[ Arthritis ]

By Carrie Payne

Special to The Capital-Journal

I grew up in a warm healthy, family. I have a sister, and we were an ordinary family. My parents worked hard to make it and were even able to do quite well. They had insurance from my dad's job. They had a nice house they bought and made their own. They made everything for my sister and me simple, as any parent would do.

They have never asked for help or even attempted to get assistance from the government. They worked for all they have to this day.

Well, these last two years have been really hard on them. It started when my mother found out she has a chronic disease called rheumatoid arthritis. She won't be cured of it. They call it the crippling disease. She has been seeing one of the best doctors here. She has to travel two hours every few months to come and see him, but he is too good not to.

He put her on a medicine that cost at one time only $2,400 per treatment. She had to go to her local hospital and have it pumped intravenously. Now we have found out it will cost $5,800 per treatment. Maybe if she had to only do it once a year it wouldn't be too bad. But my mom has to do it every eight weeks.

Now my mom's doctors thought it would be helpful if she applied for

disability benefits, but Mom wasn't ready for that. She didn't think it would work.

My mom was still working at her job that she had been at for about four years now. The pain was getting too much so she decided to go part-time. Now, with the way our country is going, the company really couldn't afford to keep its part-time help, so they laid them off.

So now my mom is unemployed and they want her to go looking for another job. Now let's actually look at this picture: She doesn't have a job; she is getting unemployment; she can hardly do anything anymore without the pain and suffering.

But it gets even better. When she applies for the disability benefits they lose her first application and she has to apply again. Then a few weeks later she is denied. The reason: Her medical condition isn't significant enough.

What does that really mean? My mother worked as a sewing machine operator for over 10 years. She was able to make dresses for me and now my children. But in the last year she can't even cut out a piece of fabric. She can't use the scissors, because her hands can't work the way they used to.

The way we treat the elderly is amazing to me, because we don't treat them with respect. You know why our younger generation doesn't respect us? Because we have taught them not to.

When I was a little girl, my great-grandmother would tell me stories about how the Native Americans would treat their elders with respect because they were considered to be older and wiser. Do we do that now? No.

I learned that everything my parents, grandparents, and great- grandparents have to say comes from their hearts and from experience, not because they are trying to control our lives. They just want is best for me and my family.

Shouldn't we be doing the same for them? We as a country should worry about our elders and their concerns because one day we will be in the same boat. Let's show our elderly that they are worth the time and effort.

Carrie Payne lives in Topeka.

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