A Living With Arthritis Blog
If I had to have rheumatoid arthritis, I chose a good time to have it. Today we have more choices for treatments, education on management, advocacy, community, inspiration and medical teams that help us live the best life we can. I am fortunate to be part of a patient advisory group with Arthritis Research Canada.... Continue Reading →
Mindfulness is a beautiful way to recharge and be present in the moment. It’s not always easy to achieve, especially when pain gets in the way and medical appointments fill up the spare cracks in our busy lives. There’s always something that needs to be done and never enough time to do it. My moments... Continue Reading →
Managing arthritis can sometimes be tricky. Wellness changes from day-to-day and there’s no predicting how we’re going to feel. I can have three glorious days of no pain, and then wake up on the fourth day feeling like a truck ran over me during the night. This is frustrating because it ambushes my plans –... Continue Reading →
Medications become a part of life with rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory autoimmune conditions. They are meant to control our pain and inflammation and are prescribed by our specialists with the intention of improving our quality of life. Sometimes things don’t go smoothly in our interactions with our doctors, pharmacists and insurance companies. I am... Continue Reading →
The summer heat arrived in July and thrust our lush west coast into a drought. Forest fires began their deadly run through the province. Every year we are forced to cope with massive fires that ravage our desiccated land under a relentless heat. Our summers are stronger, hotter and longer; our winters colder, moist and... Continue Reading →
Seagulls have nested peacefully on our building’s rooftop for several years. I wake to their haunting cries, I feel the crisp ocean air, and smell that hint of brine. Each call is distinctly different – they cry when the clouds crowd in, they coo and laugh to their fledglings, they squawk out warnings and messages... Continue Reading →
Every month, it seems, there is a call to action to advocate for a specific disease. Social media explodes with ribbons of various colors representing different types of illness. There are posts on victories, stories of defeat, facts, statistics and figures. It’s a grand opportunity to add our voice, share our experience, invite people into... Continue Reading →
I love my yoga sessions. I love how the feeling of stretch revives my stiff joints, and I enjoy the calm fluidity of moving from one pose to another. Depending on how I feel, I either do a short course of yoga or a long one, but no matter how long my session is, my... Continue Reading →
It has been a stormy beginning to 2018. The waves along the west coast are infused with a ferocious appetite, smashing against the black rocks as they charge towards the shoreline. Fat gray clouds bursting with cold rain provoke them, pushing their savage swells over the mountains of rock, and rousing the old lady from... Continue Reading →
New Year’s resolutions are like the tiny bubbles in champagne - they catch reflections of the life we want, but they rise to the surface too quickly, and pop before we can absorb them. A couple of years ago I wrote about the how the remnants of my broken resolutions found their own life, and... Continue Reading →
