Rheumatoid Arthritis Expert Cathee McKeown shares Rheumatoid Arthritis management news and commentary at MyRACentral.com. The HealthCentral Network, Inc. (www.HealthCentral.com) is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97 http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97 http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97/16907/ra Tue, 04 Dec 2007 11:01:00 -0500 Cathee McKeown Most people have heard about the holiday blues, but not many have heard of the holiday flares. For those of us with rheumatoid arthritis this time of year can be the beginning of very painful season. There are many contributing factors to why you may experience a flare during the holidays; bad eating, stress and depression, just to name a few. Your RA symptoms may increase due to these factors and can make what should be a great holiday into a... http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97/16907/ra http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97/16344/youre Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:00:00 -0500 Cathee McKeown One of the most difficult aspects of having a chronic disease like rheumatoid arthritis is losing your self to the disease. Suddenly your life is about constant pain, doctors' appointments and medications. You wake up each day and wonder, who am I? How did I become this person? You look in the mirror and you just want to look away because you don't see you anymore. I remember a time when I was on 60 milligrams of prednisone and just... http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97/16344/youre http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97/15793/ten Fri, 02 Nov 2007 15:17:00 -0400 Cathee McKeown When I was first diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, I really had no idea of the long term affects of this disease. In the beginning, I was overwhelmed with the pain and changes in my body. All I could think about each day was the doctors' visits and the endless amounts of medication. I didn't know anyone else who had RA who I could ask questions. I felt alone and scared. When I read through the message boards on the RA Central... http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97/15793/ten http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97/7011/ra Mon, 05 Mar 2007 13:42:01 -0500 Cathee McKeown Before I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, I was happy, healthy and skinny! I never really had to worry about my weight or my looks in general. I was raised to be confident and secure in myself. Despite being raised with a high level of self-esteem, I was hardly prepared for the physical and emotional changes that I would face living with RA. My condition progressed so quickly that I was put on a very high dose of prednisone for a long... http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97/7011/ra http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97/3208/bees Fri, 09 Feb 2007 14:08:00 -0500 Cathee McKeown Sometimes it can be overwhelming to think about all of the different options available for treating RA, but it’s also exciting to know that there are alternatives. We read so much about new medications for treating RA, as well as the side effects and concerns that come along with these advances. I have personally tried most everything and have had some success and some failure.   A few of the alternative therapies that I have tried... http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97/3208/bees http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97/3036/ra-2007 Fri, 12 Jan 2007 06:56:21 -0500 Cathee McKeown March of 2007 will be my 10 year anniversary of being diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Most people probably wouldn’t want to celebrate something like this but I plan to recognize this anniversary for a few reasons. First of all, when I was first diagnosed with RA I had no idea what that even was. I remember that my best friend was with me at that appointment and when she heard what it was she was like, Ok…what does that mean? Turns out... http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97/3036/ra-2007 http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97/2843/pain Tue, 12 Dec 2006 09:06:23 -0500 Cathee McKeown When I was first diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, the only pain that I could think of was the physical and emotional pain. I really couldn’t wrap my brain around all of the other “pains” that I would face when it came to the cost of treating a chronic illness. Before RA, I was a generally healthy person so I didn’t have to use my health insurance too often. I really had no idea how expensive treating a chronic illness would be.... http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97/2843/pain http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97/2783/children Fri, 01 Dec 2006 13:21:03 -0500 Cathee McKeown What would you do if you were a parent with a child suffering from Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis? Unfortunately there are limited options for treatment of children with this disease. Despite Celebrex’s well-documented link to higher heart risks, Pfizer Inc. wants permission to sell its painkiller to treat children as young as 2 who have arthritis. A recent vote from the FDA Arthritis Advisory Committee recommended that Pfizer Inc. be... http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97/2783/children http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97/2702/ra Thu, 16 Nov 2006 10:08:48 -0500 Cathee McKeown When I was younger, I always knew that I wanted to have children. I grew up in a family of four girls and my best friend was from a family of six kids! My entire life, I was always surrounded by kids and it just made sense that I would have a big family of my own. I met my husband right out of high school - I was 17 and he was 19 years old. We fell in love immediately and moved in together as soon as I turned 18. Since we were so young, we... http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97/2702/ra http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97/2620/pain Tue, 31 Oct 2006 10:40:08 -0500 Cathee McKeown I am a big fan of public radio and now I am an even bigger fan. I recently visited National Public Radio’s website, npr.org, and came across some exciting news. A company named Small Bone Innovations has just come out with a new outpatient procedure to treat arthritics that have lost cartilage in their hands. For those of us who suffer from this, you know the severe pain you experience when the cartilage that separates the bones wears out. I... http://www.healthcentral.com/rheumatoid-arthritis/c/97/2620/pain