Living

I confess: I love to dance. Always have. I am a dancing fool, a dancing queen. For as long as I can remember, I’d throw out my limbs in a...

When I was 28 years old, I started having a strange sort of pain in my chest. It felt like something sharp was jabbing into me, just to the right...

Tuesday morning I had a routine 6-month appointment with my rheumatologist. It seems that time flies between appointments and our main priority, besides seeing how my RA is doing, becomes...

Many eons ago, not long after my diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, I went to the library to learn all I could about it. Ever since I’d taken Lamaze training so...

There’s a lot more to rheumatoid disease than meets the eye. When I first started learning more about this disease about ten years ago, thanks to an increasingly useful Internet...

Long ago, on a pretty autumn morning, I woke with a miserably aching right jaw. My first thought was that I had a toothache--a terrible thought indeed because I’ve always...

I have structured my life around maintaining health insurance coverage. Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at age 22, my mother quickly impressed on me the importance of having health insurance. She...

I recently had an interesting experience that led to me reflecting on when and how do we extend ourselves to others suffering with RA. Are there some boundaries we need...

I wrote an article last year about our experience in rectifying a potential financial crisis caused by insurance uncertainty. Through diligent communication with the pharmaceutical company that provides co-pay assistance...

Living with rheumatoid arthritis can feel like a nightmare, which sometimes leads me to daydream about things that would make this journey a little easier. If I could have one...

Inspired by writer Kelly Mack's questions in a recent article:"I struggle with the question: how much do I share about my RA? How much can others handle? How much do...

We’ve all had those seminal moments – instances where everything after that point changes. Maybe it was that moment when you knew you wanted to get married – or divorced...

We all know the little blue engine that pulled the train up the mountain by saying to itself, “I think I can. I think I can.” It turns out that...

What’s your first thought when someone tells you they’re sick? What if they say they’re chronically ill? I ask this because describing such things to others is full of potholes...

Among the many ongoing decisions associated with wisely managing Rheumatoid Arthritis, arguably the most crucial one is who to turn to for treatment.  First you must decide which medical professional...

I’m a regular user of Twitter--I love being able to talk to other people who share my interests or, in particular, people like me who cope daily with chronic illness...

The stage was set for a romantic evening. The kids were spending the night at grandma’s. The house was blissfully empty and quiet, with the whole evening ahead of us...

One of the many challenges we face as we move through the years managing a chronic disease like RA, is finding the balance between being vigilant about our health and...

Growing up, I learned early on that some families are plagued with health problems. When I was five years old my sister was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes, and our...

If you – or someone you love – live with a chronic illness, you may eventually need to take time off from your job to focus on a health issue...