Sympathy vs Understanding: Others Simply Can't Relate to My Life with RARecently, I wrote about a day where I was just over it. I didn’t want to deal with another aspect of living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and I felt so...Reactions0reactionsComments18 comments
Beach Days Are Still Possible with RA: 5 Tips & Tools to Help You PrepareI remember those days when I would just decide to head to the beach, without much planning. Then in my 20s, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and thought...Reactions0reactionsComments2 comments
Living Outside Your Comfort Zone and Drinking Poop Coffee"Out of your comfort zone." We say this phrase all the time. It’s part of the American English vernacular that has withstood the test of time when describing doing something...Reactions0reactionsComments5 comments
Let's Talk About StressStress is a hot-button topic for people with chronic illnesses. Stress is gasoline on the fire of autoimmune symptoms. No matter where our disease activity currently sits, stress will magnify...Reactions0reactionsComments2 comments
Breaking AccessibilityPeople who don’t need accessibility often don’t notice it or don’t appreciate the tenuous nature of it. They think any ramp is accessible or moving something to a different location...Reactions0reactionsComments6 comments
Tips and Tools for Making RA Life EasierOver the years, I have purchased, borrowed, and/or rented a variety of tools and devices to make life with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) go a little smoother. Some have been amazingly...Reactions0reactionsComments17 comments
Cushing's Diagnosis: Juggling Multiple Chronic Illnesses with RAI guess I've been writing a series of articles lately on my story and experiences with getting diagnosed with some endocrine disorder. The possibilities have varied widely: from Cushing's to...Reactions0reactionsComments4 comments
That One Time with Rinvoq: My Experience with a JAK InhibitorOver the years with my RA diagnosis, I have tried many medications. I tried many of the TNF inhibitors, the JAK inhibitors, DMARDs, NSAIDs, and good old-fashioned steroids, all with...Reactions0reactionsComments1 comments
Darkness Into LightCOVID-19 has brought a lot of darkness into our lives and I feel like 2020 was a lost year of terror, stress, confusion, anxiety, and isolation--and of course a lot...Reactions0reactionsComments5 comments
Juvenile Arthritis in Adulthood: Talk About Confusing!I’m old enough to claim that I had to walk ten miles to school both ways in a snowstorm every day, but I’m not too old to have a disease...Reactions0reactionsComments8 comments
Summertime, Supportive Sandals, and RAOver the years, I’ve learned that my footwear choices directly impact my rheumatoid arthritis (RA) symptoms. This has often meant accepting that the cute or trendy shoes being worn by...Reactions0reactionsComments21 comments
"Invisible Illness": The Worst Name EverInvisible illness. I’ve always hated that term. Why? Because illness is always visible to someone, and in most cases, it’s the person who has it. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is number...Reactions0reactionsComments20 comments
Finding Me TimeWe all live very busy lives. There is always something to be done, someone who needs help, projects that need finishing. From the moment we wake up to the moment...Reactions0reactionsComments3 comments
Are You Seeing the Forest for the Trees?So lately, I have had trouble focusing my attention on RA management when it comes to sorting out how to deal with some issues I am now attempting to address. ...Reactions0reactionsComments2 comments
Summertime With Rheumatoid Arthritis: Keeping The Joy Like many people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), I look forward to summer. I live in the southwest United States and the summer here is magical. Dry weather, beautiful skies, and...Reactions0reactionsComments0 comments
WalkingDo you have any idea how many times walking is mentioned on this website? Yeah, me either. I searched for walking on the community website, and I got 138 pages...Reactions0reactionsComments12 comments
Summer on the Horizon: Heat and RACan you believe it's June? That means summer is here! Or, for those of us who live in Florida, summer has been here since the last week of March. It's...Reactions0reactionsComments8 comments
The Pandemic Has Been Hard on People with DisabilitiesIt’s not just you and me, the COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on people with disabilities according to research published recently in the Disability and Health Journal. “New Obstacles and...Reactions0reactionsComments3 comments
Trying to Conceive During My RA DiagnosisSmack dab in the middle of our long trying to conceive journey, the root of my chronic pain was given a name: rheumatoid arthritis (RA). I was totally shocked that...Reactions0reactionsComments3 comments
The Swing: My Experience of the Emotional/Physical Benefits of Swinging with Rheumatoid ArthritisDo you remember that feeling you had when you were riding on a swing as a child? I know that I certainly do. I clearly remember in my childhood the...Reactions0reactionsComments2 comments