Christmas Eve Surprise!

On Christmas Eve, I was busy preparing food when FedEx arrived with a package. I was a little surprised since I had every thing I had ordered under the tree. When I opened the box, this is what I saw - a gift from Janssen/Tonic Life Communications team!  What a lovely way to remember the courage, determination, and strength that was witnessed at the Joint Decisions summit in Boston. 

Each RA blogger shared a quote.  This was mine.  When going through a tough flare, I always remind myself that where I am now is where I need to be. When I remind myself of this, I can see that a flare often occurred because I wasn't caring for myself.  I was letting stress take over my life and the flare was a reminder to take time to rest and be gentle with myself.  

While my RA is pretty much under control these days, I do have to admit that being at the summit brought me back to some rough days. But, I left feeling encouraged by the strength and positive outlook of our community, knowing that if and when my RA decides to make a comeback, there are plenty of people out there ready to motivate me to keep going strong.. 

Our Hands Can Community Stories: November 2014 – Thankful

Gratitude. Every November (and October in Canada), we all pay a little more attention to what we are thankful for. It makes you feel better to realize those small moments of quiet joy. In November, the Show Us Your Hands! Picture Project asked the inflammatory arthritis community “What are you thankful for?” We got lots of wonderful submissions.

Tia Maria showed us an impressive bruise, saying “I'm thankful for this bruised hand because it signifies finally getting my Remicade infusion and hopefully feeling this flare slip away soon.” Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful perspective with us!

Several people in the community are thankful for their pets. Among them were Trisha and her “cuddle buddy, Chuck … He loves me so much.” We all agree that he has a wonderful face! Jill was thankful for her cat, who in the true (and kind of endearing) spirit of all cats, turned its head just when the camera went off.

Christina submitted her photo on Twitter, saying she was “feeling thankful this weekend cooking with arthritis.” We don’t know what you were cooking, Christina, but it looks good!

Kathleen got a manicure and was “grateful to the lady who made my nails look nice …
Little things mean a lot.” Your hands look beautiful, Kathleen!

Can someone please do a drumroll? It’s time to announce our winner! Congratulations to Ruby for this great photo. Her caption was “When I was struggling to get a diagnosis in the early days one of the things I stopped being able to do was play video games. Specifically guitar on guitar hero and drums on rock band. I’m so thankful that 7 years after my symptoms started I'm playing a little guitar hero here & there.”

Contact us at infoATsuyhDOTorg with your mailing address and we’ll get the book to you before the holidays!

Do you want to be part of the Picture Project in December? Our theme is The Holidays. Take a photo of your hands doing something related to how you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, or anything else, then post it on the Show Us Your Hands! Facebook page or on Twitter and tag your post with @showusyourhands. Submit as many photos as you’d like.

The December prize is a copy of Lene Andersen’s new 2015 The Seated View calendar.

Just a reminder: by submitting a photo, you give Show Us Your Hands! permission to use the photo and your name in our community programs, such as the monthly Our Hands Can! Community Stories.

Cateepoo, the Song

My husband is a singer/songwriter and guitarist for his band Hearing Shadows.  They just recorded one of their songs titled "Cateepoo". Enjoy.

Joint Decisions Empowerment Summit

You wouldn't know it from my blog, but several weeks back I attended the Joint Decisions Empowerment Summit sponsored and paid for by Janssen Biotech in Boston. (Life has been busy!)  It was a great time of sharing stories with other bloggers. Yay! I finally got to meet Wren from Rheumablog, Amanda from All Flared Up and Carla from Carla's Corner in person after following them for years! Meeting bloggers in person is still a weird experience because you come face to face with someone for the first time knowing so much about each other. I was also happy to meet some new blogging friends: From This Point. Forward , Spoonless Momma, and Titanium Triathlete , Amazing women!  Of course it was also nice to once again see The Hurt Blogger, Rheumatoid Arthritis Guy, Inflamed: Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Getting Closer to Myself. I was surrounded by strong people with a purpose in life.

We were treated well at this summit.  On Saturday, we got a late start which gave my husband and I time to explore Boston by foot.  The summit began around 11:30 in a small conference room that had a very fireside feel.  Each blogger had their own comfy chair with a blanket and pillow.  There was even hot chocolate and whipped cream! Our motivational speaker was Tina Wesson, a Survivor winner who deals with RA herself.  She was definitely motivational. I loved her enthusiasm for life and not letting anything hold her back from adventure.  After an energizer break that always got us moving physically but also thinking about little life changes we can make such as looking for daily gratitude or standing to keep blood flowing to brain for better thinking, each blogger shared where she/he is right now.  We were asked to bring one physical thing that
represented where we are today.  I brought pink Post-its.  For me, they represent that I'm in a good place with my RA right now and I am able to do many things which is represented by all the Post-its I use.

Sunday started earlier with breakfast, video interviews, and more energizer breaks.  We then gave feedback on Joint Decisions, a collaboration of Janssen and Creaky Joints to provide patient information via teleconferences.  Finally, we concluded with group photos and then headed to the American College of Rheumatology Conference.  I then headed back to the hotel, met up with my husband, and went to dinner before heading to the airport for a delayed flight.

Overall, I felt everyone on the Biotech/Tonic team was there to listen to our needs and make us comfortable.  I appreciate that they gave us plenty of time with the team but also time to explore Boston. It was a great experience. I left feeling like I'd made a small contribution towards advocating for all of us.