Articles

My next acupuncture appointment is coming up soon and I'm looking forward to it, as always. It feels great to get back into having acupuncture regularly again after quite a...

I remember the first time I noticed an advertisement about rheumatoid arthritis medications. The patients were smiling and doing everything they wanted! I thought I had failed when my medications...

As some of you may or may not know, I authored a piece last month where I talked about a question that I get asked often. The “if you could...

Like many of us, I’ve been forced to learn as much as I can about rheumatoid arthritis in the years since my diagnosis. As a bit of a researcher, I’ve...

A couple of years ago, my husband Richard and I had a great time seeing Phil Collins in concert. We were excited to see him perform as he doesn’t tour...

I am not a big drinker; I never have been. I drink socially on occasion, but I never felt the appeal to drink in excess. I just don’t enjoy the...

Swimming in the springs isn't the same when you have RA. You have to take care of yourself and your body wherever you go. I jumped off the dock into...

Living with rheumatoid arthritis for most of my life, I’ve had plenty of time to figure out what helps and hurts me daily. Like many people, that doesn’t mean I...

"I dream of never being called resilient again in my life. I'm exhausted by strength. I want support. I want softness. I want ease. I want to be amongst kin...

A common thread in our community discussions is the lack of family understanding and support you might face when you live with a chronic condition. It’s easy to feel betrayed...

Someone asked me the other day, “If you could go back and not have RA, would you do it?” It’s a question they love to ask in interviews and it...

Methotrexate is a common drug prescribed to people with inflammatory forms of arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. In an autoimmune disease, a person's immune system mistakes healthy cells for foreign...

In the first part of this history lesson on RA, we summarized the 3 theories of RA origin and discussed the role of skeletal remains in support of the various...

Cats are very perceptive animals. In my case, my cat, Missy, always seems to know when something is wrong with me, both physically and mentally. When I'm stressed, I find...

Recently, I was sitting in the waiting room of one of my doctors’ offices, and I whispered to my husband Richard, “I’m not scared. I’m terrified.” He reached over to...

One of the perennial challenges of living with rheumatoid arthritis is the question of maintaining the current status of treatment and management choices. Is there a point at which it...

Seronegative. What does that word mean? While it may sound like something you don’t want to catch, it actually is just a fancy word for the fact that some people...

"Sometimes our stop-doing list needs to be bigger than our to-do list." --Patti Digh I came across this quote by author and speaker Patti Digh on a Facebook page I...

I’ll never forget the day I put on my first pair of tap shoes and ballet slippers. I was 6 and that day changed my life forever. Throughout the years...

My apologies to those of you who cringed at the grammar. My southern is showing! We deal with so many issues related to a rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis. Pain, joint deformity...