Setbacks

Ok universe, I would very much appreciate a redo for today, please and thank you.  It is 9:30 on Saturday night and I am supposed to be dancing my booty off with some friends at a concert.  Instead, I am on the couch, more than a little loopy from muscle relaxers.  
Very long story short, [...]

Massage Therapy and a breath of fresh air!

I will admit it: I am addicted.  
It calms me, it soothes me, it relaxes the muscles of my back and neck which bother me, it stimulates an immune response which helps me manage my RA.  I crave time where I am forced to do nothing but chill.  And this takes the cake.
I’ve been to [...]

Gratitude

So I’ve been doing a gratitude challenge that several of my friends have sent me…and it’s actually been pretty enlightening.  It’s a month long series of exercises where you write, think and reflect about positives in your life.  I’ve also challenged myself to say two positives about every negative thought I’ve had.  Some of them [...]

MTX is off the hook…this time

So yes, everytime I have any weird sort of symptom, I immediately look for a way to blame it on my RA.
A week and a half ago, I woke up and my armpits were itching.  Not just a little bit but almost unbearably.  I had just restarted methotrexate so I looked on WebMD and a [...]

H1N1 Vaccine

I laugh that I can keep up with the world by simply looking at my friends’ Facebook status updates.  A few recent favorites include “Jeff intercepted a memo reminding Delhomme that he plays for the Panthers” and “Megan is beginning week 3 of (f)unemployment.”  
Today, I noticed probably 8 updates about the H1N1 vaccine.  They [...]

Traveling with RA: Success! Finally!

Traveling with RA can be a pretty unpleasant experience for me. Once, I went to the beach on methotrexate and got so nauseous at dinner that I had to leave.  I got sick and cried myself to sleep.  Then I went to the mountains and was so stiff and uncomfortable with the cold and snow [...]

An Open Letter to my Future Rheumatologist

Dear Dr. (insert your name here),
First and foremost, let me tell you that I’d so much rather be shoe shopping than rheumatologist shopping.  To put things in perspective, I’ve never gone shoe shopping and left with 5 vials less blood than I came with.  Rheumatologist shopping…different story.
I’m really frustrated.
I think I’m a pretty good patient. [...]

On a serious note

Today is my uncle’s third deathniversary.
 Of all my extended family, my Uncle B and I were the closest.  He was incredibly sensitive, kind, hysterically funny and very intuitive when it came to feelings of others, particularly mine.  My brother spent a year in Iraq and B remains the only person I’ve ever talked to about [...]

Get Ready for Invisible Illness Week: Beginning Sept 14th

30 Things About My Invisible Illness You May Not Know
1. The illness I live with is: Rheumatoid Arthritis
2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: 2006
3. But I had symptoms since: May 2005
4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: slowing down, cutting back on physical activities.
5. Most people assume: that I’m being [...]

The worst response EVER

I’ve been talking more and more to my friends about my RA- they’re awesome and want to know as much as I’m willing to share which is somewhat of a shock to me.  Did I say already that they’re awesome?  Anyways, one of them asked me how people react when they find out about my [...]