How to Find Work-Life Balance with Chronic Illness
How very apropos! I am taking a leave of undetermined time from my job at HealthCentral to allow my body to recover fully before I do the work thing. And this is when my new post for Mango Health on the work-life balance with chronic illness was published:
Mary
Mary and Ginger. Photo by Ralph Blakely, IIII don’t remember exactly when and why Lynn introduced me to her cousin Mary. I think it had something to do with Mary being diagnosed with RA and Lynn thinking that we’d hit it off. So we emailed and then we called each other and yes, indeed. We…
Calling BS on CNE Entry Fees for People with Disabilities
Isn’t that nice of me? Instead of swearing in the title of my post, I tried to be a bit more polite. I suspect swearing will come later. This year The Ex, the affectionate nickname for the annual Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto, will cease a previous policy of free admission for people with disabilities…
Study Finds Link to Rheumatoid Arthritis in the Microbiome
Really exciting news! We’re getting much closer to finding the cause of RA: “A new study has found a direct link between specific bacteria in the gut and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) — an exciting discovery that could bring us closer to understanding the cause or causes of RA. Micro bacteria in the gut Each of…
Book Review: Ghost Boy
Martin Pistorius was 12 years old when he got sick. Over the next year, he gradually lost function of his body, his speech, and his mind. The doctors did not know what was wrong with him, but treated him for a bit of everything with no effect. At the end, they told his parents that…
Increase in Deaths Associated with Methotrexate
A new study finds that accidental overdoses of methotrexate are causing an increase in deaths. More on this and how to be safe in my new post for HealthCentral: “A new study out of Australia shows a worrying increase in accidental overdoses of methotrexate, a drug commonly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA). About methotrexate…
How I Cope with Mortality Risks of Rheumatoid Arthritis
My new post for Mango Health is about coping with the mortality risks of RA: “The first time I heard the term ‘mortality risks’ associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), I wanted to stick my head in the sand like the proverbial ostrich. If I can’t see it, it isn’t happening. Right? Although repression is my…
Me Before You: Better off Dead Than Disabled?
Objections to the movie state that it is a disability snuff movie. That it has a message that the disabled life isn’t worth living, that you become a burden to others, and the person with a disability (and their death) being used as a vehicle for the character and personal development of the able-bodied characters….
Construction Obstructions: A Walk in a Wheelchair Gets Complicated
This past weekend, we headed towards the ferry dock to go to the Islands. Because I haven’t been to the Islands yet this summer and I’ve been having a hankering. Getting there was an interesting challenge. There’s been some road work along Queens Quay, the street that runs parallel to the lake in downtown Toronto….
Live Your Life Outside Your Blog: Guest Post on Cateepoo Blog
My friend Cathy issued a challenge for May’s Arthritis Awareness Month in the US: live your life outside your blog. She tasked some people she knew, including me, to describe how we share our RA outside our blogs, without it taking over our lives. My guest post appears on The Life and Adventures of Cateepoo…
Celebrating Life by Doing the Walk to Fight Arthritis
The 2015 Your Life with RA team Someone told me that this year, I had the best reason not to do the Walk to Fight Arthritis, what with still recovering from the crazy health situation. To me, that means there are so many more reasons to do it. I’m alive. Having built up enough strength…
Numb Hands and Dragon Scales: Coping with a Traumatic Health Experience
It is still with me. The ICU experience, the hospital stay, the surreal fact that I was so very sick, that I came so close to death. It colours part of every day and I suspect it will continue to do so for some time to come. Trauma sticks around. At first, I thought I…