Living

Last month my father underwent an arthroscopy, or knee cleaning. During high school, forty some years ago, he sustained a soccer injury where an opponent accidentally kicked him in the...

I spend a great deal of time considering what food to eat, especially since RA has brought along the fun side effect of added weight thanks to the medications I...

"Replace all of your lists of things to do with lists of how you want to feel." --Maryam Hasnaa I came across this quote by Maryam Hasnaa on Instagram some...

My mother’s death day anniversary was at the beginning of August. She passed away when I was 12 and not a day goes by that I don’t miss her. But...

I used to hate going to the doctor’s. It was time ill spent and usually came with needle sticks, blood and urine. Everything I disliked. I also was a very...

It’s nearing two decades since my diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis/rheumatoid disease (RA/RD). Before long, the post-diagnosis length of my life’s timeline will be longer than the stretch before I knew...

My first experience with numbness related to my life with rheumatoid arthritis occurred after my double knee replacement surgeries when I was a teenager. While the incision healed, I was...

Attempting to clean my bedroom the other day, I found a couple of worn old notebooks lying buried in a pile on the floor. I hadn't looked at them for...

At a recent conference, one of the marketing guru speakers argued that “we’re all competing against the best experience ever had by a customer!” It sounded nice, but I couldn’t...

“Ow, I hurt.” “WHY DIDN’T YOU ASK FOR HELP??” “...” I recently wrote an article asking why I continually push my limits. Many community members commented with their experiences with...

As I write this, I am at home in front of my computer instead of riding my bicycle.  Instead, I am sitting here nursing a broken foot one day away...

Even after all these years, I am still shocked (yes, shocked) by the vast number of outlandish ideas people have about rheumatoid arthritis. I thought, just by my own personal...

I’m sitting here writing with my stationary bicycle next to me and I’m pondering my next move. Do I force my painful, swollen knees and ankles to get on and...

One of my favorite summer shows is about a concierge doctor in the Hamptons, New York. In one episode, a patient spends his entire adult life with a MS diagnosis;...

It's July, and July in Minnesota (usually) means hot, muggy, humid, tropical, oppressive, and miserable weather. The miserable part is my own opinion, of course; some crazy people love living...

The title of this article is my favorite definition of pain. Pain is an unpleasant experience that is subjective in nature, with a physiological component; this definition may be more...

There is a lot of discussion of obesity and rheumatoid arthritis (including many great articles on this site). But I am given to wonder, which came first – the RA...

So, I’m just making my bed, a small chore I do every single morning without much thought. Neatening my bedroom for the coming day lightens my mood and puts a...

A very interesting thing happened to me a few weeks ago: I attended my 10-year high school reunion. First of all, I am not old enough for this reunion. Second...

I recently was talking to a good friend of mine who lives with ulcerative colitis, and the conversation turned toward how hard answers can be to seemingly innocuous and easy...