Hästens: The Best Sleep I’ve Ever Had
I have a new bed. I have never slept this well and it has reduced my chronic pain levels significantly. It is a blue checked Hästens bed. Earlier this year, I wrote about my quest for a new bed. To recap: every bed I found was too high, too hot, too smelly, or contained latex…
Chronic Christmas on RheumatoidArthritis.net
Reading a review of the book you’ve written is always a nerve-racking moment. It doesn’t matter if you know the reviewer and figure they’re not going to cut you to shreds because they are a nice person. It is still a nerve-racking experience. Mariah Leach of From This Point. Forward has written a review of…
4 Ways to Use Respect and Dignity in Caregiving for Chronic Illness
When you have a chronic illness — or know someone who does — help can be part of your relationship. More commonly, the word caregiving is used when there is an element of caring for someone who has physical limitations, such as chronic illness. Giving and receiving care is much more than just the physical act…
Leeza Gibbons on Caring for the Caregiver
The plotzing! OMG, the plotzing!! OK, deep breath. So, I had the opportunity to interview Leeza Gibbons. I was a complete fan girl about it, although tried to keep it together for the actual interview. Plotzed before, after, while I was writing up the article, when I saw the interview — because it’s also on…
Photo Friday: The Squirrels of Queen’s Park
A few weeks ago, we walked home from the Royal Ontario Museum and decided to wander through Queen’s Park. This is both the seat of the provincial government of Ontario, as well as an actual park. And I’d never been there before. It was absolutely lovely, the low light of a November afternoon filtering through…
The Gift of the Holiday Season
I am (seasonally appropriate) so grateful for the incredible support my HealthCentral family is giving me and Chronic Christmas: Surviving the Holidays with a Chronic Illness! David Mendosa of the HealthCentral Diabetes site reviewed my new book and asked some insightful questions about it: “ If you have a chronic illness that limits your activity,…
Reasons to be Grateful for Rheumatoid Arthritis
Am I kidding? Not entirely. My new post for HealthCentral is a mostly tongue-in-cheek look at the reasons to feel grateful for RA: “I like to say that living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a dance on roses — there are plenty of thorns. It can be very difficult to see the positive when you…
Chronic Christmas on RADiabetes
You’ve heard me mention the amazing Rick Phillips before — he is the man behind #RABlog Week, an important addition to the RA conversation, now in its second year. And he was kind enough to review Chronic Christmas: Surviving the Holidays with a Chronic Illness: “I was so excited to hear about Chronic Christmas Surviving…
Chronic Christmas Goodies
I’ve mentioned before how very much I love the cover for my new book Chronic Christmas: Surviving the Holidays with a Chronic Illness. It makes me giggle. It makes other people giggle. So I decided to have some fun with it and created a pile of products using elements of the image. Best of all,…
Santa and Lucia Converge
The two most important events that herald the beginning of the Christmas seasons are — to me at least — the Santa Claus Parade and the Swedish Christmas Fair. They happen to be on the same weekend, and the parade is much closer, so it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I started…
Chronic Christmas on Cateepoo’s blog
I develop traditions easily. In fact, I’ve been known to say that if I do something twice and I like it, it’s tradition. This means that it’s now tradition that I start my blog tours for a new book on Cathy’s blog. Hopefully, she’ll think that’s fun, too. Just before the weekend, Cathy posted her…
Photo Friday: Blown Glass Blows My Mind
Dale Chihuly is a glass artist. That’s like saying Antarctica is a little chilly. Or that a shark has a few teeth. Or… Nevermind. Let’s get on with the show. I’d seen photos of the exhibit at the Royal Ontario Museum, but nothing compared to the reality. There is a quote from this incredible artist…