People with Chronic Illnesses Could Be Labeled as Mentally Ill
You may have seen articles about this issue around the Internet recently. The American Psychiatric Association is releasing a new edition of the DSM-V, used for diagnosing mental illness. A new disorder has been added called Somatic Symptom Disorder and it has some worrisome implications for people living with chronic illness. You can read more…
Writing with a Chronic Illness: Chronic Pain and Writing Practice
After my big flare eight years ago, I decided it was time to do something about that lifelong dream of being a writer. To stop being practical and having a day job and throw it all into getting off the pot, so to speak. Never mind that I hadn’t had a day job for quite…
Perfect Birthday Wishes
Today is this handsome man’s birthday This quote by modern philosopher Slavoj Žižek in the movie Examined Life resonates with both of us “Love is not idealization. A true Lover knows that if you really love a woman or a man, that you do not idealize him or her. Loves means that you accept a person,…
Real RA: Talking with Your Hands
Updated May 2, 2021 There is a legend in my father’s family. A long, long time ago, a Spanish mercenary supposedly had his way with a female ancestor. Equally supposedly, this explains why families with two children always have one with dark hair and one with blonde hair. Writing it down like that makes it…
Watershed
Sometimes, change happens so gradually that you’re not aware of it until after it’s well underway. And sometimes, you can pinpoint the exact moment your life changed, naeeowing the point down so precisely that the watershed between Before and After is a matter of minutes. On January 7, 2005 at 3:35 PM, I got my…
Blushing Furiously
There are some truly astonishing people out there. Some of these astonishing people have nominated me not for one, but three categories in the WEGO Health Activist Awards: I am completely overwhelmed and massively grateful. You can see all the nominees on the WEGO Pinterest page – I’m not listed yet, but they’re working on…
Real RA: Opening a Pop/Soda Can
RA hands can make a lot of things difficult, some of them big, some of them small. Sometimes it’s about the jar, sometimes it isn’t. And sometimes, it’s about something as simple as a can of pop. Over time, you develop tricks and workarounds to do what you need to do. Today, I share mine…
The Tinks are 7!
I have no idea how this happened, but somehow, my wee babies – OK, my sister’s wee babies – are now 7 years old. A couple of weeks ago, we all got together to celebrate. We started at my mother’s and as usual, the minute David sat down, he had a pile of Tinks on…
RA and the Holidays: Dialing Down the Stress
It’s been a loooong week and somehow, the blog got neglected. Next week will be better (I hope). One of my distractions was a post for HealthCentral about how to keep from getting too overwhelmed this season: “The holidays are here, the time that tradition kicks in more firmly than any other time of year….
Rediscovery
image credit: Darius Sankowski Seven or eight years ago, I stopped being able to read regular books. My neck and shoulders couldn’t handle holding the book or the looking down part. Before that, and for as long as I can remember, I carried a book with me wherever I’d go. Reading was my first love….
In Which Writing is Like Living with RA
2 1/2 years. 67,000 words. 268 pages. The Book is done. At approximately 12:37 PM, Saturday, November 17, 2012, I closed down the finalized manuscript. And then I said out loud to no one in particular – Lucy was ignoring me – “I am done.” Well, not entirely done, but it’s now in the hands…
A Study in Santa
I almost didn’t yesterday. There were things I had to do, documents to review, Lists to vanquish. And then, at the last minute, I found myself running out the door without quite realizing I’d made the decision to scuttlw work. Because it’s where I’ve been for 15 of the last 16 years on a special…