Darkness Into LightCOVID-19 has brought a lot of darkness into our lives and I feel like 2020 was a lost year of terror, stress, confusion, anxiety, and isolation--and of course a lot...Reactions0reactionsComments5 comments
Juvenile Arthritis in Adulthood: Talk About Confusing!I’m old enough to claim that I had to walk ten miles to school both ways in a snowstorm every day, but I’m not too old to have a disease...Reactions0reactionsComments8 comments
Summertime, Supportive Sandals, and RAOver the years, I’ve learned that my footwear choices directly impact my rheumatoid arthritis (RA) symptoms. This has often meant accepting that the cute or trendy shoes being worn by...Reactions0reactionsComments23 comments
"Invisible Illness": The Worst Name EverInvisible illness. I’ve always hated that term. Why? Because illness is always visible to someone, and in most cases, it’s the person who has it. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is number...Reactions0reactionsComments20 comments
Finding Me TimeWe all live very busy lives. There is always something to be done, someone who needs help, projects that need finishing. From the moment we wake up to the moment...Reactions0reactionsComments3 comments
Are You Seeing the Forest for the Trees?So lately, I have had trouble focusing my attention on RA management when it comes to sorting out how to deal with some issues I am now attempting to address. ...Reactions0reactionsComments2 comments
Summertime With Rheumatoid Arthritis: Keeping The Joy Like many people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), I look forward to summer. I live in the southwest United States and the summer here is magical. Dry weather, beautiful skies, and...Reactions0reactionsComments0 comments
Rheumatoid Arthritis and COVID-19Since late 2019, COVID-19 has become a household name. It has changed many aspects of daily life. Especially for those living with chronic conditions. "Quarantine," "social distancing," and "herd immunity"...Reactions0reactionsComments5 comments
WalkingDo you have any idea how many times walking is mentioned on this website? Yeah, me either. I searched for walking on the community website, and I got 138 pages...Reactions0reactionsComments12 comments
Summer on the Horizon: Heat and RACan you believe it's June? That means summer is here! Or, for those of us who live in Florida, summer has been here since the last week of March. It's...Reactions0reactionsComments8 comments
The Pandemic Has Been Hard on People with DisabilitiesIt’s not just you and me, the COVID-19 pandemic has been hard on people with disabilities according to research published recently in the Disability and Health Journal. “New Obstacles and...Reactions0reactionsComments3 comments
Trying to Conceive During My RA DiagnosisSmack dab in the middle of our long trying to conceive journey, the root of my chronic pain was given a name: rheumatoid arthritis (RA). I was totally shocked that...Reactions0reactionsComments3 comments
The Swing: My Experience of the Emotional/Physical Benefits of Swinging with Rheumatoid ArthritisDo you remember that feeling you had when you were riding on a swing as a child? I know that I certainly do. I clearly remember in my childhood the...Reactions0reactionsComments2 comments
Creating a Space for RA to Exist Is Not EasyReceiving a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is not something anyone really wants to experience. It's debilitating and causes so many other health problems including heart problems, lung problems, and...Reactions0reactionsComments11 comments
Is My Doctor Good Enough?I’ve asked myself this question regarding several of my doctors, perhaps too many times, in recent years. As a person who lives with multiple chronic diseases, primarily rheumatoid arthritis and...Reactions0reactionsComments26 comments
Family, Resentment, and Nuclear BombsI have been reading a lot latterly about our community members and their issues with family. It can be anyone – cousin, grandparent, even a pet. But more often than...Reactions0reactionsComments22 comments
New Perspectives on Nutrition for RAA new article in Rheumatology Advisor highlights recent findings on nutrition for people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). “Role of Nutrition in Protecting Against Disease Risk and Progression in Rheumatoid Arthritis”...Reactions0reactionsComments6 comments
I'm Over It: Coping With RA When You Really Don't Want toI have lived with symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) since I was a child. Since before I went through puberty. Since the days of adolescent activities, “easy, normal lives,” and...Reactions0reactionsComments61 comments
The RA RollercoasterThere was a time when I thought life was linear. I would go to school, graduate high school, go to college, take one year off, go to vet school, do...Reactions0reactionsComments7 comments
Fatigue in Young Adults with Juvenile Idiopathic ArthritisResearchers recently published an interesting new study “Fatigue in young adults with juvenile idiopathic arthritis 18 years after disease onset: data from the prospective Nordic JIA cohort” in Pediatric Rheumatology...Reactions0reactionsComments3 comments