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 […]

Fa la la la la lazy…..

December 22, 2019.Reading time 13 minutes.

Christmas is in 4 days. Are my gifts wrapped? No. Am I packed? No. My decorations are minimal….and so is my Christmas spirit. My 2019 was extra crappy. Here is a little recap…. January: I started the year with a broken foot/non-weight bearing. On January 2, my cat tripped me and I ended up tearing […]

Getting sick, while being sick…

November 10, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

Two weeks ago, I started with a dry cough. After my bout with pneumonia, I watched it closely. By the middle of the week, I felt wrecked. Body aches, stuffy nose, sore throat, ear ache, etc. I called my doctor but they had no appointments until the following day. My goal was to return to […]

Making lemonade…

November 5, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

A year ago, I wrote a book about my dog, Georgia Grace. Georgia is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who lives with multiple, serious chronic illnesses including the top 3: Syringomyelia, Chronic Valvular Heart Disease, and Diabetes. I was told her life expectancy was three years. Today, she is 10 years, 6 months and […]

Daring to believe…

October 27, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

I just recently started to feel like my new medication is working. It’s kind of shocking. My pain level is so much more tolerable. I still have pain, but I can make it all day without taking extra meds. My swelling is also getting better. I still swell when I overdo it, but for the […]

Oh the places we will go…

October 15, 2019.Reading time 5 minutes.

I’ve not taken a proper vacation since my dog was diagnosed with diabetes. I refused to leave her for over two years until this past September, when I traveled to Washington DC for 2 nights for a patient advocacy trip. I admit that I was a wreck until I had her back in my arms. […]

A senseless goodbye…

June 29, 2019.Reading time 8 minutes.

I lost someone I love to drug addiction. It started with an addiction to prescription pain meds. He injured his ankle years ago and struggled with the pain. I figured out he was an addict after I had surgery to repair my broken ankle. He asked me what medication I was given and I told […]

I have what???

June 22, 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

****I’m updating the story: I started with symptoms on a Tuesday. Wednesday spiked a fever. By Saturday, my fever was 102 and I broke down to see a doctor. I woke up early Sunday morning to take care of Georgia’s insulin and meds. Ate some toast and went back to bed to rest. Woke up […]

Inflammation motivation…

June 17, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

I recently read an article called: “Chronic inflammation removes motivation by reducing dopamine in the brain.” Reading the article was one of those “OMG this is me!!!” moments. For the past few years, I just could not figure out where my motivation went. Granted, I’m exhausted and in pain….but I have ZERO motivation for things […]

With a hope and a flare….

June 10, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

This past week, I’ve been dealing with one of the worst flare ups of my disease in years. I say the word “disease” because honestly, no one seems to know for sure what I have. Sometimes I’m told I have rheumatoid arthritis. Other times, I’m told I have psoriatic arthritis or spondyloarthopathy. All I know….is […]