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.
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Friday, December 12, 2014
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!
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.
Labels:
rheumatoid arthritis,
Show Us Your Hands
Monday, December 8, 2014
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.
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.
Labels:
rheumatoid arthritis,
summit
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)