Having A Swish: How Self-Pity Can Help You Cope Better with Chronic Illness
Living with chronic illness is often difficult. There are medical appointments, work, family, keeping the dust bunnies (buffalo?) under control and it goes on and on. Not being able to stop and rest and heal makes it even harder. There’s a lot of pressure to keep going in with a stiff upper lip, not complaining,…
Never Settle with RA: Why You Should Push for Remission and 4 Tools to Help You Get There
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a serious illness that can have a life-changing impact on your life. But with advances in medication, remission is now possible and it should be the goal of RA treatment, yet 60% of Canadians with RA haven’t had a conversation about RA remission with their rheumatologist. The road to better conversations…
Journaling with Chronic Illness Finding Inspiration for Creativity
Creativity can be a wonderful distraction and comfort when you live with chronic illness. One way to express yourself creatively is by designing and decorating your planner or notebook. You have a host of choices,, including doodling, drawing, collage, using washi tape and stickers and so much more This is the fourth and (so far)…
Journaling With Chronic Illness: My Favourite Supplies
Journaling can be a wonderful way to process your feelings around chronic illness, as well as a creative outlet that doesn’t need you to use a lot of energy or movement. Win-win, right? At its core, journaling is about thoughts, a pen and a notebook — or your phone or computer, if handwriting is difficult….
January 2021 Chronic Journeys with My Guest Toni Bernhard
I was so honoured (and fangirling) when seminal chronic illness author Toni Bernhard agreed to join me on the first Chronic Journeys of the year! We talk about Toni’s new pocket version of How to Be Sick, the magic of the three breaths technique, and other ways to make life with chronic illness just a…
February 2021 Chronic Journeys with My Guest Daniel P. Malito
On the latest episode of Chronic Journeys, I talk to Daniel P. Malito about growing up with juvenile arthritis, stretch marks and opioids! Get Dan’s book So Young: A Life Lived with Rheumatoid Arthritis. This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on the link and make a purchase, I may receive a small…
Emergency Preparedness with a Chronic Illness or Disability
Updated April 20, 2024 Big and scary emergencies are thankfully rare occurrences, but when they happen, those of us who live with chronic illness and disability may have challenges that others don’t experience. Part of your emergency plan will be the same as your healthy and able-bodied neighbours, but you will also need to make…
The Best Thing You Can Say or Do When Someone’s in Pain
Living with chronic pain is incredibly difficult. It’s invisible, which means that in order to be understood, you have to tell people about it and that’s when you hit another barrier. How do you put into words something that is pure sensation and unlike anything the average person has experienced? But on the other side…
#TalkOverRA: Pro Tip to Help Your Rheumatologist Understand Your Pain
One of the defining characteristics of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is pain. It can run the gamut from mild or temporary to severe and chronic, caused by active inflammation or damage to the joints, exacerbated by overdoing it or not moving at all. Living with unpredictable pain is incredibly difficult — because (obviously) it’s deeply uncomfortable,…
RA Pro Tips: How to Get Ahead of Morning Stiffness and Pain
Of the many things that are hard about living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), one of the most dispiriting is perhaps the inability to start the day with any sort of brightness and flair. Upon waking, there’s that split second of looking forward to the new day before you’re hit with the anticipatory freeze while you…
Can the Mediterranean Diet Help Your RA? A Famer’s Market Tour with The Arthritis Dietitian
Could your rheumatoid arthritis (RA) respond to diet? The research jury is out on most except the Mediterranean diet, also called the anti-inflammatory diet. Filled with colorful vegetables, pulses (beans and lentils), and healthy fats, this way of eating isn’t just good for your body, it’s a feast for the eyes, as well. Join…
Announcing #ChronicJourneys: My New Talk Show
Getting to know others and hearing their stories is one of my favourite things, ever. There are so many fascinating people who have found ways to live with and around rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other types of chronic illness and I want to talk to all of them! About how they manage their condition, but…