Living With Rheumatoid Arthritis

Purchased as part of an Ontario Trillium Foundation Grant.

"A well-written and comprehensive book that will be a valuable resource for patients with rheumatoid arthritis who are highly motivated to learn more about their disease."--Amazon.com.

The ultimate guide to living well with this chronic, at times debilitating, autoimmune disease. Lene Andersen has 40+ years of living with RA and is working as Community Leader for HealthCentral.com's RA site. She has amassed an almost encyclopedic knowledge of how to manage the many challenges of life with the disease. Your Life with Rheumatoid Arthritis covers medication and treatment options, questions of opioids and addiction, down-to-earth tips to manage side effects, and techniques to control the pain that is often part and parcel of RA. This is an informative, honest and often very funny book. It offers hope, comfort and help to empower both the newly diagnosed and those who have had the disease for years.--P. [4] of cover.

Describes new findings about the causes and treatments for rheumatoid arthritis, offering strategies for dealing with the chronic illness.

The latest therapies and medications, diet and exercise, controlling pain, building a health care team, finding support and much more.

"This book is about the pain and suffering that I had to indulge as a young child who had to live with rheumatoid arthritis at the age of nine. I learned early that sickness does not have a special age. This disease caused me to grow up early in order to cope with it. I learned that people could be so cruel and mean. People do not just have prejudice about skin color; they can have prejudice toward someone who has a disease that they do not understand. However, thank God for my grandmother, Hattie Fields. She taught me God is the head of my life and that He has a reason for everything he does. The plan that he has for me is to show others with a disease, or even those without one, that life is what you make of it. I hope that this book can help someone live his or her life to the fullest and gain happiness"--Page 4 of cover

A Separate World is a feeling that comes over the person who has Rheumatoid Arthritis when changes in one's life alter the plans that had been hoped for. Feeling apart from other people who do not understand, one lives in a world filled with hope, sustained by an attitude of wellness, aspiring to success. Bright with sunshine that sends its rays through clouds of despair, it is a world where problems are overcome. A separate world opens to all who seek understanding.