Just because you have arthritis doesn’t mean that you need to give up your favorite hobbies. This time of year, gardening is an especially popular hobby for many. If you love to garden, you can rest assured that you won’t have to give up gardening due to your arthritis. In fact, there are many resources … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Arthritis Ashley
May You Be Aware This Month: Advocating for Arthritis, Lupus, and More – by Ashley Boynes-Shuck
May is National Arthritis Awareness Month, and there are many ways that YOU can take action to spread arthritis awareness. Utilizing social media to spread the word is a great idea. So is signing petitions and supporting advocacy efforts like this Action Alert. You could also sign up for an Arthritis Walk in your area, or … Continue reading
Walking on Eggshells When Someone You Love Has Chronic Illness or Disability – by Ashley Boynes-Shuck
Sometimes, when someone lives with chronic illness, chronic pain, or a disability such as arthritis, lupus, or other rheumatic illnesses, the “normal” or “healthy” people around them feel the need to “walk on eggshells.” What better time than now, as Easter is upon us, to discuss this very topic? I, for one, have always wanted … Continue reading
Are You “Enough?” – by Ashley Boynes-Shuck
I’m not liberal enough for Democrats or conservative enough for Republicans. I’m not Christian enough for Christians, but I’m Christian enough to have atheists and agnostics mock me. I’m smart enough to have been accepted into Mensa and to possess a near-genius-level IQ, but I’m not smart enough that people meet me and immediately notice my … Continue reading
Advocating for Arthritis and Rheumatic Illness – by Ashley Boynes-Shuck
Today was the last day of the 2014 Arthritis Foundation Advocacy Summit in Washington D.C. According to the official website, “The Advocacy Summit is an annual event when people living with and affected by arthritis come from every corner of the United States to convene in Washington, DC.. There they learn how to … Continue reading
The Arthritis Foundation Has the Resources You Need – by Ashley Boynes-Shuck
The Arthritis Foundation, Mid Atlantic Region, is now proud to offer a special Resource Folder that volunteers can pick up at any of their offices. Volunteers may take this new informational folder to your rheumatologist to spread the word about getting Arthritis Foundation resources in more doctor offices. You will be able to leave this … Continue reading
Loving Yourself Even with Chronic Illness – by Ashley Boynes-Shuck
When you love someone — a partner, a spouse, a friend, a parent, a child, a sibling, and so on — do you love them even through their imperfections? Are we not taught to accept others, flaws and all? Most of us, of course, care for our loved ones unconditionally. We look past … Continue reading
Ancient Methods of Pain Relief – by Ashley Boynes-Shuck
It’s always amazing to see how far science and medicine have come. I thought it would be interesting for us arthritis patients to learn more about ancient methods of pain relief and old-fashioned arthritis treatments! Here are some interesting “old-school” methods of managing pain: Cupping Therapy: Cupping is an ancient form of Traditional Chinese … Continue reading
The Law of Attraction and Chronic Illness – by Ashley Boynes-Shuck
I’m a big fan of the infamous book and documentary film, The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. However, there were some parts of it that I just could not wrap my head around. How could a group of thousands of people, for example, “attract” such horrific events such as 9/11 or the Newtown shootings? How … Continue reading
Fatigue vs. Being Tired: What’s the Difference? – by Ashley Boynes-Shuck
To put it simply: being tired is NOT the same thing as having fatigue. The type of fatigue that comes along with chronic illness and autoimmune diseases is unlike any other kind of exhaustion that most healthy people will experience in their lives. As an “e-patient” and an online advocate for people with rheumatic and … Continue reading
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