Kelly O'Neill, Author at Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior | Page 59 of 118

Encouragement: with a Little Help from My Friends

Don’t you want me to help you with that? No. I want to be able to do it myself. I can do that for you. I know you can, I wish I could. Is there anything I can do? No, I want to feel like I can do something. Do you have any problem asking for help? Or...Continue reading 23 Comments » Read more

Airport, Storms, and DMV: April Fool’s!

April 1, 2011May 15, 2018 Kelly O'Neill 15 Comments Living with chronic illness like RA

April Fool’s Day held a surprise party by coming one day early this year for Katie Beth and me. We both fell asleep on our laptops last night without getting any work done. This morning, I see that before she fell asleep, she posted her Facebook status: “This day was UNREAL. Somebody wake me up. I am...Continue reading 15 Comments » Read more

New Reading of the Nuclear Bone Scan: Credibility is Everything

March 31, 2011May 15, 2018 Kelly O'Neill 49 Comments Nuclear bone scan, Rheumatoid Arthritis test, Talking to doctors

Today, I got a gift. A friend obtained a second reading of my nuclear bone scan. The 4-page report was sent to me in a PDF as an authorized second opinion. The radiologist did not agree with the findings of the first report and the differences were not subtle. Instead of quoting it at length, I’ve...Continue reading 49 Comments » Read more

Do Rheumatoid Arthritis Drugs Cause Cancer?

March 30, 2011May 15, 2018 Kelly O'Neill 27 Comments Biologics for RA, Side effects for RA medicine

Hopefully not. People often state that drugs used to treat Rheumatoid Arthritis cause cancer as an accepted fact. They say they that shortening the length of life is worth the quality of life they gain from treatment. Personally, I’m tremendously interested in both. Rheumatoid Arthritis has long been known to increase risk of cancer, especially lymphoma. We...Continue reading 27 Comments » Read more

Men and Rheumatoid Arthritis: Video PSA

March 28, 2011May 15, 2018 Kelly O'Neill 46 Comments Living with chronic illness like RA, Men with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Video or podcast

Why a video about men and Rheumatoid Arthritis? This video PSA (public service announcement) is something that I have wanted to finish for months because the story about men and Rheumatoid Arthritis has not been told. I also believe that telling the story of men and RA will help everyone who lives with RA by creating...Continue reading 46 Comments » Read more

My Doctor Fired Me

March 25, 2011May 15, 2018 Kelly O'Neill 152 Comments e-patient, Nuclear bone scan, Talking to doctors

Several times I’ve had to be dragged kicking and screaming to medical treatment. No one else did it for me; so I had to learn to drag myself. It was a long and harsh journey, but I determined to be an empowered patient and no longer an ostrich hoping that ignoring problems makes them go...Continue reading 152 Comments » Read more

The Tug of War of RA Awareness: Privacy of Pain & Agony of Disclosure

March 23, 2011May 15, 2018 Kelly O'Neill 60 Comments Celebrities and Rheumatoid Arthritis, Pain Tolerance / RA Stoicism, Patient advocacy, Rheumatoid Arthritis awareness, Transparency & living with RA

This week’s post on Rosalind Russell raised some important questions. A comment by Ronda was highly critical of Russell for the way that she hid from the public the severity of her suffering due to Rheumatoid Arthritis. How can we raise awareness if we hide how bad it is? It’s a good question. Rosalind Russell was...Continue reading 60 Comments » Read more