Crash…

May 29, 2020.Reading time 5 minutes.

Since the Coronavirus Quarantine, my body has been on a high. I’ve been feeling good. Working from home has greatly improved my joint pain. It’s something my rheumatologist has been asking me to do for a while….work less. Although, I’m not working less, per se, I am working with my legs up, less walking, and […]

Lost and found…

May 8, 2020.Reading time 10 minutes.

I took a break from blogging after losing my beloved Georgia Grace. I have to laugh because I do work hard on my blog, but anytime I write about my pets, I get the most views. I agree….my pets are pretty special. Losing Georgia was leading me down a path to depression. The worst part […]

Each day was a gift…

April 8, 2020.Reading time 20 minutes.

My life changed in 2009. I brought the most adorable, beautiful, and feisty puppy home. Little did I know that 4 lbs. of cuteness could hold so much attitude. I’ve documented Georgia’s life so much over the years. Her chronic illnesses multiplied until we were dealing with 11 chronic issues by end. Yes, I said […]

The fear of the unknown…

March 14, 2020.Reading time 10 minutes.

Life is scary for all of us right now. None of us have experience with this, so I’ve been following the recommendations of WHO (World Health Organization), the CDC (Centers of Disease Control), and the ACR (American College of Rheumatology). I did reach out to my personal rheumatologist and her advice was to get blood […]

Unexpected goodness

March 9, 2020.Reading time 9 minutes.

This has been a crazy week. Watching the news and all the information regarding COVID-19. Of course the first known person in Pennsylvania happened to live about 4 miles from me. I heard as I was pulling into a gas station to fill up my tank. I found napkins before picking up the nozzle and […]

Hold the lime…

March 1, 2020.Reading time 13 minutes.

So if you are immunocompromised like me, the presence of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has you feeling uneasy. Between the political jockeying, the stock markets dropping, and the news cycles spreading panic, it’s hard to know how much information to take to heart. I know I panic every flu season, so this added virus is […]

Out of the blue..

February 26, 2020.Reading time 4 minutes.

I was hanging out with friends Saturday night. I had a good time, nothing big, just friends sitting around having a few drinks and fun. I went home around 1 am and went to bed. Almost immediately, I had bed spins. I didn’t drink enough for bed spins so I thought it was odd. I […]

Rheumy Rounds™, part 2…

February 17, 2020.Reading time 4 minutes.

IFAA just put out the 2nd part of our first episode of Rheumy Rounds™, a breakout series from our ArthritisVoices360 podcast. In this episode we talk about the doctor/patient relationship. We also touched on what a patient expects to accomplish during visit as opposed to what a rheumatologist expect to accomplish during a visit. It’s […]

Rheumy Rounds™…

February 12, 2020.Reading time 3 minutes.

I recently started a foray into podcasting with my IFAA cofounder Tiffany. She is the brains behind the project, in which patients co-host a podcast to discuss issues impacting patients in the autoimmune/autoinflammatory arthritis community. Our latest series is called “Rheumy Rounds”. Personally, I think it is ground breaking. How many of us (patients) have […]

To be or not to be….disabled.

January 23, 2020.Reading time 5 minutes.

I am active in the patient community so I know a lot of people who are on disability due to chronic illness. Their age, gender and race all vary, but the one thing they have in common? The majority of them wish they could still work. The majority of them are dirt poor, especially if […]