My name is Meredith Boutte. I'm 34, a stay at home mom of a smart 8-year-old boy and have had a wonderful boyfriend for two years. I was first diagnosed about 6 years ago. During that time, I was a full-time student working towards becoming a nurse. I was doing a great job in school. When I first got sick, it took about a year to be diagnosed. There were a lot of doctor visits and a whole lot of throwing fits just so that doctors would listen to me. At one point, I told the doctor that if they did not admit me I was going to hurt myself. It's sad that I had to go through such drastic extremes to get someone to listen to me, but it worked. Soon after the hospital stay I was referred to a rheumatologist. That changed my life forever. At that time the diagnosis was such a relief because I was finally going to get help. I didn’t feel crazy anymore, yet the news put me into a state of depression. The only thing I knew about RA was what I had read and the pict