Me & My Shadow
I don’t remember a time when I didn’t have Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. Well, now they call it Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, but a rose by any other name is still a pain in the arse. I have lived with RA for over four decades and there are times when I’ve thought about how even really bad…
The Cost of Pain: Shedding Life, Shedding Love
This week on MyRACentral, I muse about the cost of pain – financial, sure, but primarily social: “If you live with chronic pain, you are not alone. Pain affects more than 76 million people in the US, more than cancer, diabetes and heart disease combined. It is estimated that conditions involving chronic pain cost the…
Book Review: Abigail Adams
I never had an answer to the question that gets sent around in e-mail every now and again. You know the one – “if you could choose any person from history to talk to for an hour, who would it be?” Everybody wants to talk to Buddha, Jesus or JFK and I’ve no idea what…
Whimper
My inbox’s making me nervous. As is My List. And all the things that aren’t on the immediate List, but on the Weekly List, not to mention the Monthly List and the second inbox. I don’t know what compelled me to have two e-mail addresses, but they’re both making me nervous and the idea of…
Brave New World
I was four when I had the first symptoms of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA). I was also four years old when I was admitted to hospital and placed in isolation for three weeks with a suspicion of rheumatic fever. I don’t remember much about that hospital stay, except being alone in a bed with white…
A Loss of Trust
When people with disabilities are abused, it is most often done by those who provide their care. Not a pleasant thing to complicate, is it? We like to believe that caregiving is a sort of sacred profession, one that requires altruism and compassion, is seen almost as a vocation. The thought that those who are…
Keeping Mobile: Physical Therapy & RA
This week, I interviews an physiotherapist about exercise, pain control and RA: “Staying fit and flexible is a good idea for everyone, but is particularly important when you live with rheumatoid arthritis. RA does throw some extra factors into the mix, such as avoiding stress on the joints and dealing with pain. Physical therapy can…
Identity Crisis
When I write for HealthCentral, I am called an Expert. I like the title – who wouldn’t? It’s nice being an expert, especially if it’s with a capital E. It appeals to my latent megalomania and that’s never a bad thing. Well, some people might think I’m enough of a know-it-all already, but they clearly…
Baby It’s Cold outside: Surviving Winter with RA
Staying warm inside and out is the topic of my latest post for MyRACentral: “Although Toronto’s portion of Groundhog Day storm wasn’t quite the Snowmageddon the very excitable weather guys called for, I still have a serious case of winter fatigue. My windows are frozen shut most of the time, my hands are red and…
A Wish for Less
I miss subtlety. I miss allusion, hints, intimation and mere suggestions. This is not a moment of wistfulness that is unfamiliar to me, but what brought about this latest attack of longing for a light touch was watching the trailer for Let Me In, the American version of Let The Right One In. The Swedish…