Your Life with RA Is On Sale!
It’s January, a month famous — infamous? — for being full of resolutions and decisions to take charge of your life. My Amazon Bestseller Your Life with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Tools for Managing Treatment, Side Effects and Pain is your perfect partner in the quest to become empowered and put yourself in the driver’s seat with…
6 Tips for Setting (and Working Towards) Goals Despite the Unpredictability of Chronic Illness
“That’s why you should never make plans,” she said. “You never know what might happen.” I used to be in that place. It’s a place where you are afraid of planning anything, because of the unpredictability of chronic illness. If you never know how you’ll feel tomorrow, even in an hour from now, forcing you…
When Bodies Break: New Book from the Chronic Illness Community
I am proud to bursting of being a contributor to the exciting new book, When Bodies Break: How we survive and thrive with illness and disability. In it, thirty-two inspiring and resilient chronic illness warriors share their stories of struggle, strength and survival. When Bodies Break is the brainchild of Cam B. Auxer, the woman…
How to Enjoy the Holidays as a Mother with Chronic Illness
I was really excited when Mariah Leach approached me to write an article for her new wonderful site Mamas Facing Forward. It’s an amazing resource by a woman with a mother with chronic illness for other mothers with chronic illness (for those who want to have children). Moms are the ones who make the…
My Holiday Gift to You
I want to help you enjoy the holidays this year. Those words are usually the start of a sales pitch, but not today. Read on for your gift. It’s the Season of Stress. Christmas everything. Carols, trees, decorations, Santa hats and it’s just so much. Don’t get me wrong — the holidays are lovely, but…
Facebook Live: Guilt and Chronic Illness
So many of us feel so much guilt. As you know, I wrote a post about guilt — particularly writer guilt — a little while ago, but I couldn’t get it out of my head. So I took at the Facebook. In this month’s #AskLene, we talked about guilt, chronic illness, and how to let…
I Have a Chronic Guilt Complex
This post was written for my rejigged newsletter which features original content, first-to-know news, and unique promos. Of course I would also share the news with the rest of you, but later and not accompanied by the rest of this story. Want to be part of the Tribe? Subscribe to the newsletter! I have super…
The Path to better Treatment: 5 Tips to Get What You Need
“We have to do whatever we can to help our patients function.” – My rheumatologist Both my rheumatologist and my family doctor support my need for treatment that enables me to live my life. That includes prescribing opioids, steroid shots, or thinking outside the box to find solutions. I know that makes me a lucky…
August #AskLene: Living and Coping with Pain
This afternoon, during my monthly #AskLene, we talked about living with pain and coping with pain. We had a really lively discussion that is continuing on the Facebook post. Do you have a topic you’d like me to talk about in future forecasts? Please leave it in the comments
In Which I Regain A Part of Me That Had Been Lost
I watched The Meg yesterday and it was life-changing. But I should start at the beginning. I love film — I mean, who doesn’t? — and used to go to the movies all the time. Especially after I moved downtown to an area that has a discount movie theatre. Once a week or so, I’d…
How to Cope with a New Diagnosis
Getting a diagnosis of a chronic illness is never easy, but there are things that can help you adjust. I wrote this article for Mango Health while the blog was dormant: “You have a chronic illness. You’ve just received the news from a doctor, likely a specialist. The name of the condition is ringing through…
11 Tips to Deal with Nausea with Chronic Illness
Updated March 29,2020 Queasy. Green around the gills. Nauseated. If you have rheumatoid arthritis (RA), there’s a very good chance you know nausea. For that matter, anyone with autoimmune arthritis or other types of chronic illness probably knows it, too. Between the effects of the condition itself and the medication to treat it, most of…