A chapter from HANDLING THE HARD QUESTIONS: What Our Patients Are Asking Us About Rheumatic Disease Read and download this booklet on our Workforce Resource homepage How did I get rheumatoid arthritis? There are a variety of factors that may have contributed to your...
More than 40 million adults in the US suffer from debilitating arthritis. If you’re one of them you may be able to receive Social Security disability benefits to help cover living expenses when you cannot work because of your arthritis. The only requirement that you...
It started with one pill a day, then two, and then four. That was followed by a series of injections. And on and on, still with little to no pain relief for my systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). I had been seeing the same rheumatologist for a few years and trusted...
In the United States, those of us who work as healthcare providers often struggle with the realities of the “haves” vs. the “have nots.” The “haves” are the patients with good insurance, supportive families, and stable lives despite their disease. The “have nots” are...
I first met AP, a 48-year-old woman, about 8 years ago when I was new at my current rheumatology practice. From the very start of our relationship, AP has been one of my favorite patients, although she has, unfortunately, had her ups and downs with the management of...
I first met EJ when he was 28 years old, a full 15 years after he was initially diagnosed with psoriasis and started on topical steroids. His initial treatments were largely unsuccessful, as EJ had significant, thick plaques that proved to be resistant to treatment....
A few months ago, a new patient, SR, came into our office with a long and varied history of rheumatic disease. A 34-year-old Caucasian male with a nearly 20-year history of plaque, scalp, and nail psoriasis, SR was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) a decade...
The treat-to-target approach to care is a hot topic in medicine and is now widely accepted as a best practice in our patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We read about it in the literature and hear about it at conferences regularly. The evidence in other...
The majority of patients we see on a day-to-day basis in our rheumatology practices require straightforward decisions and straightforward solutions. But there are always outliers. On a daily basis, it seems like there are always 1 or 2 patients I see who require...
A very long time ago in my nursing school days, I learned that each kidney has approximately 1 million nephrons comprised of convoluted tubules. Their job is to filter waste products. Although it sometimes may feel like it, we really do not have to traverse 1 million...