Living with RA: One year later

A few weeks ago several of my siblings came into town to attend a function that was honoring my dad and a few others that attend his church. One of my brothers asked me if I was going to continue writing about life with Rheumatoid Arthritis or not. Apparently he had enjoyed reading my perspective. I explained to him that while I was continuing to do as I had promised as far as bringing awareness of RA and of the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, I was doing it primarily by donating watermarks on some of my photos to the Rheumatoid Patient …

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A visit to Dr. Mariko Ishimori

Thursday morning, Tanya and I headed out to Beverly Hills and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to visit a new rheumatologist, Dr. Mariko Ishimori, MD. After Tanya’s last experience with Dr. Forouzesh she decided that she could not handle the stress of having a doctor that changed attitudes and commentary with each visit. The fact that he had been giving her Cimzia as samples that were already allocated to other patients was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I was not really sure what to expect as we entered the Steven Spielberg Building and our introduction to Dr. Ishimori. As it …

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Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease, doctors and stress

It is no secret that, in general, I do not like doctors and do my best to avoid seeing them on a professional level. Since Tanya moved here I have been with her on several visits to see her rheumatologist; the experience has not done much to change my opinion of the profession. I will admit, after the first visit I thought that perhaps I had been too harsh; there are specialists out there that will really listen to their patients. I thought it was quite refreshing and I looked forward to the experience. When we went in for the …

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Back to Dr Forouzesh for test results

Tanya and I went back to see her Rheumatologist, Dr. Forouzesh yesterday; with the primary intent of getting the results of the Vectra DA blood test and the bone density test that were conducted two weeks ago. She also had an ultrasound done to check her thyroid because of nodules that are growing on it. Her neck has been swollen and swelling for a couple years now. The results of these tests were going to help Tanya decide if she wants to get stem cell therapy or not. Needless to say, it was a visit we have been looking forward …

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A visit with Tanya’s new Rheumatologist

Yesterday, Tanya went to see a new Rheumatolgist, Dr. Solomon Forouzesh in Culver City. Since her move to Southern California, this has been her first visit to a doctor about her Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease. As I have mentioned in prior posts, we are seriously considering going to Panama to take advantage of the adult stem cell therapy that is available there. Since she has not been to a doctor since the middle of last year, it was decided that it only made sense to get a checkup so we could see where she was at. After doing significant research, Tanya …

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Hope can change your day

It is mind blowing how quickly attitudes can change, especially when hope is added to the mix. It was only yesterday that I had finally fought through the writer’s block that had been preventing me from writing my last post about RAD and stem cells. By the time I finally got into the groove of writing, I may have mentioned stem cells to Tanya, but the fact of the matter is that she did not really understand them or how they worked, so if I mentioned them in passing, the brain fog that RAD causes had caused my comments to …

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An American’s view of Barcelona – Street photography

Earlier this month I went to Barcelona, Spain to cover a trade show. In the past, Tanya would join me on my travels, be they be within the country or overseas. Unfortunately, her Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease (RAD aka Rheumatoid Arthritis or RA) has made international travel a thing of the past for her. Hopefully she will find a good drug combination that will put her back into remission, but until that happens I will be doing most of my travels solo. Since Tanya is unable to travel with me and I take far too many photos for her to sit …

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Eating for better health

Okay, I know in my last RAD Caregiver post I said that my next article would be discussing stem cell research and Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease, but we recently started a group on Facebook, I Take Pictures of My Fruits and Vegetables Before I Juice Them, and we have had many people express interest in our new eating habits; in particular, what recipes we use. Well, the fact of the matter is that we do not have any recipes at all. However, we do have a lot of photos, so if you look at them you will see the recipe. I …

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Burzynski, South Park and RAD

Since I promised Tanya that I would write 365 blog posts that would help bring awareness of Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease (RAD) and to help promote the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation I have been attempting to be a little more aware of things that happen in our daily lives so I can be a little more diverse in my writings. While it would certainly be quite cute if all I did was write about our daily lives and how much fun we have together, it would not really do much to educate people about RAD. Now, before I get started I want …

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