The Seated View

Getting a diagnosis of any type of chronic illness can throw you for loop. There is so much to know and you have so little energy. My new slideshow for HealthCentral collects 13 things you need to know as an RA newbie : "Receiving a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a moment of strange duality. On one hand, you may be relieved to finally have answers for the symptoms you’ve been experiencing. On the other, it can be incredibly overwhelming to find out you have a chronic illness. Wrapping your head around all the new factors RA brings into your life is a long-term process. Here are some of the things you need to know." See the slideshow on HealthCentral . And in case you missed it, here is the Facebook Live I did yesterday talking about this topic:   

I've always looked to books for inspiration, information and community. This can be especially helpful when you have a chronic illness — adapting is hard and reading how others have found a way through can make a tremendous difference. In my new slideshow for HealthCentral, I have put together a collection of the best chronic illness books for you: "Having a chronic illness adds a unique challenge and perspective to your life. Adapting to this and finding a way to live your life to the fullest requires support and information from many different places. Some of the best resources are books written by others who live with chronic illness. These authors provide information and inspiration that we can use to help with our own journey. Even better, they make us feel part of a community — rejoicing in the “me too” moments and sharing both tears and laughter. Here are some of the best chronic illness books to help you get started." Find out what's on my list of ...

Some people who have rheumatoid arthritis are the only ones in their family with the condition. In other families, autoimmune disease is everywhere. Can it be helpful to have family members with the same condition or can of getting away? My new article on HealthCentral takes a look at this issue: "Due to the interactions between genetic predisposition and other factors, it’s not possible to predict who will have RA and who won’t. That said, one of the greatest risk factors for developing RA is having a family member with the condition. First-degree relatives of someone with RA — parents, siblings, children — are approximately three times more likely to develop the condition . As well, if one identical twin has RA, the other is up to 15 percent more likely to develop RA. For fraternal twins, the risk is less than 4 percent. ...

Have you ever wondered how people who are colour deficient* see the world? And what happens if they try colour correcting glasses ? I didn't know about colour correcting glasses until I had the opportunity to talk to a scientist whose research led to the development of this technology. And then I got to interview two completely charming teens who are red-gree colour deficient: "Ryan and Garrett Allardyce are 16-year-old identical twins who live in Toronto. They are active teens involved in drama and baseball — and Garrett has his own YouTube channel . They are both colorblind, or as it is more accurately known, red-green color vision deficient (CVD) . In explaining the condition, their optometrist said to think of their eyes as having paint cans where some of the cans aren’t quite full, Andrew Allardyce, the twins’ father told me. Although this is not a technical description, it explains how they don’t experience t...

As I know first-hand, being immunosuppressed can make it a real challenge to fight back against infection and illness. Vaccines can protect you . With the arrival of flu season, this is even more important: "As another flu season approaches, those of us who take immunosuppressant drugs for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) start getting twitchy. One of the most unnerving things about taking these types of medications is being vulnerable to infection. Experts are looking at the just-past flu season in Australia and predicting a humdinger on this side of the world. There were “more cases of influenza than ever reported, so we could have a really bad flu season this year, but it’s unpredictable. So you’ve got to be prepared for it,” says Dr. Charles Gerba , professor of microbiology and environmental sciences at the University of Arizona. But there is no need to move into a bubble — vaccinations can help protect your health....

I've been using alternative treatments to treat my RA (or at least the symptoms) since I was a child. I grew up in a time when there were no treatments, so I tried a lot of different things to make life easier. A lot of them worked. One especially valuable tool for me is naturopathy. In my new slideshow for HealthCentral, I share ways that a naturopathic doctor can help you live better with the condition . And I got to interview my own naturopath for the piece! " Living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can be a daily challenge requiring a variety of treatments and techniques to cope with pain, fatigue, and other symptoms. Many people with this condition supplement their medical care with alternative and complementary therapies. Increasingly, this includes naturopathy, a form of alternative medicine." See the tips for and how naturopathy can help RA on HealthCentral.   

I have some thoughts about what's happening with health care in the United States . In my latest column for HealthCentral, I share these opinions: "Last spring, I spent 34 days in the hospital. Three weeks of this was in the ICU, receiving complex high-level care and treatment. For a month after I returned home, a visiting nurse came to take care of the tracheostomy stoma in my throat. I paid for none of this. My friends in the United States who have gone through long hospitalizations or who are receiving complex care are drowning in medical bills. I live in Canada, a country that has universal healthcare, also known as a single-payer system. Our government uses the taxes we pay every year to fund healthcare for everyone who lives here. It is an integral, almost sacred, part of Canadian society. Regardless of political beliefs, everyone in Canada, both citizens and politicians, believe that our healthcare system is the only way t...

I've been running so fast this week that it's been hard to catch up, so you get links to two new articles instead of just one today. Both show different aspects of channeling your inner fierceness to live with RA. In the first article, I talk about how we have a tendency to compare ourselves to others . It does no one any good, so I have a couple of suggestions on what we can do instead: "We learn to compete almost from the very start of our lives. Before we understand words, our parents are comparing us (usually favorably) with other babies. And then we grow and learn to compete ourselves. The games we learn to play have a winner and a loser and we learn about status, and the many factors that affect what is desirable and what isn’t. It’s no wonder that we internalize a tendency to compare ourselves against others so thoroughly that it becomes instinctive. And it’s not healthy. It is especially not healthy when you live with rheumatoid arthr...

I recently had the opportunity to talk to three gentlemen about exciting ways to live better with a chronic illness. First, I spoke to Jim Curtis about his new book . It's a guide to changing your story to help you find the way to live better with a chronic illness. Fascinating book by a very thoughtful person: "Jim Curtis wants “to make dreams a reality.” His book The Stimulati Experience: 9 Steps for Getting past Pain, Setbacks, and Trauma to Ignite Health and Happiness , is a guide to help people who have experienced a trauma through an experience or illness become empowered to change their story. In it, he shares his own story of chronic illness and explains that the motivation for writing the book was to make his suffering meaningful. I recently spoke to Jim about the book, living well with chronic illness, and the idea of the “Stimulati.”   Undiagnosed after 20 years When Jim, now 41, was 20 years old, he developed a chr...

I have always loved travelling, still do even though I can't do so at the moment. But when you use a wheelchair, travelling can have some extra challenges. In my new article for HealthCentral, I share tips to make wheelchair travel easier . Which includes photos from some of my travels! "Having physical limitations does not have to prevent you from seeing the world. Whether you use a wheelchair full time or have one for backup and going for longer distances, travelling is not only possible — it’s also fun. I’ve used a wheelchair since I was 16 years old and in it, I have visited several countries in Europe, Romania when it was under communist rule, Las Vegas and California, both coasts of Canada, and more. I’ve seen the ocean, the mountains, and the desert, been to cities and the countryside. Every trip was an adventure and I treasure the memories. That said, once you add the extra coordinating required for mobility equipment, ...

This was one of the most fun interviews I've done in a while. Michael Kuluva premiered his 2018 Spring/Summer Tumbler & Tipsy collection at New York Fashion Week last Wednesday. And I got to interview him and get a preview of the collection! In a video! I also talk to Seth Ginsberg of CreakyJoints, the official sponsor of the show. I can't pop the video into this post, but I promise it will be worth your while (I want that jacket!): "Lene Andersen gives us a peek into fashion designer Michael Kuvula’s 2018 fashion line, debuting at the fall 2017 New York Fashion Week—and talks about how he’s continuing to use his fashion platform to spread awareness about RA. CreakyJoints president Seth Ginsberg also shares why they’re happy to support Kuvula, and how he’s a shining example of pushing past your chronic illness to do big things in life." You can also read the accompanying article where Michael talks about his fashion line, Tumbler and T...

And... mic drop! In my new article for HealthCentral, I get the teensiest bit opinionated about how breaking the rules of being a "chronic illness patient" can actually be good for you. It includes profiles of some fantastic people who are breaking rules all over: "A diagnosis of chronic illness brings a host of new things into your life. Some of the obvious include frequent doctor’s appointments, multiple medications, and symptoms that affect your day-to-day life. Not so obvious are the unspoken rules of being a chronic illness patient. Although they are well established, breaking these rules can actually be good for you. Attitude Our culture values independence, but that goes out the window once you get a chronic illness. All of a sudden, you’re expected to be meek and passive — a patient rather than a person. Compliance is actually the term used in medicine to describe a “good” patient. That is, someone who complies...

Sometimes, my writing and the site production gets a little out of whack. And then flurries happen. To wit, here are my last three articles for HealthCentral: First, and the last kind of timely I ever want to be, a slideshow about what you need to do to be prepared for an emergency when you have a chronic illness . Which reminds me that I have to go get a couple of extra things organized: "Getting ready for a potential emergency such as a hurricane, tornado, or blackout involves planning ahead in several different areas of your life. Some of your emergency plan will be the same as your healthy and able-bodied neighbors, but you will also need to make plans that specifically address your chronic illness." Second, being the new to life with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can be incredibly overwhelming. So I created a slideshow about 11 things you can bring to your first rheumatologist appointmen t that can make it easier: "Your family doctor suspected you hav...

Did you know that the health of your teeth could be a factor in triggering RA ? And that when you have RA, it affects your dental health? I look into a new study and what you can do to protect yourself in my new slideshow for RAHealthCentral: "Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that affects the entire body. The systemic inflammation doesn’t just affect your joints, but also the internal organs, skin, and vascular system. It even affects your teeth. In the last few years, research has shown that there is a definite link between dental health and RA, and this link is expressed in a number of different ways." Learn more in my slideshow about dental health and RA .  

Did you miss it? In last week's Facebook Live for RAHealthCentral, I talked about how the ADA can help you work longer when you have a chronic illness, and how to apply for disability. I had a bad cold. Meaning I am woman, hear me squeak!  

To cope with chronic illness, you need a variety of tools. One of these tools is meditation. In my new article for HealthCentral, I look at how meditation can help you live better with chronic illness : "Living with chronic illness is stressful . These types of conditions are often unpredictable and require a lot of changes to how you live your life, work, and interact with your loved ones. But it’s more than that. The simple act of being can be challenging as pain, fatigue, nausea, and other symptoms accompany your every breath. Meditation can help. What is meditation? In everyday speech, the word meditation can mean a number of different things. People might use it to describe daydreaming on a park bench or thinking deeply about a particular issue. However, the actual act of meditation is something very different. It is a practice of concentrating in a quiet way, focusing on the present moment. The goal of meditating is to red...

There are a lot of medical professionals involved in treating a chronic illness then it's important that they work as a team.  But what does that look like? My new slideshow for HealthCentral shares 10 characteristics  of a great healthcare team : "“Simple” is not a word usually associated with chronic illness, and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is no different. Getting to a place where you are as healthy as possible requires a number of health professionals in addition to your primary care physician. When these work together as a team, rather than separate and isolated specialties, it optimizes your health care and helps you live a better life with chronic illness. A great health care team can be defined by several characteristics." Pop on over to HealthCentral to see t what makes for a great healthcare team .  

There are a lot of claims going around about what herbal remedies can do for rheumatoid arthritis . In my new slideshow for HealthCentral, I looked into the facts and got some wisdom from my naturopath: "Before the advent of modern medicine, people used plant-based treatments to deal with illnesses. In fact, many medications are based on the properties of plants. Increasingly, people with chronic illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), are looking at their options and often including alternative remedies in their treatment regimen. In this slideshow, we’ll explore the potential of herbal medicines for RA." See the rest of the slideshow to learn more about herbal remedies and RA on HealthCentral.

When you live with a chronic illness,difficult times are unavoidable. And it can feel as if you are walking through the valley of if not death, then certainly  a very dark and dingy place. What's it like and how do you cope? That's the subject of my new article on HealthCentral : "Living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) isn’t fun. If life is a dance on roses, when you have RA it can feel like a dance (OK, more like a limp) on thorns. And it can be really difficult to not get pulled under by the riptide of pain, fatigue, and waking up every day feeling awful. Approximately 30 percent of people who have this condition experience depression, about a third of those so severely that they become suicidal . I’d wager that even those who haven’t experienced a clinical depression know what it’s like to feel dejected. You don’t have to be in a severe flare to feel the encroaching bony fingers of hopelessness picking away at your composure. I had to stop t...

The night before I dreamed that I was late to this first-ever Facebook Live event that I hosted on Friday. I’d gotten held up by the tornado, but somehow managed to get there anyway. Then the lights went out as a massive natural disaster commenced. I couldn’t find my notes, so I talked for a good 90 minutes, rather than the 10 minutes I was supposed to. Eventually, they took the phone away from me rather forcefully. The reality  was a somewhat similar, without the tornado. There were some technical challenges and some RA-related challenges, as well as rampant idiocy challenges (that latter one was me), but for a first time, it was alright. I promise to do better next time! Now I just need a better tripod....