like that dream gets more difficult to achieve with every flare that comes your way. It is hard to hold onto the realization of our dreams.

Sure, it may feel a little ridiculous to think about “dreams” when some days it is difficult to simply put one foot in front of the other. But without that ability to dream, what do we have?

Modifying your dreams

Yes, I may not ever the picture-perfect mom that I had envisioned and dreamt of myself being. But it is this dream, and aspiring for it that keeps me pushing through each day. Some days, it is this dream that even gets me out of bed.

If I cling tightly to it, my dream will keep me accountable for continuing to push forward. It will keep me on the right path of finding and making healthy lifestyle choices and being accountable for doing everything in my power to live my best life possible even with psoriatic arthritis.

Choosing to dream anyway

When it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter what your dream is. It may not be the same as mine, you may want to hobble and scream away from motherhood. The point is that we should not let psoriatic arthritis stand in the way of our dreams.

We might not live the picture-perfect lives that are portrayed in idyllic medication commercials, but that is okay. If we continue to strive, each day, to get a little closer we might just actually have our dreams come true before we even know it.