Navigating Medicare With Rheumatoid Arthritis
Parts A, B, C, D, and then there’s supplemental parts with many more letters… feeling lost? Which Medicare plans will you need for your RA, how do you get coverage for the meds and care you need, and how will you know it all? In my new article for HealthCentral, I break it all down…
2019 Calendars or How’d It Get To Be October Already?
It is like always like this: I have spent the first three weeks of October in a frenzy of going through every single photo I took since January 1 of the year, sorting, editing, sorting again (I take a lot of photos), doing significant battle with myself about which of my favourites get to prevail….
Book Review: Errant Gods (Blood of the Isir)
It’s not often that you read a book in which a character has rheumatoid arthritis (RA). I don’t recall such a character ever being the hero of any story. Errant Gods, the first book in the Blood of the Isir series by Erik Henry Vick, changes all of that. Hank Jensen used to be a…
I Have a Chronic Guilt Complex
This post was written for my rejigged newsletter which features original content, first-to-know news, and unique promos. Of course I would also share the news with the rest of you, but later and not accompanied by the rest of this story. Want to be part of the Tribe? Subscribe to the newsletter! I have super…
5 Great Blogs from RDBlog Week
Last week, 31 bloggers came together to write about rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or, as some prefer, rheumatoid disease (RD to reflect the systemic nature of the beast. Every day had a different topic and every day, I’d read through the entries, in awe of the talent and passion of all who participated. Here are five…
What You Need to Know About Seronegative Rheumatoid Arthritis
Up to 30% of people with RA don’t have a positive blood test. This has an impact on speed of diagnosis and effective treatment. My new article for HealthCentral looks at what you need to know about having seronegative RA, and includes some fantastic quotes from people who’ve experienced this: “Getting a diagnosis of rheumatoid…
How a Pain Specialist Can Help Treat Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain
Living with rheumatoid arthritis means facing many challenges, one of which is getting effective treatment for pain. My latest article for HealthCentral looks at how a pain specialist can help: “Treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) doesn’t begin and stop with a rheumatologist. RA is a complex systemic condition that can benefit from a team approach. A…
Marijuana for Pain: Does It Work?
I never smoked marijuana as a teenager. No, that’s not entirely true. Once, I took one puff, hardly inhaled, and called it quits. Fast-forward four years or so. By this time, we’d moved to Canada, I was in university and we lived in a wonderful house with a backyard adjacent to a ravine. The guy…
The Path to better Treatment: 5 Tips to Get What You Need
“We have to do whatever we can to help our patients function.” – My rheumatologist Both my rheumatologist and my family doctor support my need for treatment that enables me to live my life. That includes prescribing opioids, steroid shots, or thinking outside the box to find solutions. I know that makes me a lucky…
How Michael Kuluva Raises Awareness About RA and Disability Through Fashion
I was really excited to speak with Michael Kuluva, creator of Tumbler and Tipsy, about how he raises awareness of rheumatoid arthritis through his fashion. He also showed us some examples from his 2019 Spring/Summer collection, just fresh off the runway at New York Fashion Week
They Come in Threes, Don’t They?
One Turns out that wasn’t allergies. I spent a fair bit of last week being convinced I had the worst allergy attack of my life, including a sudden and profound allergic response to someone cutting the grass in a park. Well, it all started with that weird woolly sensation in the back of my throat…
Life Philosophy on a Mug
I find inspiration in the weirdest places. A display in a card store, an ad on a billboard, the back of a cereal box, books (of course), tattoos, and the list goes on. Images, words, quotes that make me stop and think or lift my spirits. And sometimes, what I see becomes integrated in my…