I know it seems kind of obvious, but could Luke have succeeded without Han and Leia? Could Frodo have accomplished his mission without Sam Gamgee? Harry had Ron and Hermione, and Thelma had Louise. Everyone going on a journey needs some friends.

Having a strange illness that most people don’t understand can be a bit like being Peter Parker, only without the super-powers. One day you wake up and you feel like you’re in someone else’s body. Like you’ve been bitten by a radioactive spider, and have nothing cool to show for it.

In my case, it was as if overnight I’d inherited the body of someone who had smoked a carton of cigarettes and downed a bottle of gin the night before.

The confusion and frustration that I initially felt when I first became ill was a lot like Dorothy getting dropped off in Oz. I imagine that she looked around and had no idea which way to go or what to do, and she was probably a little nauseous from that spinning house. Eventually though, she found some folks to help her out. And if you remember, none of them were remotely like Dorothy, who was a skinny kid from Kansas. Her new helpers were a beautiful witch, a lion, a tin man, and a scarecrow – a pretty diverse crew. But they all had one thing in common, they needed help.

When I eventually came to the point of a mental acceptance that I was dealing with a type of inflammatory arthritis, I did what anyone with a decent internet connection did, and started Googling. Eventually I came across the extremely helpful and informative site RA Warrior, hosted by Kelly O’Neill. Finding Kelly’s site was like finding a compass; it gave me a road map and some directions. Her book, “Rheumatoid Arthritis Unmasked: 10 Dangers of Rheumatoid Disease” is packed with information and resources for anyone who is dealing with this sometimes bizarre illness.

To continue the analogy, Kelly helped me get to the Yellow Brick Road.

The next thing I did was look for some support groups. Facebook is definitely not perfect, but there’s nothing quite as effective at bringing like-minded people together in this day and age. Now this may not be for everyone, but connecting with people who were experiencing the same sorts of things that I was going through was a pretty amazing feeling. Suddenly I didn’t feel so alone, or so crazy. I felt like I’d found my “tribe”.

Tribe: A group of friends that becomes your family.

Urban Dictionary

Don’t get me wrong; I love my actual “for real” family. They’re all awesome. But they can only get so far into my skin and my experience. Talking with, commiserating with, and praying with folks who have the same ailment as I do (sometimes at 2:00 AM) is very therapeutic for me. Some of my new friends are farther down the road than I am; they can help me recognize pitfalls and signposts that I may have missed on my own.

Sure, there can sometimes be the usual drama associated with any social media outlet, but there are a lot of different groups out there and chances are, you can find one that is a good fit.

Godspeed.