Live World Autoimmune Arthritis Day Chat in 30 Minutes!

The chat has been moved to the WAAD Facebook Page and will go up at 10am EST, as the live site has crashed! Come chat with me about all things self love and self esteem.

Question for the ladies who have Costochondritis/Autoimmune Arthritis:

There was a great response to this on the CC facebook page if any of you are looking for possible brands to try or ideas.

Have any of you found bras that don’t exacerbate costochondritis and aren’t excruciatingly painful?

Thank You for Being YOU! If you read this blog, this is for you:

     

66 people entered this giveaway and shared with me beautiful stories of love and life through their posts and tweets. It is amazing what we are able to be grateful for and appreciate despite extremely difficult circumstances. Most of CC’s readers are suffering day in and day out in ways most healthy people cannot imagine, yet I consistently find our community to have more love for life than any other community I am a part of. 

The solidarity and strength of the chronic illness/chronic pain community here, on Facebook,  and on twitter is consistently overwhelming in the best way possible. When one of us is struggling, depressed, in the hospital, whatever the situation may be, the rest of us are there to pick that person up with prayers, positive thoughts, kind words, you name it. I can put out a positive thoughts/support request on facebook for someone across the globe and immediately, readers and other patients respond with support. That right there is something I will never have words to describe. I feel so blessed to be a part of this. 

I am grateful for the other health activists and advocacy workers I’ve been fortunate enough to connect with and be inspired by: Hurt Blogger, Kelly Young of RA Warrior and Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, Jules of WhattheJules and Chronically Awesome Foundation, just to name a few. 

But most of all, I am grateful for every single one of you. YOU have given me the opportunity to grow as a person in a way I do not believe I would have otherwise. I’ve learned so much from all of you! About life, love, passion, kindness, community, hope, empathy, and strength. I have learned how to mourn the life I will not have and the person I am no longer, while at the same time, I’ve learned to create a life I love so much more than the one I left behind, even though it is infinitely more tumultuous. I have learned how to laugh from you guys, too.

     

(meme courtesy of Hurt Blogger)

Two years ago, I was a miserable person. Truly miserable. I was sick and without any sense of direction and cursed the world each day for my pain. I asked “why me?” instead of “why not me?” I was losing my passion for medicine and had no support system that understood my circumstances. If you had told me that in one year’s time, I’d create and be a part of an online community of patients, throw myself into advocacy work, connect with people all over the world, and be more fulfilled than I ever was healthy, I would have laughed in your face. 


Chronic Curve has been the greatest gift to me and it would not be what it is without all 18,000+ of you (18k here on Tumblr alone just BLOWS MY MIND)! YOU give me this gift every single day. For each person who mentioned being thankful for Chronic Curve in their giveaway entry, know that I am just as thankful for you. For each person—chronically ill or otherwise— who votes or endorses me for health awards, sends me messages, shares their story with me, comments on my posts, anyone who participates in any way at all— it means the world to me. You have witnessed my entire journey thus far— I consider all of you a part of it and want you to know how much you mean to me. You inspire me. You are the reason this website exists!


I am grateful for YOU.

CHRONIC CURVE GIVEAWAY WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT:

      

The winners of the Fall Favourites Thanksgiving Giveaway are:

  • SOPHIE KNOWLES— “I am grateful for unconditional love in all forms”
  • KAREN BROADHEAD— “I’m grateful that I am still able to live work and play.”

*Please email me with your address/information (chroniccurve@gmail.com)! Depending on where you live, you should have your package within 10 days!
I want to share a few giveaway entries. Some were hilarious, others were incredible touching. These are just a few! You can read the rest on twitter and the facebook page:
  • Angie Malone— “I am grateful that in many ways I am better, even though there are ways I am worse. I have very mutant hands now and it makes doing things interesting. Luckily I don’t give up, so I am grateful for that too, that I have the spirit to keep going on no matter what!!”
     
  • Veronica Hill— “I am so thankful for my wonderful best friend, who has been right there with me for the past couple of rough months of flares, my family, who has been such a great support system, my rheumatologist, who I’ve only seen once but has helped me very much, my pets, who are more than happy to keep me company on the couch when I am in pain, and even my health, because not everything is perfect right now, but I have it much better than some, and I am thankful for that. I am especially thankful for ChronicCurve, who has helped me learn lots about doctors, medications, college, living with chronic pain and illness, and how to stay positive even when it seems everything is going down the toilet. Thank you.”
     
     
  • Nadine Steidl— “I am most grateful for my friends—many met through Twitter or Facebook. They’ve been there through everything, given me joy when I couldn’t see it, shown me the love in the world every single day and made my life that much more beautiful. So, I’m extremely lucky to have such wonderful sisters and a brother of choice!”
     
     
  • Stacy K Stanford — “I am grateful for YOU! Your blog is what helped pull me back from the precipice after my suicide attempt. You gave me hope and inspired me to create WheelieWifee, which is my saving grace today. You have no idea how much I adore, admire, and appreciate you.”

66 people entered this giveaway and shared with me beautiful stories of love and life through their posts and tweets. It’s amazing what we are able to be grateful for and appreciate despite extremely difficult circumstances. I’m forever amazed at the strength and solidarity of this community and feel blessed to be a part of it. I’m grateful for every single one of you. You have given me the opportunity to grow as a person. I have learned so much from all of you. About life, love, hope, passion. I’ve learned how to mourn for the life I no longer live and I’ve learned how to laugh from you guys, too. So for each person who was grateful for Chronic Curve, know that I am just as thankful for you and your feedback. It means the world to me.

 
Congrats to these two winners! Check back shortly for a winter holiday giveaway! Aiming for at least FIVE winners next time!

Chronic Illness Problems 11/12/2012

         

  • When you wake up at 9am (or a normal hour) and have to nap just a few hours later. 
     
  • Fatigue: the feeling of wearing five soaking wet down comforters over your head while running a fever, with heavy weights tied to each muscle and joint, and each step feels like running a marathon through quicksand. 

Q:is it normal for prednisone to keep skin from healing properly? it seems to be ripping my skin from all the water retention and nothing i do seems to stop it.

yami990

It is normal for me and I know of others who have the same problem, so your best bet is to see a dermatologist!! 

No matter where your skin issues are with prednisone, there are things you can do and a dermatologist is going to know best! For me it was antibiotics and a few creams— my skin is like new and now Prednisone no longer breaks me out in any way.

I highly recommend DermaE’s Tea Tree & Willow Bark cleanser and Lubriderm’s daily moisturizer for normal to dry skin (no perfumes, dyes, perfect for sensitive skin) if you’re looking to try something new without seeing a physician. CeraVe and Epicuren are also great brands (recommended to me by my dermatologist) for SPF and daily moisturizer, but both are more expensive than Lubriderm. 


Let me know how it goes and if you have any more questions, don’t hesitate to ask. If you are in south Florida and want a referral to an AWESOME dermatologist, let me know and I will send you some info in a private message.