Living with chronic illness like RA Archives | Page 3 of 8 | Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior

Living with chronic illness like RA

Planning Pregnancy with Rheumatoid Arthritis / Disease

Kelly Young 39 Comments , ,
How Rheumatoid Disease affects pregnancy planning Pregnancy planning is a common challenge for people diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Concerns include infertility, disease activity, pain control, and possible disability, which can interfere with caring for a child. Valuable resources include clinical studies and other publications, and the practical stories of other patients. While there is no clear...Continue reading      39 Comments » Read more

Words of Help From a Friend We’ve Never Met – Until We Do

Kelly Young 2 Comments ,
Isn’t life full of special coincidences? Some even call them “God-incidences.” Circumstances show know that life is not all random, but the right words are often there at the right time – no matter when they were written. A couple of special coincidences occurred in February when I was in Washington. As my friend Leslie and...Continue reading      2 Comments » Read more

Generic Thyroid Medication & a Levoxyl Recall

Kelly Young 54 Comments
This is a managing illness story that’s currently unfolding. A lot of people with Rheumatoid disease also have thyroid disease. I’ve been a thyroid patient for over 30 years, but I seldom discuss it because it was so well managed until… Getting the right thyroid medication dose Thyroid medication doses are very individual. Levoxyl comes in 11...Continue reading      54 Comments » Read more

Anyone Else Lose Time Thanks to Rheumatoid Disease?

Kelly Young 8 Comments , ,
I lost another week. Anyone know where I put it? Seems like the left side of my cervical spine had an inflammation party this week. I ended up with some swelling that pinched the nerve going down the back of my arm and pushed a rib out near my shoulder blade. The orthopedic doc figures it...Continue reading      8 Comments » Read more

$10,000 Matching Opportunity for Rheumatoid Awareness Day

Kelly Young 4 Comments ,
Another patient's story about what Rheumatoid disease is really like Last month, I shared what it’s like to live with full-blown Rheumatoid disease, taking the gloves off. To provide a glimpse into a world that most will never experience, I described a few hours of trying to move and manage with people who don’t understand what the...Continue reading      4 Comments » Read more

Why I Hate “Are You Ready for Christmas?”

Kelly Young 13 Comments , ,
Well, I don’t really hate it, but “Why I’m uncomfortable with the question ‘Are you ready for Christmas?’” is too long for a blog title. The Twelve Days of Christmas begin on Christmas. Sometimes people say Jewish families are lucky to celebrate Hanukkah over eight days. Isn’t that better than a month of rushing around terminating...Continue reading      13 Comments » Read more

Groceries, Guilt, and Feeling Old from Rheumatoid Disease

Kelly Young 70 Comments ,
At our family get-togethers, people tell jokes about how we’ll always be “Young.” I stopped telling those jokes a few years ago. And I think I just figured out why. Rheumatoid disease makes me feel old. It’s not the wrinkled brow from unspoken pain. Or the pale spotty skin in place of my former perpetual tan. Or...Continue reading      70 Comments » Read more

Mascara, Antibodies, and Soup: All I Know about a Disease

Kelly Young 39 Comments , ,
I always thought living off fresh smoothies and homemade soup along with regular exercise would keep me strong. And surely working hard and caring for others makes one too busy for chronic illness. All I know is that I woke up one morning and my toes were pointing out in odd directions because the joints were...Continue reading      39 Comments » Read more

Accessing a “Controlled” Medication (Carisoprodol) – a Pain in the Neck

Kelly Young 59 Comments ,
One of the most insidious barriers to proper treatment of Rheumatoid Disease, and other painful diseases, is something that has become a touchy topic and a political hot potato: the controlled status of various medicines to treat disease symptoms. For the past few years, I’ve encouraged patients to recognize and consider options for both disease...Continue reading      59 Comments » Read more

5 Tricky Questions about Rheumatoid Arthritis / Disease

Kelly Young 45 Comments ,
Five tricky questions I’m asked about Rheumatoid Arthritis with the shortest answers I can muster. What tricky question do people ask you about RA? And how do you answer? 1) Can I quit taking my Rheumatoid Arthritis medication now that I feel better? No. Unfortunately, Rheumatoid Arthritis is not like the kinds of cancer that can be...Continue reading      45 Comments » Read more

Johnson & Johnson RA Warrior YouTube Video

Kelly Young 35 Comments ,
Inside story of a new YouTube video about RA Warrior A few weeks ago, a Johnson & Johnson video team visited our house. See my sons spoofing with the big video camera? The things that captivate teenagers, right? Anyway, it was hard to explain to the Johnson & Johnson folks why it was difficult to have visitors...Continue reading      35 Comments » Read more
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