Relationships and Chronic Illness: An Interview with Sherrie and Gregg Piburn
I had the opportunity to speak to two amazing people for an article for HealthCentral: “Marriages in which one partner has a chronic illness have a divorce rate of 75 percent. That’s a daunting statistic reflecting just how much stress a chronic illness brings to the mix. How do you get through with your…
RA Warrior: An Interview with Kelly Young
Every now and again, I get to do something for my job that doesn’t feel like work. Yesterday, I spoke to Kelly from RA Warrior – after years of reading each other, we finally met on the phone. It was more like a chat with a friend than an interview. I love my job. “‘Imagine…
Caregiving for Dementia: How to Support with RA
November was Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, as well as National Caregivers Month in the US and HealthCentral marked it by doing a special project where writers from different sides wrote about dementia and Alzheimer’s. Earlier this month, I wrote about dementia caregivers’ increased risk of developing autoimmune diseases and this week, I take a more personal…
Social Autoimmune Caregiving Media
It’s hard to sum up these two very different posts I wrote for HealthCentral this week, hence the mangled title. One was about how the RA community connects using social media: “RA affects one percent of the population. Without actively searching, you’d be lucky to run into another person who lives with the same chronic…
In Which I Re-Learn the Basics of Living with RA
In my latest MyRACentral post, I give the internet an opportunity to laugh at me: “I consider myself a fairly smart person. It’s not something we’re supposed to say, just as we are not supposed to remark on our own gorgeousness, but there it is. I’m certainly not in the same league of attractiveness as…
Remission: An Interview with Dr. Yusuf Yazici
I had an opportunity to interview a doctor from the Langone Medical Centre and ask endless questions about remission: “Remission. We all strive towards it, dream of it, wonder why we aren’t there yet. When you have RA, the word remission is everywhere, but what exactly is it? How is it defined, how do you…
Chronic Illness, Disability and Abuse: Staying Safe
MyRACentral and several other HealthCentral communities are marking Domestic Violence Awareness Month with posts about the issue and how it relates to chronic illness and disability. This is my contribution: Other posts and resources are on our Domestic Violence Awareness Month page. “”Ow.” “Ease up a little, please.” “Not so hard.” Almost every time this…
World Arthritis Day: Awareness, Building Bridges & an Exciting Announcement
Today is World Arthritis Day and this is what I wrote for MyRACentral to celebrate: “”Arthritis? I have that, too. My knee acts up when the weather changes.” “Arthritis? But that’s for old people!” “Rheumatoid arthritis? It’s such a tragedy you won’t be able to pursue your dreams.” We face misconceptions about rheumatoid arthritis every…
Pain Management in Recovery and Addiction
My latest post for MyRACentral is about managing pain when you’re addicted or in recovery: “ My friend T. lives with high levels of chronic pain. The pain makes it difficult to get through each day and it’s not just having an impact on his physical function, but on his relationships with his family and…
Energy and RA: Running Down & Making Choices
Running low on spoons is one thing. Running out is quite another. My new MyRACentral post looks more closely at where I’ve been in the past couple of weeks: “Someone yanked my power cord. It’s the only way to describe it. About two weeks ago, my store of energy extinguished. Suddenly, randomly – or so…
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…
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…