Come Rant With Me
I saw this article in The Guardian a while back and have been nursing a low-level seethe ever since. And now is the time to let it off the leash. Shall we start with the headline? Failure to Act on Early Signs of Rheumatoid Arthritis Could Prove Fatal! And already, my heart is in my…
Knitting Back Together: Your Relationship and RA
Picking up on the relationship theme on MyRACentral: “‘Your illness is your family’s illness.’– Mea McNeil When we make a commitment to someone we love, whether by formal vows or private promises, we hear that thing about it being for better or worse, but no one really expects the worse part. And then it happens…
In Which I Ask for Your Vote
I’ve been known to say that being Danish-Canadian gives me a double whammy of reticence and self effacement, so imagine I’m twisting myself into a pretzel as I’m writing thisl. However! I am apparently not self-effacing enough. I’m nominated for the 2010 Canadian Blog Awards in the Best Chronic Illness Blog category. Should you feel that…
Book Review: The Wave
Three years ago, I read a book called The Devil’s Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America’s Great White Sharks by Susan Casey and I’ve just spent a good twenty minutes trying to find the post I wrote about it. Because it was an amazing book and I’m sure I would’ve posted a…
Dental Fashion Faux Pas
I was relaxing at the dentist yesterday (and yes, you’ve already mentioned that I’m weird). Anyway, I was relaxing with a mouth full of equipment, having my teeth cleaned in and enjoying a conversation about cats with Theresa – who’s a brilliant hygienist – and we got talking about the state of my mouth. My…
12
Today marks my 12th day of work in a row with no break. Sure, my work day is probably about half of yours, divided into about three hours during the day and another 1-2 after dinner, but whenever I get frustrated about not being able to work more, I try to remember that duration matters…
Adaptation: Learning to Live with RA
The change in seasons has prompted musings on life changes at MyRACentral: “Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans. – John Lennon No one ever plans for a chronic illness, writing down “develop rheumatoid arthritis” complete with hearts enthusiastically dotting the I’s on their list of things to accomplish in life….
Oh, Grow Up!
A couple of weeks ago, when I was being nice to my shoulder and not working, I was idly flipping channels, marveling at the dreck that is daytime TV and came upon The Doctors, a collection of alarmingly good-looking alleged medical professionals giving advice to the masses. One of the doctors is a plastic surgeon,…
Not Getting It
I used to be involved in organizing disability awareness days, both in university and later on a larger scale, but these days, I have conflicted feelings about them. With the benefit of hindsight, it became possible to see that too often, such days are “Trot out the Cripples Day” and after it’s all over, people/the…
Pass the Gravol
Last week, when I made a few notes for a post about the new season of Survivor, the document was saved as “Same Old Thing, Yet Highly Entertaining.” For those of you who aren’t interested in reality TV, stick around, because it will evolve into something entirely different. This season does look like it’s going…
Telling It Like It Is: Pain Awareness and Rheumatoid Arthritis
September’s National Pain Awareness Month in the US and I got on the barricades on MyRACentral… “‘Are you in pain right now?’ ‘Yes. I am always in pain.’ I was talking to someone about RA and when she asked me this question, I felt a strange inner shift. It took me a while – several…
Drugs and Bitterness
It’s been a bit of a summer. Not weatherwise – it was gorgeous – but in terms of my pain and injury levels. The right shoulder has been bitchy for months and when it finally started simmering down just a little bit after the steroid shot about a month ago, the left one took up…