Journaling with Chronic Illness: Tracking Your Life
Using a journal when you have a chronic illness can be helpful in many different ways. In the first post of this series, I talked about using expressive writing to process your feelings and thoughts and as a tool to cope. But as any bullet journaler knows, your notebook can also be a fantastic…
How to Talk to Your Doctor About Sex and RA
Rheumatologists don’t always bring up the topic of how RA affects sex, so you may have to. WHich can seem daunting. In my new column for HealthCentral, I share tips for starting a conversation with your doctor about how RA affects your sex life: “WHEN YOU HAVE rheumatoid arthritis (RA) it affects all aspects of…
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….
Post-Lockdown: Venturing Out When You’re Chronic
We seem to have decided that the pandemic is more or less over, taking off masks and flinging them in the air in celebration. Of course, those of us who are high risk due to rheumatoid arthritis and other types of medical conditions know we are not quite out of the woods yet. For people…
How Journaling Can Help You Live Better with Chronic Illness and Pain
Did you know journaling can be an important tool to add to your bag of chronic illness and pain coping tools? It’s been shown to help people cope with pain, PTSD, depression, and even have a beneficial effect on your immune system. This is the first in a series on journaling and chronic illness and…
Made with RA: Having RA Means You Are Resilient
When a flare gets you down, you have to get back up. In my new column for HealthCentral, I remind you that you already know how to keep going (and share tips and how-to in case you need a refresher): “RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS (RA) can stop you in your tracks, taking over every single part of your…
65+ Ways to Hone Your Craft and Reach More People for Bloggers, Writers, and Chronic Illness Advocates
If you are doing anything online, one of your goals is to be more effective and reach more people. But let’s face it: staying on top of trends and algorithms while you are producing quality content is exhausting. For those of us who live with chronic illness and limited amount of energy that means cutting…
Give Yourself Credit for Everything You Do With RA
A little self-love goes a long way in seeing your accomplishments for what they are: enough. How to get there? I share tips in my latest column for HealthCentral: “WHEN LOOKING BACK at your day, your week, and maybe even your year, does a list of all the things you couldn’t or didn’t do roll in…
How Breaking the Rules Helps My RA
Going against conventional thinking (breakfast for dinner anyone?) is key in happier living with RA. My column for HealthCentral dives into the unspoken rules that guide our lives and how breaking them can help you have less pain, fatigue, and guilt: “I HAD CEREAL for dinner. Again. While crunching my way through a bowl of cornflakes…
Medical PTSD Still Gives Me Nightmares
I survived a touch-and-go stint in the ICU, but the fear and anxiety I felt continued long after I returned home. I share my experience with medical PTSD in a column for HealthCentral: “EVERY NIGHT FOR the past five years, I’ve had vivid nightmares about my life being in danger. The story varies (natural disasters,…
How to Love Yourself, RA and All
Liking yourself, loving your body, can be a real challenge with RA. In my new column for HealthCentral, I talk about my past struggles with body image, how I learned to celebrate who I am, and share tips for how you can, too: “CAN YOU FEEL beautiful with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)? For a very long time…
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…