Thoughts on Guilt and Rheumatoid Arthritis
Guilt and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) go hand-in-hand. It goes something like this: You made plans. Sometimes big plans, sometimes small. Then you wake up to a day when your RA has decided to be extra — extra painful, extra flare-y, extra getting in the way of your life — and there’s only one thing to…
10 Perfect Gifts for People with Chronic Illness
Updated November 20, 2021 People with chronic illness are just like anyone else — they have a variety of interests and passions that you can consider when planning a present. But choosing a gift that shows you understand and support their health challenges can mean so much. Here are 10 perfect gift ideas for your…
8 Practical Ways You Can Help Someone with Chronic Illness
When you have a chronic illness, asking for help can feel like a mine field. Likewise, if you want to help someone you care about who has a chronic illness, offering it has its own challenges. But finding a way to help and accept help can start to build bridges of understanding, of connection, and…
What We Need From Others When We’re in Pain
Image description: rear view of two women sitting on a bench by a harbour. One woman is resting her head on the other’s shoulder. Pain is invisible. Which makes it hard to explain, and difficult for others to understand. I talked to the chronic pain community on Twitter and Facebook and they shared what they…
Walking the Walk
We did it! The Your Life with RA team raised over $2,300 for our 5K in the Walk to Fight Arthritis, exceeding our goal by $700. Not bad for our first time out! We all got up at the crack of dawn Sunday and headed to the Evergreen Brick Works. It’s a beautiful green space in the middle of…
Thoughts of History and Hats: My Unlce Poul and Lessons on Nuance
Updated September 5, 2021 For several years, my uncle Poul — my mother’s brother — came to visit once a year. And it’s always fun. He has a seemingly inexhaustible store of really bad jokes…. hang on, here’s my favourite. It’s better told in person, so feel free to spread it around: You ask the innocent victim…
Stories of My Father
Updated March 16, 2022 This is my dad, or as I (mostly) called him, far. Today is his birthday. My father was a pretty complex man. He was fiercely intelligent, generous, funny, quick-witted, proud, stubborn, had a wicked temper and a severe case of verbal diarrhea. With the exception of the last few years of…