Sloppy Medical Reporting in Mainstream Media (and Why it Makes Me Crazy)
In the last few days, my Google News feed has been full of media reports about a recent study that was published in the medical journal Arthritis Care & Research. The complete title of the article...
View ArticleBreaking up with MTX
So, methotrexate and I broke up last week. During the past two-to-three weeks I've been having a major flare of skin and joint involvement and my rheumy and I decided we needed a different strategy. Of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
my nine-pound ball of love
Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet. ~ColetteI'm writing this post with my new Dragon Dictate software. I'm not sure I've quite gotten the hang of thinking out loud–literally–yet....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why drug companies and the "free market" don't belong together
Image from UCAN's Consumer Watchdog Blog.One of my close friends is a firm believer in free market economics. He argues that regulation gets in the way of supply and demand, and that the market will...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Praise to the Janus god prednisone!
"Janus" (oil on panel) by Mary Jean AnsellMy hands are back. In all their crocheting, jewelry-making, baking, yoga-doing glory.The dark cloud of MTX has lifted from my whole life—along with the wolf...
View ArticleDreaming of Dead Doctors and Listening to My "Gut"
A few weeks ago I dreamed that I saw my former rheumatologist, the one who passed away suddenly during the fall. In my dream, he told me to take a vitamin E supplement. I woke up surprised by the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pred vs. Daylight Savings Time; or: Where the heck did all my energy go?
"The wolf, I'm afraid, is inside tearing up the place." —Flannery O'Connor (from a 1964 letter)So after about five magical weeks of feeling like my functional pre-MTX (but not necessarily pre-lupus)...
View ArticleClik here to view.
spoons + willpower = ?
I mentioned a few months ago about how I was procrastinating by reading a book about procrastination. In a similar realm of the ironic, I've been avoiding some of my own academic research by reading a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
HAWMC Day 1: Message in a Bottle
The first version of the prompt for the opening day of Health Writer's Month Challenge asked me to imagine constructing a time capsule related to my health condition. The second version asked me to...
View ArticleHAWMC Day 2: Paging Plato
"Be Kind; Everyone You Meet is Fighting a Hard Battle"I've seen this quote in multiple versions, with several different attributions. It often seems to get attributed to Plato, but it sounds a little...
View ArticleHAWMC Day 3: Not all superheros wear capes (but some of us used to)
Back in my high school days I was a bit of a goth. I wore lots of vintage clothes—black and velvet, naturally—and I even had a black wool cape that I wore on chilly days in place of a jacket. If I had...
View ArticleHAWMC Day 4: I write about my health because...
First and foremost, I started this blog as a form of therapy: a place where I could voice my hopes and fears, and work through some of my frustrations. Last winter, when I was so sick, I felt a sense...
View ArticleClik here to view.
HAWMC Day 5: image/art/words
Sometimes the things that are beautifulare also terrible, horrible, awful (and awe-ful);sometimes the things that are uglyare strong, enduring, joyful, sure.The praying mantis fills me with...
View ArticleQuagmire
I've been blindsided by heartbreak. I'll get back to HAWC shortly, if only as a distraction.
View Articleflare and remit
It's been nearly four months since I last blogged. I suppose that means I've been on a bit of a hiatus, partly intentional, partly unintentional. My personal life imploded in April, and while I won't...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Indignities of chronic illness
Recently:constant prednisone-induced yeast infections (yuck!)sleeping in wrist braces (not my most alluring look...)needing diabetic foot cream (for raynaud's/circulation issues)What are your (least)...
View ArticleAd-vocation
I'm scheduled to meet with US Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) next week to discuss specialty tier medications and how medicare and commercial insurance policies are preventing patients from accessing...
View Article"No!"
You might think from the title of this post that I'm channeling my inner toddler. But the truth is that I'm actually quite proud of myself for finally tapping into my ability to say "no." Three times...
View ArticleSuper-crip Narratives and the Burden of Disability
In the academic discipline of Disability Studies, one of the topics in discussions of disability narratives and the social construction is disability and the so-called "super-crip narrative" or...
View ArticleChanging Aspirations, Fitness, and RA/Lupus Fatigue
This morning, Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project, posted the following question on her Facebook feed:Happiness Question: Do you consider exercise to be a treat or a chore?While I might...
View Article
