Blog Articles by Month: January 2017

Strategies for Surviving Celebrations (and Daily Life) with Chronic Illness

Updated November 20, 2021 We all have energy-sucking events and tasks in our lives. They can range from doing routine household chores to planning a big celebration, such as a family party or a wedding. When you have a chronic illness, approaching any of them can feel overwhelming. Where do you start? Will you have…

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4 Techniques to Quit Smoking for Good

One common New Year’s resolution is to quit smoking. If you’ve made a promise to yourself and your family to kick the habit, my new post for Mango Health could be just  what you need to quit and quit for good: “I smoked my first cigarette at 17. It made me feel nauseated, so I’m…

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Photo Friday: Sharp Angles

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Chronic Christmas and the e-book Cover Design Awards

There are many reasons I love Chronic Christmas. Working on it help me find my writing mojo again, I had a lot of fun  with it, both to creating it and talking to others about it in the months leading up to the holidays. I also very much love to cover. When Aimee Coveney of…

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Let’s Talk: Arthritis and Mental Health and Well-Being

People who live with arthritis experience anxiety and depression at a higher rate than the general population.[1] I am one of those people, both in terms of the arthritis and the mental health issues. Over my 50-year “career” with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) I have spent a lot of time feeling depressed. Like the 30% of…

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Photo Friday: Path

I’ve been taking part in the Fat Mum Slim January photo challenge and particularly liked this one from the 14th. Follow my almost-daily photos on my Instagram account and Facebook page.

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6 Tips on How to Have a Chronic Illness on Social Media

Are you on social media? Of course you’re on social media; everyone is these days. But if you have a chronic illness, be careful not to post photos of you spending time with people you like, or even smiling. If you do, it could get your disability claim rejected. Kayla Barry knows this firsthand. A…

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Photo Friday: Lake Sculptures

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Quiet Thoughts

When last heard from, I was “enjoying” a bout of croup. It’s much better now, and but there are some residual effects. Namely that I can’t talk too much without getting very croaky and my voice hurting. Yes, I did say that my voice hurts. I’m finding all sorts of new terminology as a result…

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Building Self-Esteem When Your Body Betrays You

Chronic illness can impact your self-worth. In my new post for Mango Health, I write about how this happens and what you can do to build self-esteem: “Your body is supposed to work with you. More than that, it should do what you want, smoothly and efficiently following the electrical impulses from your brain. It…

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Photo Friday: Christmas x2

It’s still Christmas somewhere in the world, isn’t it? This was supposed to go up last week, but croup got in the way. It was wonderful to have some time off over the holidays and be able to focus on relaxing with family. We liked it so much that we did Christmas twice! First we…

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Empower Yourself with Chronic Illness in 2017

This year on RAHealthCentral, we are going to talk about empowerment and chronic illness: what it is, why it’s important, and how to get there: “Do you feel powerless in the face of your chronic illness and everything that comes with it? This year, we will help you transform into being empowered in your health…

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