Living with chronic illness like RA Archives | Page 3 of 14 | Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior

Just Do What You Can Do

July 26, 2016May 29, 2020 Kelly O'Neill 12 Comments Inspiration for living with RA, Living with chronic illness like RA

Can you be satisfied with “do what you can”? “Just like magic, I’ll be flying free. I’mma disappear when they come for me”* All of my life I’ve been a "do what you can," as-much-as-you-can soul. I never fancied disappearing because I wanted to make a positive impact and I thrive on making a difference. That’s my name...Continue reading 12 Comments » Read more

Position of Privilege

January 18, 2016October 5, 2019 Kelly O'Neill 11 Comments Courage & living with RA, Living with chronic illness like RA

Is optimism a position of privilege? On my long list of articles I need to finish has been a response to a comment by Alder about position of privilege in response to the Self-definition Fairy. “I keep revisiting this post. I have to say – you have to be in a position of great privilege to look...Continue reading 11 Comments » Read more

How to Live Like a Warrior: 3 Lessons

January 6, 2016October 5, 2019 Kelly O'Neill 24 Comments Inspiration for living with RA, Living with chronic illness like RA

Kelly, you want to tell me how to live like a warrior, really… When I can’t get anything done from fatigue or pain? When medications have failed me? When I feel like the disease is trying to taking over? When my spouse or my friends misunderstand? When I can’t work any more and I can’t make ends meet? Recent readers have...Continue reading 24 Comments » Read more

New Rheumatoid Arthritis T-shirt Store

December 7, 2015October 5, 2019 Kelly O'Neill 6 Comments Encouragement for living with RA, Living with chronic illness like RA

Rebuilding our rheumatoid disease / rheumatoid arthritis t-shirt store The doors are open – the new rawarrior.com t-shirt site is up with many new designs & products! The attitude is uniquely RA Warrior. It’s what I like to call “gentle advocacy” with positive designs that portray hope, gently confront ignorance, and increase awareness of RD / RA...Continue reading 6 Comments » Read more

After Fear and Failure, Freedom

December 2, 2015October 5, 2019 Kelly O'Neill 7 Comments Communicating about RA, Living with chronic illness like RA

Last month I wrote about a challenging personal situation, and I want to share an update with you, and I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it. There has been another long court day and I’ve seen a lot of legal wrangling. My Uncle Sam posts updates on his GoFundMe page (for our legal...Continue reading 7 Comments » Read more

Sonny’s Disappearing Digits: a Fairy Tale of Rheum Disability

November 16, 2015March 8, 2020 Kelly O'Neill 10 Comments Living with chronic illness like RA, Rheumatoid arthritis disability

A few weeks ago in the car, Roo and I were talking about how hard it is to explain and understand rheumatoid disease (RD) and rheum disability. Roo is alone among my five children in that he has no memory of the strong, healthy woman I was before full-blown RD onset when he was 6...Continue reading 10 Comments » Read more

Chronic Pain vs. Recurrent Acute Pain in Rheumatoid Disease

November 26, 2014October 5, 2019 Kelly O'Neill 28 Comments Living with chronic illness like RA, Rheumatoid arthritis pain, Unrelenting RA - Persistent disease

An honest examination shows pain related to rheumatoid disease may frequently be better described as recurrent acute pain than classic chronic pain. Is “chronic pain” the right way to describe Rheumatoid Disease pain? According to the National Institutes of Health, chronic pain is “any pain lasting more than 12 weeks. Whereas acute pain is a normal sensation...Continue reading 28 Comments » Read more