RAD – GOT BADDOG

A day at Descanso Gardens

Canon 5D, Congregation Ale House, Descanso Gardens, Pasadena, pictures, RA, RAD, Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, Stone Brewing Company, Tanya / 2 minutes of reading / February 26, 2013

Tanya has been feeling a lot better lately; so much better that she actually forgot to take the shots that she is usually counting down the days before she can use again. Trust me when I say, this is a very good thing. We have been tied up at home lately, Tanya especially as she has been doing some website design for a few new clients. Since she had some free time and the weather was in the mid-70’s, I knew I had to get her out of the house. My friends at BeersInParadise.com told me that Stone Brewing Co …

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Living with RA: One year later

RA, RAD, RAD Caregiver, RAD Lovegiver, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease, Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, Tanya / 9 minutes of reading / December 17, 2012

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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South Coast Botanic Garden, Palos Verdes

Canon 5D, flowers, Palos Verdes Estates, Photos, pictures, RAD, Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, South Coast Botanic Garden, Southern California, Tanya / 1 minute of reading / October 9, 2012

These photos were taken last week at the South Coast Botanic Gardens. Every once in a while we need to get out of the house with nothing that has to be done, and Tanya really enjoys taking photos of flowers; so we will head off to somewhere like the South Coast Botanic Garden. The place is huge and after two visits there, we have just scratched the surface. Of course, with Tanya’s limitations due to her Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease, we don’t usually get more than an hour or two there. It was a nice day; she got some sunshine and …

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Cimzia: Is it working?

Cedars-Sinai, Cimzia, Dr. Mariko Ishimori, RAD, Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease, Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, Tanya / 4 minutes of reading / August 19, 2012

As an RAD Lovegiver, the most frustrating thing is watching the woman I love be in so much pain and not being able to do a damned thing about it. On top of that, the medical professionals seem to be guessing at what drug combinations to use to alleviate that pain. I guess that is why they call it practicing medicine. This past week or two has truly sucked. As an outsider, it appears to me that the drug combination Tanya is currently on is doing very little to benefit her. I have been looking through old photos of trips …

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Tests, tests and more tests

Cedars-Sinai, Photos, pictures, RAD, Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease, Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, Tanya / 2 minutes of reading / August 18, 2012

When I last posted about meeting Tanya’s new rheumatologist, I mentioned that Tanya had been referred to an endocrinologist to investigate some breathing issues she has at times. Dr. Ishimori was concerned that perhaps there is more than just the Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease (RAD/RA)at work here. Naturally, they have to schedule all tests to be out at Cedars-Sinai, which means fighting traffic for an hour, then trying to find a parking spot followed up by trying to find out where to go to have the testing done. While we left the house with what should have been plenty of time, …

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A visit to Dr. Mariko Ishimori

Cedars-Sinai, Dr. Mariko Ishimori, Photos, pictures, RAD, RAD Lovegiver, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease, Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, Tanya / 2 minutes of reading / July 14, 2012

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

Cimzia, Enbrel, RAD, RAD Caregiver, RAD Lovegiver, Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease, Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, stress / 4 minutes of reading / July 5, 2012

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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Why isn’t your rheumatologist suggesting stem cells?

Dr Solomon Forouzesh, RA, RAD, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease, Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, Stem Cell Research, Tanya / 6 minutes of reading / May 14, 2012

A few weeks ago I mentioned that Tanya’s rheumatologist, Dr. Forouzesh, had told me about an upcoming Frontiers of Rheumatology symposium that was coming up [at the end of April] in Marina del Rey at the Marriott Hotel. I decided that I would attempt to get a media pass so I could learn a little more about what is being talked about in the profession with regards to Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease. I will admit, it took a little doing; and while Dr. Furst, one of the co-chairs of the event, gave the okay to my attendance, if I had not …

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A visit with Tanya’s new Rheumatologist

Dr Solomon Forouzesh, Photos, pictures, RAD, RAD Caregiver, RAD Lovegiver, rheum4us, Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease, Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, rheumpf, Stem Cell Research, Tanya / 2 minutes of reading / April 11, 2012

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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Stem Cells and Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease

geek good girl, RA, RAD, rheum4us, Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease, Rheumatoid Patient Foundation, rheumpf, Stem Cell Research, Tanya / 4 minutes of reading / March 23, 2012

It has been a month since I left off on my discussion on why Rheumatoid Arthritis should be renamed as Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease and I apologize for that. Luckily, Tanya said I could take advantage of her RA Twist, so this is probably going to take a couple years to finish. Who knows, the world is supposed to end in December, so maybe it will never be completed. Anyway, when I left off I was tying RAD together with South Park. As I mentioned earlier in the article about why RA should be called RAD, Tanya and I had just …

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