Living

I have long loved IKEA. Years before a store came to Atlanta, I used to love leafing through the catalog of perfectly constructed rooms, with their clever touches and modern...

At my last check-up with my rheumatologist, I was feeling pretty frustrated. I’d been in more pain than usual the week prior to my appointment, and as a result the...

Do you every have one of those days when you just don’t want to hear other people’s gripes? You’re in pain and your joints feel like they are on fire...

This October will mark a year of Vicodin and other hydrocodone combination products (HCPs) being reclassified by the DEA into a stricter category of controlled substances--from a Schedule III drug to...

I have a hard time talking about my pain and illness with others. It’s something I’m trying to get better at, especially with close friends. Fundamentally, I struggle with the...

It seems that so much of our time managing RA centers around the main aspects of the disease itself, i.e. the joint pain, swelling, fatigue, etc. that it may be...

I’ll admit it: I’ve never had great penmanship. As a young child, I was an overachiever with report cards filled with “E’s” for “excellent.” The one exception was penmanship, for...

Disclaimer: Some of the programs mentioned below have been discontinued. We're in the process of updating this information. Managing a chronic disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, can be made more...

Ever since the day I was first issued my handicapped parking placard, I have been waiting for someone to give me a hard time about it. I’ve heard horror stories...

It was time to make my quarterly appointment with my rheumatologist. I called the Veteran’s Administration Health Care Appointments number and waited, as usual, through several repeats of the recorded...

Hello from Brooklyn, New York! I'm back! Okay, maybe you didn't know I was even gone, but I took a two-week trip back home to Minnesota in early July to...

When I was in college, I loved staying out until the wee hours of the night going dancing or to concerts, then sleeping until noon and spending the rest of...

When does someone's "friendly" advice cross the line and turn unhelpful or even hurtful? Is unsolicited advice really an effort at friendship and support, or is it bossiness and ego/arrogance...

In recent months, I’ve been struggling with an inflammation of the eyelids called blepharitis. Warning: this is gross! I wake up with yellow crusties on my eyelids and a sticky...

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. Sitting in my car in...

Our healthcare system can be extremely complicated for patients to navigate. And, all too often, it seems like patients are a captive audience, with little to no power to influence...

When I returned home from my last knee replacement surgery I had nurse visits, home rehabilitation with a physical therapist, and also occupational therapy (OT) for helping me adjust to...

So the other day I was at my computer. I was researching an article, surfing the Web for credible background, reading, and taking the occasional note. It wasn’t particularly pleasant...

This past weekend, I traveled with Lisa for a 1-day patient blogger conference held in Chicago, IL. The event, hosted by a pharmaceutical company, was arranged to gather feedback from...

The RA diagnosis and disease management journey can often feel overwhelming, especially when the number of your symptoms increases over time. Are you curious to know how your experience compares...