Living

While the holidays can be wonderful, all the holiday cheer can also highlight the aspects of our lives that make it hard to feel cheerful. RA can bring out the...

"Your prescription may be changing" is how the letter I received recently from my pharmacy began. It may be changing? As I read further, there was no question about it--the...

While the holidays can be wonderful, all the holiday cheer can also highlight the aspects of our lives that make it hard to feel cheerful. RA can bring out the...

I recently accepted a part-time position as a patient advocate at the Hospital for Special Surgery. And by part-time, I mean 9 am to 5 pm, four days a week...

I always thought I would have a family. As a kid we would talk about “when I have kids.” A boy, a girl—little people that would be a little like...

I was truly avoiding getting the flu shot this year. After being hospitalized for a severe case of cellulitis after getting the pneumonia vaccine several years ago, I’m not the...

I’ve been poked, prodded and pinched. I’ve been yelled at, accused of imagining my disease and pain, and told I wasn’t getting better because I didn’t want to. In my...

Has anyone ever said to you, “Well, if you have to have Rheumatoid Arthritis, now is the best time to have it”? If you have heard this while experiencing a...

As we move into November we begin to think about the upcoming holidays. For most of us the holidays will bring family visits and other special events. While many of...

Those of us who have rheumatoid arthritis (RA) tend to be quite familiar with the standard laundry list of symptoms associated with this condition, like pain, joint swelling, and fatigue...

On the first day, I thought my cheek was sore. I tried to retrace the activities of the day before. Had one of the kids inadvertently bopped me in the...

In honor of Halloween, I thought it would be entertaining to think about the spooky aspects of living with rheumatoid arthritis. It feels like every day I notice some strange...

The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) encompassing the jaw is one of the most complex and misunderstood joints in the body. There are multiple muscles, bones and soft tissues involved in motions...

Throughout the years I’ve accumulated quite a collection of scars.  If I were a painted canvas, I would be an original, abstract piece of modern art. Instead, I’m a walking...

By now, you’ve probably heard of the now infamous Kanye West incident, in which he refuses to continue a concert until everyone in attendance was standing up. One fan had...

I regularly fight the pull and tug of fatigue. My body saying “I don’t want to get up,” “I don’t want to exercise,” “I don’t want to go out and...

It was Thursday about lunchtime. I’d decided I could no longer ignore the flare. My main RA treatment had quit working and even though I’d started on the replacement drug...

Beyond the many concerns and questions of being a caregiver I shared previously, I don’t have much experience dealing with the healthcare system. Lisa is quite independent and so she...

“At least it’s not cancer.”  Have you heard this before? In the fourteen years since my diagnosis, I have heard this statement countless times from well-intentioned people who are trying...

When I was diagnosed with lupus and RA in 2008, I never imagined that anything worse could ever happen to me. It seemed like being diagnosed with multiple incurable chronic...