Sex and RA: Asking for Help with a Delicate Issue
Updates June 12, 2020 We all have at least one. Your nemesis, if you will. That one thing that you can’t do because of your chronic illness or disability. Well, of course there are probably more than one, but the others may not bother you is much. Or maybe you found a way around it….
Thoughts of Suicide and RA
Chronic illness and depression go hand-in-hand and so it is with RA. According to Johns Hopkins, chronic pain exacerbates depression and from an intellectual standpoint, it’s not surprising that some of those people who are depressed consider suicide. And some do more than consider. But this is not an intellectual post that delves into the…
Giving Thanks
I had a plan. This plan has been in the works for months and was directly related to The Boy and I going to the Toronto Islands with the intention to commit photography (our idea of romance). It never really happened in the Spring and then it got too warm — not for me, The…
Arthritis and Employment: Making It Work
September is Arthritis Awareness Month in Canada. As part of this, I’m doing a series of posts about initiatives by different organizations. The common theme of these will be dealing with the topic of working when you live with arthritis. The Arthritis Research Center of Canada is a very cool nonprofit organization. For one, they’re…
What Okinawa’s 80% and Mary Kay Taught Me about Writing with Chronic Illness
Updated September 28, 2021 I ran out of spoons around the middle of June. Then I spent the next six weeks teetering on the line between having just a few and being deep in energy overdraft, while mentally (and repeatedly) chanting just hold on until August 1 and not quite understanding why I was flaring…
A Problem & A New Vision for RA Pain Treatment
Updated August 30, 2020 “The type of pain associated with moderate-severe RA is comparable to bone cancer.” This is a quote from a HealthCentral article, now alas no longer on the site. The source of the quote was a rheumatologist treating the woman interviewed. And it has been reverberating in my mind since I first…
Real RA: The Benefit of RA Hands
Sometimes, RA doesn’t just take. Sometimes, RA gives. When I still lived with my parents, I was in charge of pies. I’d found the perfect recipe for the crust and loved experimenting with different fillings. Our kitchen wasn’t very wheelchair accessible, so my mother would place the ingredients and tools on the dining room table…
Writing with a Chronic Illness: Chronic Pain and Writing Practice
After my big flare eight years ago, I decided it was time to do something about that lifelong dream of being a writer. To stop being practical and having a day job and throw it all into getting off the pot, so to speak. Never mind that I hadn’t had a day job for quite…
Watershed
Sometimes, change happens so gradually that you’re not aware of it until after it’s well underway. And sometimes, you can pinpoint the exact moment your life changed, naeeowing the point down so precisely that the watershed between Before and After is a matter of minutes. On January 7, 2005 at 3:35 PM, I got my…
Rediscovery
image credit: Darius Sankowski Seven or eight years ago, I stopped being able to read regular books. My neck and shoulders couldn’t handle holding the book or the looking down part. Before that, and for as long as I can remember, I carried a book with me wherever I’d go. Reading was my first love….
Vote in the User’s Choice Awards
The nominees in the User’s Choice Awards have been chosen and voting is open until November 18, 2012. Help the Arthritis Foundation to develop a list of arthritis-friendly products and services – vote now!
User’s Choice Awards
The Arthritis Foundation is currently accepting nominations for their User’s Choice Awards. These awards will be giving out to products and services that work well for people living with arthritis.Categories include cell phone, weight management, car, hotel, health plan and so on. Nominations are open until Sunday, October 21, so hop on over and nominate…