This is What Rheumatoid Arthritis Looks Like

In almost a decade since my diagnosis, I've been lucky to have the opportunity to meet a lot of others who are also living with RA - both online and in person. And while we have a lot in common, one thing I've learned is that everyone has their own unique experience with RA. 

That's why I was very excited when Healthline offered me the opportunity to be part of their new video series This is What Rheumatoid Arthritis Looks Like. I got to share my own personal perspective of what it's like to live with RA - as well as shining a light on the added challenges faced by moms living with chronic illnesses. 

The series also gave me - and gives you! - the opportunity to take a peek into the lives of two other amazing individuals living with RA, whose lives are so similar and yet so different from my own! One is Arthritis Ashley, a blogger I've been aware of for years but never had the chance to interact with until I happened to recently meet her at a patient summit in New York City! I've always loved her positive approach to living with chronic illness, as it's one I embrace myself! The project also introduced me to an author and blogger I hadn't heard of before, Daniel Malito. I'm excited to get to know his work, and I always love having more representation for men who are living with RA. You can check out all three of our Healthline videos describing what RA looks like here. 

My own video is also included below, and I have to say that I'm pretty happy with how it turned out considering all the chaos in my house the day the film crew joined me! I also want to add the disclaimer that the film crew did an amazing job making me look like the "perfect" mom. They took footage of me taking my boys to pick up our farm share, cooking with local organic produce, and the whole family playing cooperatively together with trains. But for all the other moms out there, please know there was a lot of chaos and screaming in between these shots - and 20 minutes after the film crew left we were all eating frozen pizza for dinner and watching monster trucks on YouTube. Just want to keep it real haha! ~;o)