Living

Lately, people have been asking a lot how I cope with RA and the host of adorable secondary conditions that come with it. Well, here’s my answer: I just do!...

My husband and I were waiting for the train to Berlin’s central station when a group of young Asians exited the escalator onto the platform. They were obviously a little...

I knew that with our recent move from VT to VA, I would be facing the inevitable switch from my various medical team members, but I had no idea how...

Denial is a powerful coping mechanism. Sometimes the depth of a tragedy is too much to bear, and denial allows us to slowly accept the harsh reality we’ve just been dealt...

I will never forget the first RA flare I had. It was a warm summer morning in May, and I had just woken up from a night of tossing and...

There’s something so special about Thanksgiving. Like many holidays, we have the special foods and hopefully quality time with people that we love. But for me, it doesn’t have the...

A positive self-image is challenging under the best of circumstance, but when you have a disease like RA, self-image takes a hit from many angles. One of those for me...

I got some really surprising health advice from one of my doctors recently: “Don’t rush to the doctor. Sometimes stuff just happens.” And I totally appreciated the perspective. When I...

Recently, I had a routine dentist appointment that went a little awry. For the past 22 years, I have had a pretty clean track record with my dentist with having...

“The trouble with people nowadays is they don't know how to do nothing.” ―Iris Murdoch, A Severed Head, 1961 I recently read an interesting article in the New York Times, "The...

Receiving a rheumatoid arthritis/disease diagnosis tosses you into an ocean full of questions, doubts, fears, and my favorite: coping! Coping with RA/RD mirrors the stages of grief identified by Elizabeth...

It looks like, come November, I will be back into the full swing of RA. Again. A new surgery to fix my ankle that may last up to a year...

I am not ashamed to admit that I LOVE cooking shows. Ever since I was a little kid, hungrily watching The Galloping Gourmet and Julia Child, I have been watching...

I manage my RA best when I utilize routine as my foundational principle. I like to try to stick to an exercise regimen, eat healthy, etc.  I successfully manage my...

I’m very happy that it’s been more than six years since I was in a hospital facility. I had forgotten how I have to be constantly at the ready to...

Last night I had a nightmare. In my dream, I felt a strange sensation in my right wrist, and looked down to see a squirming bulge pulsing under the surface...

RA has slowed me down. I’ve talked about it and know that to be true. But, I’m a perfectionist, someone who micromanages their life to a microscopic level, furiously and...

Having a chronic illness like rheumatoid arthritis does something that even those who suffer from it may not realize – it slows everything down while at the same time speeding...

The seasons come and the seasons go, that’s pretty much as inevitable as reality show slap fights and people clamoring for the new iPhone. Unfortunately, what also comes with that...

The role that fear plays as it pertains to our RA is an important concept to keep in mind as we manage this chronic disease.  Fear is not just an...