Guest Post: Healthline.com!

I am so honored to feature a guest post from one of the fabulous writers at Healthline. Healthline journalists have been featured on the Washington Times and Natural News websites, and I'm thrilled they've picked my little blog! Please welcome Valerie Johnston's factual take on living a symptom-free lifestyle. I still struggle every day with symptoms, so I know these suggestions are so relevant to my life right now.

Hands hands hands

There are a lot of frustrating things about living with RA. Sometimes, I have bad, grumpy, awful weeks, and other times my weeks are pretty great despite my immune system gnawing on itself. This week has been a bad grumpy awful week. Yes, some of it is stress - with my job, with my personal life, with my body (which is clinging onto weight like crazy, despite my best efforts). But really, this week it's been one little thing that has really set me over the edge:

Packaging.

No, really. This week, it seems like everything I want to eat, throw away, put on, or otherwise use comes in packaging that constantly defies my every effort to tear it apart.

I love my hands. Really, I do. They are fantastic, they do great things for me, and I need them to be my hyper-organized, super anxious self. They help me organize my life. I love my hands, even after the RA tore through them and made my always-stubby fingers look like little dinner sausages. Even after the weird osteoarthritic node grew in my thumb for no reason whatsoever. Even after my useful right wrist got all swollen and sore. I still love my hands.

But MAN! This week, my stubby little fingers are so tired of trying endlessly to open bags of salad and fruit cartons. Is it really that difficult to fashion some packaging that is easy and simple to open? Does opening my new yummy bag of salad REALLY have to feel like wrestling with a balloon? How come my yogurt has, this week only, decided to come with an impenetrable, nuclear explosion-safe lid? Why is my fruit packaged in a bomb shelter?

Because this is really how it feels to have my hands this week.

Another year older and about ten years wiser

Today is my birthday. This isn't very exciting, by itself. It's certainly not a milestone birthday, and I don't have a lot going on right now. However, this is my first birthday since my RA diagnosis, and it was a great one despite some lingering pain. Here's to 77 more fantastic birthdays, each more free of pain than the last!

It's so strange to think about the person I was exactly a year ago. I had a different house, a different roommate, a different relationship, and a totally different take on life. I'd rigidly planned out my next ten years, down to dates and locations. I thought I would breeze through the remainder of my credits, graduate this year, and head out for law school. I thought I would continue to work retail until I broke down completely. Most importantly, I had self-diagnosed the pain and swelling in my fingers as moderate carpal tunnel, and I ignored the pain in my feet completely. On my 22nd birthday, I had no idea of the giant roadblock about to be plunked down right in the middle of all of my carefully constructed plans.

Despite that giant roadblock, complete with daily pain, stiffness and self esteem struggles, I am happy to say I like myself more today than ever before. I've come a long way from the negativity and self-doubt that used to surround me. I'd like to think I am happier, more relaxed, and in some ways, healthier than I have ever been.

Thank you so much to my friends and family for the support and love they've continually given me this year. I could not have made it without you!

Reducing Stress by Accepting Help: Advocacy at the University Level

Several weeks ago, the very knowledgeable Marianna from A Rheumful of Tips approached me about writing a guest post. Of course, I happily agreed, and that's how this post came to be! Please go visit Marianna at A Rheumful of Tips and read the except (my very first guest post!) there; you can read the full post below.

I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis in August 2011, two short weeks before fall semester began at my local university. Assuming that my R.A. was progressing slowly, my rheumatologist did not discuss with me the symptoms I might begin to experience. Instead, I did my own research, felt reasonably satisfied that I had a pretty mild R.A., and headed back to school.

My semester was a horrendous, stressful mess. My arthritis advanced far faster than anyone expected, and I missed more classes than I attended. Every day, my stress levels rose, my sleep schedule fell further out of whack, and my arthritis grew more painful and limiting. I had a doctor’s note, and while my professors seemed understanding, many were unwilling to give concessions. My attendance grades suffered terribly.

I made it through (somehow) with decent grades, but my body and mind were devastated. College is rough no matter who you are, but trying to balance schoolwork with my ever-menacing R.A. brought on more stress than I have ever experienced before.

 It was only after I had completed my terrible semester that I finally took the advice of my favorite professor, who had encouraged me to seek out Disability Services. At the time, I didn’t feel as if I deserved help; I had yet to accept my debilitating illness as a disability. After watching the quick work stress made of my already deteriorating body, though, I realized that I needed some support.

My university’s Disability Services Office advocates for any student who falls under “disabled” requirements, as described by the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (Current ADA text can be found here). Sufferers of widespread, chronic and debilitating pain generally fall under this category.

From the minute I sat down with my new advocate, I knew I had done myself a grave disservice by shying away from this valuable resource. My advocate listened intently, took extensive notes, and provided me with the professional support I needed to focus on school. I came to realize that Disability Services was not there to make the conditions of my degree easier, but instead to provide knowledge and advocacy, taking away the stress of managing and explaining my R.A.

Together, we worked out a number of little solutions that might make my semesters less stressful, from the use of my laptop for note taking to removing or lessening attendance requirements. I distributed these solutions to my professors in the form of an impact letter describing the ways in which R.A. affected my education; professors had to sign a form verifying that they had read and understood my impact letter. By requiring me to seek out my professors myself, Disability Services encouraged open dialogue about my disability, and ensured that each and every professor met my educational needs.

I will never have to advocate for myself again. If ever a professor refuses to make changes, my counselor with Disability Services will stand by my side. When my arthritis began to take over my life, I wondered if I would ever graduate.

Having a chronic illness is life changing, whether you are still a student or are far beyond school. Take advantage of the helpful resources provided for you, and reduce everyday stress on your already struggling body.

(More information about the ADA can be found here)

Feeling pretty when it's an uphill battle

Hello everyone! It's spring (sort of) and that calls for a much more cheerful post today. The truth is that I was not totally satisfied with my previous post here. I felt that I did quite a lot of whining, and not much positive thinking. I'm going to make today's effort much more upbeat, so please see it as kind of a companion post to last week's.

Now, as I discussed last week, it's very difficult for me to maintain any sort of self-esteem since my arthritis began to attack my body in earnest. I suspect that this could be the case for many a chronic pain patient, since chronic pain often manifests itself in a number of unpleasant physical symptoms. I don't want to feel terrible about my body all the time, of course, because my body feels pretty terrible all by itself! I did some brainstorming, and, integrating both my own routines and some that I'd really like to try, came up with this list of self-esteem boosting tips. Let's take a look.

Chronic pain is a big bully. Don't let it win

I always have so many plans for my next post here, and then I suddenly change my mind because something else becomes immediately relevant. Today, it's letting chronic pain win.

I started my new semester yesterday, after five weeks of winter break. The majority of my break, I found myself confined to the bed or the couch, struggling to get up just to take a shower. The BF basically acted as my nursemaid. Now, I love him a lot, and am thrilled that he is so willing to take care of me, but being shut inside all the time really made me crazy. I've been ready to get back to school for days. I'd been out briefly with my mom on Sunday and Monday, and, all things considered, felt pretty good when Tuesday rolled around. I had only an afternoon lecture from 2 to 3:15, so I screwed around online, enjoyed my banana and juice breakfast slowly, and gave myself time to digest my morning meds. When the time came to head for the bus stop, I picked up a leisurely pace and strolled my way there. I made it early, which delighted me to no end. How could I ever have taken WALKING for granted? It is seriously the best!

Gettin' Sexy Through the Pain

When I began brainstorming blog topics, I had this idea that I could write one blog on living with chronic pain. Thinking back, however, I realize that in all of 2011, I had only one pain-free month. Even in January 2011, before I had any inkling of what lay in store for me, I had already begun to develop symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, and I dealt with pain every day. Chronic pain is such a giant part of my life now that I could hardly write one single entry on it and call that good. Instead, I want to start off today with a discussion of chronic pain and intimacy, and continue on in the next few weeks to talk about chronic pain and its relation to a number of important processes and people in our daily lives.

So, let's talk today about something really awkward: S-E-X! But that's not all. Really, this conversation is about staying intimate when you feel like a big sore, swollen cow.