Blog

Sometimes, my writing and the site production gets a little out of whack. And then flurries happen. To wit, here are my last three articles for HealthCentral:

First, and the last kind of timely I ever want to be, a slideshow about what you need to do to be prepared for an emergency when you have a chronic illness. Which reminds me that I have to go get a couple of extra things organized:

“Getting ready for a potential emergency such as a hurricane, tornado, or blackout involves planning ahead in several different areas of your life. Some of your emergency plan will be the same as your healthy and able-bodied neighbors, but you will also need to make plans that specifically address your chronic illness.”

Second, being the new to life with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can be incredibly overwhelming. So I created a slideshow about 11 things you can bring to your first rheumatologist appointment that can make it easier:

“Your family doctor suspected you have rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and referred you to a rheumatologist. That’s scary enough by itself, but facing the first appointment with a specialist can really ramp up the nerves. Will they confirm the diagnosis? What can you expect?

Today, I’ll share tips on what to bring to your first appointment to make the process easier.”

And lastly (at least for now), some people seem to be greatly helped by going gluten-free. Is it the right thing for your RA?

“Many people are choosing a gluten-free diet as a way of attaining better health. Individuals with chronic illness, such as psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), Crohn’s, and other autoimmune diseases are increasingly trying a gluten-free diet to control their symptoms. Some even say it has cured their condition, or at the very least helped them be symptom-free. It sounds wonderful, but is this type of diet completely without risk?”