Blog Articles About Thinking

Why Me? Thoughts on Having a Chronic Illness

We’ve all asked the question at some point. Why me? Why did I get rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile arthritis, migraine, Crohn’s, psoriasis, etc.? It is an existential howl of despair into the darkness, asking that most fundamental of questions. Why did this happen to me? Closely on the heels of that question follows the expanded version:…

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Ten Years Later

What am I doing with a blog? That’s what I asked myself in my very first post on The Seated View. Which was ten years ago today. I also thought (briefly) that I didn’t have much to say. Almost 1500 posts later, I think we know the answer to that one. So, what did I…

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Thoughts on Sacrifice

(no, not the type that involves sharp instruments) It’s been two years since Your Life with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Tools for Managing Treatment, Side Effects and Pain was published. It’s the first in a projected series of three, but is so far an only child. Well, if you don’t count the redheaded stepchild called 7 Facets:…

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Boundaries, Unplugging and Jell-O Molds

A couple of weeks ago, I didn’t turn on my computer for the entire weekend while The Boy was here. It was 48 hours of bliss… Remember the days when work was over at 5 o’clock and your evening was spent with your family and friends, watching TV, having a chat on the phone, and…

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Explosions on the Beach

There are three bluewhale carcasses on beaches in Newfoundland and people are worried that they’re going to explode at any minute. I hope someone sets up a WebCam. Every time I see another article or video breathlessly explaining what’s going on inside the whales that makes them expand so and what this means for the…

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The Miserables

Last weekend, I and three really good friends of varying ages did the proverbial girls’ night out and saw Les Miserables. It’s been getting great reviews and they were all right. It really was spectacular. I’ve seen the show before, in fact, this was my fourth time (I think?) and as usual, I bawled my…

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Brave

The term brave or courageous is often applied to those of us who live with a disability and equally often, you’ll hear me take issue with these bouts of admiration. And that’s usually because these labels are stuck on us not because we did something particularly brave, but because we got on with life. Instead…

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Anger Has a Place, But So Does Joy

A while back, Laurie suggested that I watch Pink Ribbons, Inc. and it’s been on my list of movies to buy. It turns out that sometimes, when you lollygag long enough, really good things happen. Last week, she posted this news: The National Film Board of Canada is currently offering the movie as a free…

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Ratings System

Yesterday, I read Trisha Torrey’s post about the ratingsystem. More specifically, how someone named Dr. Young has protested about his patients rating (judging) his services, calling some of them unfair. He also felt that people who didn’t “get over it” are “bad patients.” Trisha asks that since patients rate doctors, should doctors rate patients, too?…

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Being Human

For the past few weeks, I have been immersed in Being Human: The Complete First Season, a wonderful little British series about three roommates who happen to be a vampire, werewolf, and a ghost. I’ve been nagging encouraging everyone I know to watch this series, not just because of how good it is, but also…

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The graphic shows the torso of a white man in a white coat with crossed arms. The title of the post is Nothing More Than Feelings: How Doctors Minimize RA Reality. The post is about the concept of catastrophizing "When a patient feels it is okay to truly say how the disease impacts their life instead of feeling pressured to buck up and underreport their symptoms, the doctor is more likely to fully understand the patient’s reality." My take on the concept of catastrophizing in rheumatology.

Nothing More than Feelings: How Doctors Minimize RA Reality

Updated August 30, 2020 Catastrophizing is a popular concept in medicine, particularly when dealing with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and chronic pain. You’ll find endless studies and articles on the concept, described as negative self statements, feelings or coping strategies. For instance, someone saying “this is the worst pain I’ve ever had” or “what if I can’t…

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Opening Up

This is why I’m five days into a very necessary two weeks off. Actually, it was worse than that. It was the eyes going *boing* the minute I turned off the light, but no actual ideas coming, because my brain was moving so fast with everything I had done that day and needed to do…

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