Vaccine rollout is excluding people with disabilities
I am not here to debate the COVID-19 vaccine — I desperately want it. As someone who takes immunosuppressant medication, have a disability, and receive attendant care, I am high risk for getting COVID-19 and to have a severe case. I qualify and am eligible for the vaccine. Yet somehow, I can’t get it. I channelled…
COVID-19 and the forgotten disability community
The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare how profoundly devalued disabled lives and experiences are. The latest article from the Disability in Health team — of which I am a proud member — has been published in Healthy Debate: “People living with disabilities have long been accustomed to asking for inclusion without results: We needed telehealth…
How I Came to Terms With Taking Meds for RA
Rheumatoid arthritis medication get a bad rap. In this column for HealthCentral, I talk about how to handle the stigma of treating your RA with medicine in a culture obsessed with an “all-natural” approach to healing: “EVERY DAY, I take medication for my rheumatoid arthritis (RA), including self-injection with a biologic drug I stash in the…
5 Platitudes That Don’t Help Me Live Better With RA
When people don’t know what to say about your rheumatoid arthritis, they often rely on old adages or platitudes. The problem is, none of these actually help you feel supported and they are hardly ever useful. In this column for HealthCentral, I pick apart five platitudes that don’t help and suggest alternatives: “EVEN THE MOST introverted…
January 2021 Chronic Journeys with My Guest Toni Bernhard
I was so honoured (and fangirling) when seminal chronic illness author Toni Bernhard agreed to join me on the first Chronic Journeys of the year! We talk about Toni’s new pocket version of How to Be Sick, the magic of the three breaths technique, and other ways to make life with chronic illness just a…