Table 7.

Exemplars of perceptions related to coping measures.

“…you just have to learn and say to yourself well there are, you know, my God, there are kids in the hospital that have cancer. You know this is like really nothing. This is nothing to what they’re going through.” (White RA)

“I realize that, you know, changes come whether you have arthritis or not. If you live long enough that change is going to come, because the Bible tells us that. It says ‘if by reason of strength, we live to be 70 years old, and if we live above that then those years will bring misery and things in our lives and see I am experiencing that now. And I accept that because it is the Word of God. And accepting that I can be as happy as can be.” (Black-RA)

“Well, it doesn't make you feel very good that you can’t do it but by the same token, you have to say well you know at least you are blessed that there is always someone that is in worse condition than you are, so you have to say well you know, this is what I have to deal with.” (Black-FM-RA).

“You really have to make a change in attitude. And when I say mind over matter, I really mean it. I mind that my body does this and I’m not going to let it get the better of me… You have to give yourself a mindset that you’re not going to succumb to it because it would be very easy to sit down in a chair and never get back up again.” (White-FM)

“For me it is because if I gave in to what my body is doing, I wouldn’t do anything. And I wouldn’t have any pleasure in my life and you get not to do things.” (White FM-RA)

“I learned that one thing I could do is separate myself from the pain, you know. I am not the pain. Pain’s something that I’m experiencing, something that I have a relationship with, and so therefore we named him “Arthur.” (White-RA)