notafunclub: Got my bracelet from chroniccurve! Ahhh! Love it!!! If you haven’t already, order your Cure Rheumatoid Arthritis bracelet and help raise money for Autoimmune Arthritis (Lupus, AS, RA, etc) research and to create a scholarship fund for chronically ill students (undergrad AND graduate level)!! For those of you have have received them, please keep sending me your photos to facebook or email and I’ll post them here!
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notafunclub:

Got my bracelet from chroniccurve!

Ahhh! Love it!!! If you haven’t already, order your Cure Rheumatoid Arthritis bracelet and help raise money for Autoimmune Arthritis (Lupus, AS, RA, etc) research and to create a scholarship fund for chronically ill students (undergrad AND graduate level)!!

For those of you have have received them, please keep sending me your photos to facebook or email and I’ll post them here!

Weekly Link Roundup 03/18/2012

  1. A Feminist Perspective on Rheumatoid Arthritis— It’s a known fact that autoimmune diseases such as RA, Lupus, and Fibromyalgia tend to strike women much more frequently than men, but why haven’t we figured out the specific reason for this? Would this disease be closer to the forefront of more research if it impacted the same amount of men as it does women? How does the psychologizing of women’s symptoms contribute to Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, and Fibromyalgia? This is exactly what author Leslie Scott wants to find out. A thought provoking read for all gendersthat poses some interesting questions.


  2. UF Researchers Target Traitor Proteins— Researchers at the University of Florida have concluded that roughly one American out of 10 has “traitor proteins” thought to cause lupus, scleroderma or other autoimmune disorders in their blood, while also finding that the autoantibodies were less common in overweight and obese individuals than in people of normal weight.

  3. How Would You Design an Arthritis Clinic? An ideal autoimmune arthritis clinic as designed by rheumatologist Dr. Irwin Lim. Read what Dr. Lim would like to see included, and add your own input/answer his questions in the comment section.


  4. Considering Anemia in Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment— Do you know the difference between anemia of chronic disease (ACD) and iron deficiency anemia? Do you know why anemia occurs in rheumatic diseases? Informative read for those interested.

Blog of the week: Rheumatoid Twenty Something— Meet Joseph, a 23 year old Rheumatoid Arthritis/RAD warrior. His blog is relatively new and comes with a perspective that is not so common in the tumblr community, seeing as the majority of RA/D bloggers (and patients) are female. Be sure to follow his journey and check out his post on why social media is essential for support.

                         

Hi Hannah! Glad to hear your RA is controlled, though I’m sorry that your mum’s is not. Wishing you both well! Thanks for following, reading, and letting me know a little bit about yourself! If you’re a new (or old!) follower, I’d love to know who you are, why you follow me, or if you have any feedback for Chronic Curve! I have a backlog of questions and will be posting a Q&A video within the week, so now is the best time to send in your questions if you have them!
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Hi Hannah! Glad to hear your RA is controlled, though I’m sorry that your mum’s is not. Wishing you both well! Thanks for following, reading, and letting me know a little bit about yourself!

If you’re a new (or old!) follower, I’d love to know who you are, why you follow me, or if you have any feedback for Chronic Curve! I have a backlog of questions and will be posting a Q&A video within the week, so now is the best time to send in your questions if you have them!

Weekly Link Roundup 03/09/2012

  1. Sleep Quality Affects Disability in Rheumatoid Arthritis— a great post from RA Warrior about how symptoms of RA/D affect one’s sleeping habits and the studies that have found this to be true. A must-read.


  2. Rheumatoid Arthritis Breakthrough Press Association— the latest breakthrough in RA research! A new drug that stops destructive cells from migrating to the joints by “blindfolding” white blood cells could be the next new way of treating rheumatoid arthritis. Though the drug is in its early stages, the next step is clinical trials! One step closer!

  3. Few Rheumatoid Arthritis Clinical Trials Compare Results— an article discussing the findings from a recent study that found no comparison among RA/D clinical trials., the problem being that participants may suffer and physicians will lack evidence to determine whether or not one treatment works better than another.

  4. Nick Cannon Announces He Has a “Lupus-Like Condition” But What Does “Lupus-Like” Mean? A post written by Christine over at butyoudontlooksick.com that asks the question of why celebrities do not just come right out and say “yes, I have Lupus.” For those of you that have a definitive Lupus diagnosis, it is black and white, but for many of us that are seronegative or “complicated,” we are told that a “lupus-like” syndrome is a possibility but not definite. What are your thoughts?

Blog of the Week: Still’s Life— One of the first blogs I found when my rheumatologist told me I likely had Still’s Disease, the blog details this lovely lady’s personal story while sharing great information specific to Still’s Disease, much like Chronic Curve does. Her most recent flare landed her in the hospital and in lots of pain, so take a moment and send some positive thoughts, prayers, whatever have you her way.

Do you have a blog you think should make it to Chronic Curve’s Blog of the Week? Feel free to email me a link if so!

                      

Dr. Incompetent, Mysterious Abscesses, and a Lack of Logic

The amount of incompetency I’ve encountered in the past two weeks is truly beyond words.


Most of you know that I just wrapped up a week long visit to the Mayo Clinic, that was both enlightening and incredibly frustrating and left me in quite a bit of turmoil. I called both the rheumatologist I saw, Dr. W, and Dr. A (A for asshole as you lovely followers have so dubbed him!), the gastroenterologist, on Monday to get the results of my labs repeated the week before. 

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Who Comes Up With These Names? A Plea for Truth in Labeling of Medical Conditions

Particularly relevant article to those of us with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Author of How to Be Sick (one of my favourite books which I will be reviewing shortly), Toni Bernhard examines Rheumatoid Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Restless Leg Syndrome and the phenomenon of poorly labeled medical conditions.

“For example, people with Rheumatoid Arthritis are frequently put into the same category as those with Osteoarthritis—a common condition usually associated with aging […] But Rheumatoid Arthritis is a systemic autoimmune disease. Joint pain and stiffness is just one of its many symptoms. The suffering of those with RA is often trivialized because they’re lumped together with those who have arthritis. People with RA are told it’s no big deal, and often have to put up with insensitive comments, such as “You’re too young to have aching joints.”

A must-read!