“RA: The loser disease” – and the one book that’s the exception that proves the rule

I wish I’d seen this post by Sara (The Single Gal’s Guide to Rheumatoid Arthritis) when I first contracted this dratted disease – it sums up all my frustrations about people’s lack of understanding about what RA involved and is well worth a read. Mind you, one of her laments is a lack of good books telling you “what to eat for it, how to exercise for it, treat it and survive it. How to laugh about it, talk about it with your partner, your kids, your doctor, your boss, neighbor and that random person you bump into on the street.” I have actually come across one such book – although the section on telling you how to talk about it with the random person you bump into in the street is quite short, it actually IS there! It’s called Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis and it’s a John Hopkins Press Health book. Of course I just went to look for it, to give it a bit of a rave review, and I can’t find it. Typical!! A friend (one of the ones who DOES understand) bought it for me when I was first diagnosed, and it was an absolute lifesaver. It’s certainly not light bed-time reading, going into rather dry detail about the science behind RA, the current treatments etc. but I really found it very, very useful.