Living

My fall semester is in full swing and I have come up with a great routine for studying and keeping up with my schoolwork. I wrote an article, recently, on...

It all happened in slow motion. The ceramic bowl bounced off the drying rack, off the counter, and swan dove right into the floor. The shrapnel erupted upwards in an...

Lately, I have noticed a burning desire to just step away from everything RA. The question is: How do I take this timeout and will it affect my ability to...

I was in one of the worst flareups I had ever had. My doctor had been talking with me about switching my biologics. However, I just never know if the...

That sounds like the name of a futuristic sitcom, doesn’t it? (By the way, I lay copyright on that name.) The current pandemic has changed the way we live. Everything...

As the coronavirus and flu season collide, this upcoming fall and winter will look different this year. Here in the United States, it is important to know how to protect...

I very much feel and know the importance of quality exercise for best maintenance of me and my rheumatoid arthritis. The RA is less fierce when I get my regular...

I have been contemplating the meaning of real.  In popular culture, we sometimes use words that mean the opposite of "real" as part of an idiom.  Like for instance: "pie...

I have been using bone broth on a daily basis for the last 1 year and 8 months to help manage my rheumatoid arthritis. I was hesitant at first about...

I’ve always loved animals. When I was a kid, I joked that I was going to be a wild animal vet and my little brother had to be my assistant for...

I just moved apartments during a pandemic — all while having rheumatoid arthritis. And it was difficult. There was so much stuff to move and so many problems. However, I...

My diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis was not immediate upon reporting vague symptoms to my primary care doctor as early as 2004. The main reason is that my laboratory results did...

For the past year, my right ankle has been listing, like a boat that is slowly sinking. And lately, I’ve noticed that my shoes are getting worn to the nub...

One of the most impactful things I have had to learn since being diagnosed with RA is the art of prioritizing. We know that RA is draining: between fatigue, injections...

I sometimes feel like an armadillo. Sounds very strange, I know.  But I think it is intriguing to look at how we relate to other animals in nature in terms of...

I’m not sure what’s been making my RA worse lately, but my joints are in a lot more pain and my bloodwork has gotten worse. So much to the point...

I haven’t been out much in the last few months. (Understatement of the year, right?!) So, I actually am not used to being around people. Other than living with my...

I can remember, from an early age, loving to color. I would spend hours upon hours choosing the perfect colors for my picture. Absolutely, I would get lost in my...

As many as a third of people with rheumatoid arthritis/rheumatoid disease (RA/RD) are diagnosed with what is called seronegative rheumatoid arthritis. This means that rheumatoid factor is not present in...

Rheumatoid arthritis has become such an integrated part of my life that it is hard to believe it’s been 13.5 years since I was diagnosed. Fortunately, I’ve learned a few...