The Single Gal's Guide to Rheumatoid Arthritis

Comic Strip # 38: Staying on Task with RA

'When I was a child, the end of summer always heralded the beginning of another year at school. Store windows that had previously featured bathing suits and tank tops replaced the looks of summer with the latest fashions for the fall.  This meant it was time for my mother to take my brother, sister and me on our annual shopping trip for school supplies – an event I always looked forward to, even if it did mean my freedom was drawing to a close. I loved the preparations that came along with starting a new grade and would diligently sharpen all my pencils, organize my trapper keeper and meticulously pick out my first-day-of-school outfit to make sure I was perfectly ready. '

Read the rest here and see the comic strip by Jane Samborski!

 

14 Hour Flights, Sharing Needles and a bold admission.

In case you hadn't noticed, I have been on vacation, in more ways than one.  I've taken what seems like an endless string of small trips and mini-breaks here and there for about the last two months, with one or two longer trips thrown in.  Consequently, I've also taken a default vacation from blogging! This is my attempt to make up for the last month:

As promised in my last post, I have written about my survival of a 14 hour flight to Korea and back this past June.  It was my first time in Asia, and my first truly long distance flight with RA. Despite being a travel-addict, I was a bit terrified at the prospect of such a taxing flight, but I was just as determined and excited to finally check another continent off my list. Check out the article and the great comic strip that goes with it by Jane Samborski over at MyRACentral.com to find out how it all turned out.  

For those of you who have been following my dating woes and windfalls, you can also read my latest article while you are there about shooting up in front of my boyfriend for the first time. The experience was a little scary, and I felt pretty exposed confronting this milestone. I'll be doing it again this weekend for the second time, and I still feel a little self-conscious about it - my own issues, not his.

On a lighter note, Savannah and Charleston were amazing over July 4th! Savannah was breathtaking and full of romance. Who wouldn't feel seduced by all those old, gorgeous squares dripping with moss and mystery. 

 

That, mixed with the humidity of a proper summer night in the South, made for quite a relaxing start to our trip. We followed it up by heading to Charleston. I had been there once before, but was still blown away by its charm, and being there with a beau made it even more enchanting. What can I say- being in love pretty is pretty divine! 

In typical Sara-fashion; however, I overindulged on all the delicious Southern fare I'm partial to, including this world famous coconut cake:

Yes. I ate that. Hence, I am back to steadfastly following my Weightwatchers regimen since (and I am admitting it here boldly) I have totally gained back all the weight I took off!!!!!!  Boo hiss. Sad but undeniably true. Between saying good-bye to New York by essentially eating my way out of the city, the holidays, traveling around the world and being back in a relationship, the pounds have slowly crept back on over the last year.  I'm bummed, but trying not to be discouraged. I can't really blame this one on RA, which I guess is good news, in a way.

In addition to Korea, Charleston and Savannah, I've also taken a trip back up to New York City for a bridal shower for one of my dearest friends and have been running around in the meantime between here and the D.C. area (where my boyfriend resides), and am heading out next week to the beach to see my family, so I feel like I am constantly living out of a suitcase.  

Speaking of which, for those of you who follow me on Facebook, I finally landed on what I think will be the perfect new suitcase!  After my last few trips, it became abundantly clear that my old suitcase was way too heavy, not to mention beat-up and outdated.  So I searched methodically through tons of different suitcase options (thanks to all who shared links and suggestions) and, after getting one that seemed perfect but was, in the end, too small, I am now in possession of this 22-inch wheelie that weighs only 7 lbs, 13 oz! I'm looking forward to taking it on its first trip next week.

In other news, I have done an excellent job of recommitting to my yoga practice lately, getting up in the morning FIVE days last week and two (so far) this week to practice before going to work.  It makes such a difference, so I'm going to try to keep it up as much as possible, while keeping an eye on some pesky finger swelling and wrist-ickyness that has been popping up recently. Is it the weather? Is it stress? Who knows. Maybe it's just because I have rheumatoid arthritis, and that is what rheumatoid arthritis does.

I hope everyone's summers have been going well, though perhaps at a slightly slower pace than my own (I cannot believe it is nearly August). Thanks for continuing to read even when I'm not so faithful. I am better at keeping up on my blog's Facebook Page, so if you haven't already 'liked' it, head over and do so. There is quite a bit of activity on it from lots of people around the world, so it's not just me whingeing on about annoying RA everyday-ness. I hope to see you there, and I'll try to be better about being here!

Comic Strip #36: Rheumatoid Arthritis and Disclosure (or, What Happens Next?)

I have entered new territory. . . find out what happens next!

 

Comic Strip #34: Spring Fever

I am a warm-weather girl. I was born and raised at the beach, and in the sun is where I prefer to be (wearing sunscreen and a hat, of course).  I was also raised in the South where the inevitable humid days can be sweltering and even a little miserable.  Nonetheless, I much prefer the misery of being hot to the misery of being cold and will take a hot, humid day over a cold, bone-chilling one any day of the week.  There is only circumstance where my love of all things hot stops short: fevers.

Read the rest of my latest article at MyRACentral.com and check out the comic strip by Jane Samborski here!

Comic Strip #33: Spring Into Yoga

Check out my latest post at MyRACentral.com for some tips on a few of my favorite yoga poses. It's the perfect way to step into Spring.

 

Comic Strip #32: All's Well That Ends Well

I did it....I finally dropped the RA bomb on a date. Read it and weep here.

Comic Strip #31 and Talking about the hard parts....

Often in my writing, I use humor to deal with the twists and turns that RA inevitably brings in life.  I also try to keep a positive outlook on my blog because even with RA, life goes on, and I try to make the best of it.

But, let's face it, even if you are managing your disease as well as you possibly can, it still sucks, and many of us don't respond well, or at all, to the meds that are out there, leaving us to whims and ravages of rheumatoid arthritis.

Just as it is important to show the positive, it's equally important to acknowledge the negative and the impact being sick has on all of us. Fellow RA blogger Lene Anderson and everyone at HealthCentral, including MyRACentral, are doing just that during the month of March.  As Lene writes in her introduction at MyRACentral: '(We) are going to explore death and dying, sometimes as it applies to specific illnesses and conditions and sometimes, thoughts on dying and mourning in other ways. We are going to be talking about the issues the healthy prefer to hide, the thoughts we can often only share with other people who know, who've been there, we're going to name it, talk about the elephant in the room and where you go when it gets dark.'

Head over to MyRACentral to read Lene's article, as well as articles by Lisa Emrich and myself examining death, dying and mourning, and join in the conversation.

Comic Strip #30: Everything has a downside

Read it here.

Comic Strip #29: My 'Other' Life

Sorry for posting this late, but here's my latest article over at MyRACentral.com!

Comic Strip #28: Procrastination Station

If you haven't already, check out my latest article at MYRACentral.com and tell me that I'm not the only one who does this. . ?