Public Property: Curiosity, Privacy and RA
This week on myRACentral, I wonder about the questions people ask: “‘What happened to you?’ ‘Were you in an accident?’ ‘So, you can’t walk at all?’ I’ve been visibly disabled by RA – deformities, contractures, scars – for most of my life and have used a power wheelchair for over 30 years. This means I…
Apples and Oranges: A Rant About Literary Snobbishness
Updated September 27, 2020 Settle in, I’m about to go on a rant. A while back, I was poking through an old issues of Entertainment Weekly and came upon an article entitled “The Hottest Self Published Books” by Rob Brunner. This sounded interesting for a number of reasons, so I read it and that’s when…
Where Am I and Why Am I in This Handbasket?
I blame the Oat Squares. If it wasn’t for them, the Cosmic Cat wouldn’t have noticed me. My life is been puttering along fairly quietly for a while, with only the standard irritants and minor catastrophes that happens in lives, but July didn’t feel that was good enough. July decided to set off enough calamities…
As Helpful as a Scout
After the rain eased off on Sunday and the sun started peeping out from behind the clouds, I shut down my computer, grabbed my iPod and headed for the park. On my way home, I took the long way, wandering through the neighborhood and enjoying the day. I was headed towards an intersection behind a…
Getting Good Medical Care for RA
This week, I’m talking about being proactive about your care on MyRACentral: “‘Be proactive about your medical care.’ We hear that a lot, those six little words. When you have a chronic illness like rheumatoid arthritis, it’s essential to be proactive to make sure you get the best care that can help protect your body…
In Which My Mother Scares Everybody
“She’s in the ICU.” These are not words you want to hear about your mother. Well, about anyone, I suspect, but in this particular case, we’d expected her (relatively) routine back surgery – spinal fusion and correcting spinal stenosis – to go smoothly and to receive a call from someone on a regular ward telling…
Climbing Everest with Rheumatoid Arthritis: An Interview with Jeffrey Gottfurcht
I talked to a really interesting man last week: “Jeffrey Gotfurcht is climbing seven mountains to raise awareness about Juvenile Arthritis (JA), as well as raising funds to make dreams and wishes come true for kids with JA. Jeff has rheumatoid arthritis (RA).” You can read the rest of the interview here.
Book Review: Forever by Maggie Stiefvater
Updated November 21, 2021 Forever, the third book in the Shiver Trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater was hotly anticipated in my house. This wonderful YA series about teens falling in love in a small town called Mercy Falls, finding out that who you are is so much more important than what you are. As this third book in the…
Oh, Brother: Disability and Romance
Updated June 14, 2020 “Is that your brother?” We get this all the time, The Boy and I and I don’t know why, except that we are both somewhat rounded and wear glasses. Well, that’s not actually true, because I do know why. It’s because able-bodied men don’t date women in wheelchairs. To be even…
A Free Spirit with JA: An Interview with Gabi Rojas. And Vitamin D
We’re still celebrating Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Month on MyRACentral and I had the opportunity to speak to Gabi Rojas, a dancer: “Gabi Rojas grew up in the circus, traveling through cities in the US, making friends wherever she went. When her mother changed jobs from being a trapeze artist to a dance instructor in Albuquerque,…
Dental Adventures with RA: In Which I Scare a Dentist
Updated June 11, 2022 I’m beginning to see why people get their teeth yanked. It all started late one evening when I cracked a molar eating Oatmeal Squares. I managed to get squeezed in to see my dentist the next day and was told it either should be extracted or I needed a root canal…
Pros and Cons: An Internal Argument
I’ve been coveting lately. More specifically, I have been lusting after an iPhone. I don’t know why this has suddenly come over me – they’ve been around for what, 4 years? and I’ve never had the urge to have one before, but now, it’s preying on my mind. I want one, in much the same…