7 Ways to Build a Chronic Illness Emergency Fund
Having a chronic illness is expensive. Struggling financially is so common, you might even call it normal. Those of us who live with chronic illness have the usual expenses, but your health condition cranks up the strain on the budget even more. Having a cushion of savings can make all the difference. Whether it’s paying…
How to Make RA Treatment Decisions With Less Stress
Rheumatoid arthritis and medication go hand in hand. But… what about the horror stories about side effects? How do you balance the fear of what might come with the meds with hope for remission? Read more in my new column for HealthCentral: “The ads make it look easy—you can create a wonderful life of walking…
Rheumatoid Arthritis Will Change Your Life. It Doesn’t Have to Ruin It.
What about your dreams when you get a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis — do you have to give them all up? In my new column for HealthCentral, I muse on future, expectations, and moving forward. “When I was a little girl, I had high-flying dreams and they had very little to do with my juvenile…
Using Findaway Voices to Create the Chronic Christmas Audiobook
Updated November 20, 2021 I am an independent author and that means I do it all myself. It can be a real challenge, but new things happen all the time. One of those new things enabled me to create an audiobook version of Chronic Christmas: Surviving the Holidays with a Chronic Illness! I know there…
Chronic Illness Brain Fog, Part Two: What You Can Do To Cope
Updated April 19, 2021 Brainfog. It’s part of many people experience when they have a chronic illness. Yesterday, I discussed what brain fog is and what causes it. Today, let’s talk about how to cope. When you have brain fog, there are number of things you can do to reduce the density of the fog,…
Patterns are Key with Chronic Illness Or The Mushrooms Did It
Updated April 14, 2021 When you live with an unpredictable chronic illness such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), fibromyalgia, migraines, or any of a multitude of conditions that play havoc with you every day, figuring out triggers — things that make your symptoms worse — can be an important part of improving your life. Also feel…
My RA Made Me Do It: 10 Really Great Things About Having RA
Photo description: a girl dances with a rainbow-coloured umbrella on a black and white backgriound. Credit: Dan Park Living with rheumatoid arthritis is a dance on roses — there are plenty of thorns. In my new Made with RA column, I flip it. Can I find 10 reasons to be grateful for RA in my…
A Very Personal Take on RA
I am SO excited! I have a brand-new role at HealthCentral: columnist! The Powers That Be are giving me free reign to be opinionated about what matters to how you live with rheumatoid arthritis and chronic pain. My first column is live now: “It’s time to move on. But thankfully—because I hate change—I’m not going…
The Incredible Pain-Killing Powers of Orgasm
No one talks about how RA affects your sex life. So I will (and have in the past, as well). In my latest article for HealthCentral, I look at the magical painkilling powers of orgasm: “When you’re managing the crushing fatigue and painful joints that come with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), sex is often one of…
Why Your RA Doctor Needs to Know About That Annoying Dry Cough—Now
This was one of the most difficult articles I have ever written. The systemic effects of rheumatoid arthritis can be really scary to read about. Interstitial lung disease is one of them. There is a huge temptation to stick your head in the sand, but it’s so important that we don’t. Being proactive can protect…
Sisters, Friends, and Sister-Friends
I used to think that friendship was built in person. The internet taught me differently when it gifted me my tribe of a chronic illness community. In my tribe the, the wise woman is Cathy Kramer. Cathy and I met ten or so years ago, when she started writing for HealthCentral, and we kept being…
The Healing Touch: How My Mother Took Away My Pain When Nothing Else Could
“That pain you had… For a mother to see a child with that kind of pain, is so terrible.” — My mom, Birthe Andersen I have had juvenile arthritis since I was four years old, which means this condition and I recently celebrated (?) 50 years together. For most of that time, there were no…