The Seated View

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Kelly suggesting people in the RA community write blog posts on what rheumatoid awareness means to them , just in time for the February 2 Rheumatoid Awareness Day.  More specifically, she asked “ what difference do you think it would make if Rheumatoid Disease were recognized for what it is by everyone…?” And I immediately knew what I wanted to write. Settle in for a bit of speculative creative writing, starring our fictional protagonist, Margo. Date: In the Future Margo is sitting in her family doctor’s office, stunned and more than a bit anxious. Her doctor has just told her she suspects Margo may have rheumatoid arthritis and is now speaking to the secretary about arranging a referral to a rheumatologist. Fifteen minutes later, Margo leaves the clinic with information about her specialist appointment the following week. She was surprised things are moving so fast, but her doctor explained that RA is considered a “ medi...

“T he type of pain associated with moderate-severe RA is comparable to bone cancer.” This is a quote from a recent post by Vanessa Collins on HealthCentral, an interview with Mischelle Jackson, who lives with RA. The source of the quote is Mischelle's rheumatologist. And it has been reverberating in my mind since I first read it a week ago. I have never heard anyone compare RA pain to any other pain. It makes sense, though. This lifts pain out of the very individual and problematic 1-10 pain scale. A scale which, exactly because of its individual nature, does nothing to convince doctors that your pain is very real and is indeed that high. Assigning an arbitrary number that varies from person to person — and varies from experience to experience within one person — feeds the notion that high pain equals the person not coping well with the pain (as opposed to being a really high level of pain). And so, catastrophizing enters the picture. Yes, that again. I’ve shared ...

Whenever I write about RA and its potential impact on heart health, I describe the symptoms of heart attack, then describe how they may be different for women , and then I strongly encourage people who have those symptoms to call 911 and get themselves to an emergency room. A desire to not be a hypocritical twit is why I on Monday continued my tour of the city’s emergency departments. Strapped down and hooked up photo by David Govoni Waking up with a racing heart and chest pain had me concerned enough that I toddled off to my family doctor. Having had acid reflux for eons has familiarized me with the extensive variety of symptoms that this condition can cause, but that particular chest pain was new. I’m a big believer in getting new symptoms checked out to assess whether they can be ignored. Like me, my doctor thought that the symptoms was 99% probably acid reflux. However, given my decades of uncontrolled RA inflammation and high use of NSAIDs, as well as the...

Sandy's made everyone re-think what they need to do in order to be ready for a potential emergency. Earlier this week, I wrote a post for HealthCentral about some of the extras you have to consider when a chronic illness is in the mix: "As I write this, hurricane Sandy is gearing up to hit the Northeast part of the US and Canada and all those stories of a Frankenstorm are more than a bit unnerving. Every talking head on every channel is telling us how to prepare. There is video of boarded-up windows, long lines of cars headed out of coastal areas and empty store shelves, but not a lot of information about preparing for an emergency when you have a chronic illness or other type of medical condition. Getting ready for a potential emergency such as hurricane Sandy involves planning ahead in several different areas of your life. Some of your plan will be the same as your healthy and able-bodied neighbors, but you will also need to make plans that specifically consider...

Today’s #RABlog Week prompt is Biologics can be scary . This is true and it has led to a lot of misperceptions about these kinds of medications. My goal today is to bust some myths about Biologics. Settle in with a cup of tea. To do this subject justice, I had to go a bit long. Your doctor has talked to you about starting a biologic for your rheumatoid arthritis (RA), so you do the natural thing for anyone with an Internet connection: you ask Google. Maybe you also ask other people you know who have RA. And that’s when you see and hear some comments that scare the crap out of you. Such as:   “Don’t take those drugs, they are poison.” "I’d never put that in my body. I’m going all natural.” “I went all natural and I’m in remission.”   I believe these types of comments reflect a lack of understanding of not just the Biologics, but the disease they treat.   A serious solution   I’m not going to lie to you. Biologics are a serious medication. The...