Articles

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...

I can imagine that at first glance the notion of laughing about a chronic disease borders on absurdity. But let me make a case for why laughing can actually improve...

Recently I went to pick up my kids from preschool, and was feeling really achy. There had been a series of storms and temperature fluctuations all week, and the shifts...

I have a new dermatologist. It wasn’t really a choice. My previous dermatologist of many years passed away and the practice was sold. My records weren’t even in the system...

When I was young, I thought rheumatoid disease (arthritis) was something only old people had. Then I got it myself. I was only 31. I learned that there were other...

It’s always a gamble, a guessing-game to get the medications right. I think of it as a delicate balance. Enough of the drugs to reduce the inflammation and rheumatoid arthritis...

I bustle around the kitchen prepping food. It’s my daughter’s birthday, and we’ve invited several families over for a backyard barbecue to celebrate. The guest list was made and invites...

So the final E in my EEE approach to RA management is Engaging (the first two E's can be found here and here.) .  By that I mean simply staying...

As a very active kid, exercise wasn’t a chore; it was the means to a great time. It wasn’t until I was a teenager that running and playing started to...

I came home Friday feeling wrecked from the week. My bag was full of work to catch up on over the weekend and I had a long checklist of personal...

Most people familiar with rheumatoid arthritis understand that mornings are tough. Those of us with RA tend to experience morning stiffness, so we need more than a cup of coffee...

Like thousands of other aging boomers, I’m caring full time for my elderly mother. She’s 83 now, and while she’s doing fairly well at the moment, she’s been on the...

People who cope with chronic pain--the kind of pain that comes to live with you forever--are very good at hiding it. I know. I do it all the time with...

You would think that after nearly 20 years, my memory of the onset and diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis would be at best faded and at worst deposited into a long...

As a rheumatoid disease (arthritis) patient, I’m used to feeling like a failure. After all, the pain, fatigue, malaise, and disability it causes make me fail at all kinds of...

When I was a nanny in college, I vowed that when the day came when I had kids of my own, I would be a fun mom. I would be...

At my last rheumatologist appointment, I had a somewhat bizarre experience. When my doctor orders labs, one of the nurses comes in and does them right there in the same...