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2022 was an interesting year. Here on The Seated View I had a bit of an involuntary blog hibernation as the challenges of life with chronic illness became pretty overwhelming. But in a fit of a well-rested post-holiday optimism, I decided it was time to reawaken this site of mine and what better way to celebrate the fact that it’s still around. I’ve been blogging now for 17 years — *gasp* — and am so grateful that you’re still finding posts in the archives that help you understand your condition and live better with it. This year, the Top 5 posts on the Seated View have a unifying theme: the things no one tells you about living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and chronic illness.

Weight Gain and Biologics: the Battle No One Talks About. The fact that this post has consistently been in my top 10 for eight years indicates there just might be a problem that rheumatology is not addressing. I had been on Biologics for several years when I began to wonder if maybe my weight gain was related to the medication. I knew that feeling better and therefore eating more was part of it, but it didn’t explain all of the pudge factor. Here in North America, rheumatologists will tell you it’s not a thing, but an Australian rheumatologist collected a literature review that indicated there might be a connection between weight again and Biologics. Check out the post to learn more about this and and mt thoughts on what to do about it.

When RA Hits Your Jaw: The Facts and How to Cope. Living with RA makes you really aware of all the tiny little joints that can be affected by inflammation. One of these is your jaw and when RA messes with these joints (one on each side), it can affect everything from what you eat, cause pain in your face and teeth, and even affect speaking and other things that involve moving your mouth. Many of us go from dentist to oral specialist to more dentists, some even have TMJ surgery, and when nothing works, it can be because the interventions are not addressing the real issue: RA inflammation in the jaw joints. I wrote this post after having many conversations with people in the community who didn’t know that the jaw can be affected by RA. I hope it helps you understand and cope better.

What It Is like to Wean off a Tracheostomy. The last three years of the COVID-19 pandemic have seen an increase in readers of this post about what it’s like to wean off a tracheostomy. It’s a very niche topic and yet again, something I wrote because I couldn’t find any information about it when I myself was weaning off a trach after ICU intubation following complications to the flu. Having a tracheostomy is not fun and weaning off it is a pretty scary thing to do. I’m glad if my experience can help you know what to expect.

And while I’m at it, do yourself a favour: Please get the flu shot and while you’re there, sign up for the pneumonia shot, as well. Someday, it might save a life — yours or someone you care about.

11 Tips to Deal with Nausea with Chronic Illness. Whether your nausea is ever-present or occasional or due to your chronic illness or the medications you take for it, it can be a real barrier to getting things done and enjoying your life. I’ve had a constant nausea for most of my life and subsequently have a nice collection of tricks to deal with it. For this post I also asked others in the chronic illness community to share their best tips. If nausea wrecks your days, this post is for you.

Chronic Illness Brain Fog, Part One: What Is It. Brain fog is another aspect of chronic illness that doctors don’t discuss much and which can be debilitating and life altering. When you can’t focus and your memory goes from steel trap to colander-style, it can be very scary. Finding out that this is a form of cognitive dysfunction can be downright terrifying. Please know that you can learn to live with it. This post is the first in a two-part series, focusing on what to bring fog actually is and contains a link to the second part in a series that focuses on brain fog coping tips.

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Wishing the best for the new year. See you in 2023!