Living

What do you wish someone told you about managing rheumatoid arthritis (RA) when you were initially diagnosed? Most people living with RA would likely agree that there is a lot...

I've been lucky enough to have had care with the same rheumatologist for the last 8 years, covering my diagnostic odyssey, medication trials, and luckily, now, several years of remission from...

I am not a good sick person. Now, this might seem bonkers considering I am a 3-decade alum of living with rheumatoid arthritis, but it’s true, and right now I...

My goodness, this has become a legitimate saga. If you've read my recent articles about my reproductive issues, they ended on a cliffhanger: the total laparoscopic hysterectomy and salpingectomy that...

Over the years, talking about my rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and explaining it to others has changed as I have shifted my mindset and experienced the progression of the disease. I...

As a newbie to methotrexate (MXT) therapy, I don’t always know what to expect. I’ll admit I’m a little lost when trying to connect my symptoms to the side effects...

It’s a new year, and always around this time people do that thing that is both hated, loved, anticipated, and dreaded all at once: the incomparable phenomenon called "New Year’s...

As human beings, probably since the beginning of time, it’s natural to think about how we fit into the "larger" society in which we find ourselves. It’s often how we...

If there is one unifying experience that almost everyone with RA (or any chronic illness) in the US has had — besides pain — it’s expensive medical bills. This is...

Guess what time it is? Yes, it's the New Year, and that means — you guessed it — the dreaded New Year’s resolutions. Every year, society bands together and conspires...

The year 2023 brought me into my 19th year of living with rheumatoid arthritis. I feel like rheumatoid arthritis has really sharpened my resiliency skills. Living with RA has strengthened...

Your suitcase is packed, passport and travel documents organized, and road trip snacks gathered; but like clockwork, joint pain, fatigue, and disappointment set in. How are you supposed to travel...

As the year draws to a close, many of us in the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) community are reflecting on both personal and shared journeys with the condition throughout 2023. This...

The first few times I heard these words from my daughter were about a year ago. She was around 3.5 years old, and not only really noticing things around her...

It may seem an obvious thing to say, but I have to point it out: surgery is challenging. For me (and I’m guessing many other folks with rheumatoid arthritis or...

Winter doldrums, blahs, blues. No matter what you call it, we are painful-knees-deep in the worst of it. Some people find that heat/hot days make their rheumatoid arthritis (RA) worse...

I have had issues with my teeth ever since my RA diagnosis (circa 2010). I went from perfect pearly whites to hell in my mouth in the span of a...

Why do those of us who live with rheumatoid arthritis and chronic illness make such good caretakers? Well, I think it comes down to 1 thing — the "e" word...

Going into the fall and winter months means the cold is returning, even to the warmest parts of the country. Around this time last year in Florida, our temperatures went...

Every fall as the weather turns colder and the leaves begin changing from green to red and orange, I curl up with a cozy blanket (and usually some ibuprofen) and...