Fishing for Cats
I’m always on the lookout for cool toys for Lucy. Partly because she spoiled and partly because she’s pudgy. Toys will make her move. At least theoretically – it’s been a while since there’s been one she’s excited about and to be honest, she’d become a bit of a lump. And then I discovered Neko…
Blog Tour Kick-Off!
I’m happy to announce that my blog tour kicked off today! What’s a blog tour, you ask? It’s a book tour where you don’t have to put on makeup or even leave your home! My lovely friend Cathy at The Life and Adventures of Cateepoo agreed to host the first stop on the tour and…
Reinventing Yourself with RA
This week on HealthCentral, I riff on how Ra can prompt your to seek renewal and reinventing yourself: “RA can be a gift. When I say that, people usually look at me as if I’ve grown another head. How can this chronic autoimmune disease that frequently and randomly takes over your life be a positive…
Meet the Book
Three years ago, I finally went public with a dream. In so doing, I trusted the meds enough, trusted fate, the universe and/or various divinities enough that I could start making a long-term plan. The dream was to have a book with my name on it. And today, I do After a gestation period longer…
Anger Has a Place, But So Does Joy
A while back, Laurie suggested that I watch Pink Ribbons, Inc. and it’s been on my list of movies to buy. It turns out that sometimes, when you lollygag long enough, really good things happen. Last week, she posted this news: The National Film Board of Canada is currently offering the movie as a free…
A Learning Experience
Last Monday, the stairwell next my apartment got painted. I have massive problems with paint fumes — it triggers my asthma in about two nanoseconds. I have an arrangement with my landlord that involves advance notice (so I can plan to be elsewhere), taping up the door to painted areas, etc., but through a farcical…
Pain, Touch and RA
This month on HealthCentral, we’re writing about relationships. My contribution is a post on the importance of touch and what you can do to meet your need for physical contact when you hurt (yes, that includes sex): “Touch. We know it’s important to babies and children, but once we are grown, we pay less attention…
Book Review: Rather Outspoken
The news matters. This is the central tenet that runs throughout Dan Rather’s Rather Outspoken: My Life in the News. Woven through stories of 60 years working in the news, Rather has written a passionate argument for keeping the news independent and unbiased. And then he tells you why this is an important topic, but…
Rheumatoid Awareness Day: An Interview with Kelly Young
This week on HealthCentral, I wrote about a new initiative for raising awarneess about RA: “May’s Arthritis Awareness Month covers more than 100 different types of arthritis. October 12 is World Arthritis Day. May 10 is World Lupus Day. May 12 is Fibromyalgia Awareness Day. The first Saturday after May 1 is World Ankylosing Spondylitis…
Ratings System
Yesterday, I read Trisha Torrey’s post about the ratingsystem. More specifically, how someone named Dr. Young has protested about his patients rating (judging) his services, calling some of them unfair. He also felt that people who didn’t “get over it” are “bad patients.” Trisha asks that since patients rate doctors, should doctors rate patients, too?…
In Which Normal Becomes a Mental Illness
The upcoming fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) lists the new disorder called Somatic Symptom Disorder. To quote my HealthCentral post from yesterday, “you can be diagnosed with SSD if for at least six months, you have had a symptom or symptoms that is distressing and/or disrupt your daily…