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Tina's Tips

Arthritis can affect your ability to do even the simplest of tasks. I've heard some people say, "Accept your limitations." I'm not sure accepting them is the way to go. I prefer to challenge those limitations, work around them, finding alternate ways of achieving the same goal. Every week I'll share some tips I've found to work around those annoying limitations and I hope all of you will send in your tips too. We may not be the next Martha Stewart, but sometimes the simplest things can help so much.

We have a request for help today from Chuck:

I am looking for elastic laces for my tennis shoes. I took one lace out and it measured over 48 inches, it seems that the longest that I can find is 39 inches, I was wondering if you know of anyone who sells a lace of that length or something close to it. I have eight eyelets on each side which makes for sixteen holes. If you could find something to help me out I would really appreciate it.

Does anyone know where to find longer elastic laces? Let me know: Tina@arthritisinsight.com 

A large cup hook screwed into the end of a wooden dowel makes a handy tool. Use it for pulling out the oven rack without bending, pulling on fans or light strings, getting clothes off of a high closet rack, etc.

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What's New?

This week's Featured Discussion is Women's Health. Check it out at /feature/women 

Advice for Better Living
I've been diagnosed with Lupus for about 8 months. My employer is not aware that I have any health problems. But now, the pain and fatigue are starting to affect my performance. Should I tell my boss about the lupus? I am afraid I might be fired or treated poorly.
Hmmmm! Should she or shouldn't she? Let us know what you think.
/living/advice/ 

Expert Advice:
I am 32 yrs old and just had my first child in March of 2000. I chose to discontinue all meds while trying to conceive and during pregnancy to decrease the chances of birth defects. I discontinued all meds in August of 1998. I suffered one miscarriage and then became pregnant again in July of 1999. I now have a beautiful healthy baby boy. During my pregnancy, I did feel some relief of symptoms, but now I am starting to have flare ups, mainly in the knees and feet. We want to have another child and because of my age, do not want to wait too long. I would like to stay off the meds again. My doctors said that I need to be off all meds for at least 3 months before starting to try to conceive. We will probably try again within that time frame, so it does not make sense to start back on meds now. Here is my question: Is there anything I can do help relieve the symptoms in my knees without medication? Do any of the topical creams have any effect on RA? Any advice would be greatly app!
reciated
See our Expert answers to this and more questions at /medical/advice/ 

Question of the Week
A new feature-We'll be asking a new question each week and sharing the responses to the previous week's question. This week: You've been granted one day without arthritis, without pain. How will you spend that day? What will you do?
/community/question/  

Questions From Friends & Family
Another new feature! A place for the "non-gimps" to ask for advice. This week's question:
What are the things that people say that make you feel bad or sad or mad (so that I can be sure not to say them)?
Wow! Good question. So folks, what should people avoid saying to us? Tell us!
/living/family/questions/  

To see all of our latest additions see: /updates.html  Check it every morning and you won't miss a thing.

What's Coming? 

Our next Featured Discussion will be Adaptive Products and Ways to Make Life with Arthritis Easier. Everyone has little tips and tricks they use to make everyday tasks easier. And we all have our favorite arthritis friendly product. Please tell us about yours and fill out our survey. 
/feature/survey.html  

What do you want to see on Arthritis Insight or in the Newsletter? Let us know and we'll do our best to accommodate!

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Arthritis Insight Chat /community/chat/

Monday's Women's Health Chat with Dr. Susan Hoch was great. The transcript is posted at /community/chat/august72000.html  But be warned, some of the conversation is in regard to sexual issues.

On Monday August 14th we'll talk about Adaptive Products and ways to make life with arthritis easier. Amy Wright, P.T. will join us. 

The complete chat schedule can be found at /community/chat/schedule.html.  

With the addition of JRA World to Arthritis Insight, we've added two new chats. Tuesdays at 10pm Eastern JRAWHostJeff will host Young Adults with Arthritis support chat. And every Thursday at 10pm Eastern we'll have Growing Up With Arthritis, for kids, teens, and adults who are growing up or have grown up with arthritis hosted by JRAWHostAaron.

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Cooking With Char!

Well, I promised you a zucchini column and here it is!! Thanks to everyone who sent me a zucchini recipe. It gives me some to add to my own zucchini arsenal as well. So lets get started!

The first one is my own zucchini bread recipe that I call 1-2-3 Bread. It is very simple and I use it as the basic recipe for all my fruit breads. The only thing that changes is the fruit and the spices you might use.
1C vegetable oil
2C sugar
3C flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
I just dump everything together into a bowl and mix it all together.
To the batter I then add 1 C shredded zucchini or 3 or 4 mashed bananas (or whatever happens to be over ripe sitting on the counter), or chopped cranberries, or peeled and chopped apples and cinnamon to taste or 1C of pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice to taste, or whatever I feel like adding to it. There are no hard and fast rules and its fun to experiment.
Instead of using loaf pans, I recycle vegetable cans. I use vegetable cans, because they are so easy to use, but cans of any sort will do. I always use the baking spray for the cans, but you can also use just oil and flour if you prefer. Just fill the cans about 2/3 full with the batter. Bake in a 375 degree oven, about 45 min. to an hour. Test for doneness using a toothpick. When the toothpick comes out clean, its done. Just tip the cans out on a cooling rack and then throw away the cans. NO CLEAN UP! Just save those easy to clean vegetable cans as you use the vegetables and then throw them away after you have used them for baking.

This next recipe is from Joyce.
One that was always a favorite with my sons is baked zucchini, very easy to make. Here's the recipe:
Get enough zucchini to feed the number of people, allowing 1 small zucchini or 1/2 a large zucchini per person. (This is a side dish, not a main dish.)
Scrub the squash, cut off the stem end, and then split the squash lengthwise. If you are using large zucchinis, cut them in half across the middle.
Arrange them face up in a flat baking pan (I use my lasagna pan). Place a bit of butter on the surface of each piece (amount depends on how much you like butter). Sprinkle with grated or shredded Italian hard cheese. I usually use shredded Romano but you can use Parmesan or even those mixed cheeses. If you like you can decorate them with sliced pitted black olives. Sprinkle lightly with garlic powder and just a little red pepper. Bake at 350 degrees for about 1/2 hour. Test by sticking them with fork.

And this one from Bonnie.
I have a low cal recipe -
1 medium size zucchini
1 egg & 1-2 Tbs. Water
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
baking stone
Cut the zucchini crosswise, discard ends dip the zucchini pieces into egg wash, then into breadcrumbs, followed by parmesan cheese.
Bake at 375 degrees until cheese has browned. If you like food crispy, turn the zucchini pieces over after top has browned.

And this one from Vickie.
This is my favorite recipe for using zucchini. Hope you like it. (canning recipe)
ZUCCHINI RELISH 
10 cups zucchini 4 large onions
4 large green peppers 4 large red peppers
1/2 cup salt 4 cups white sugar
2 1/2 cups cider vinegar 2 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon turmeric 1 tablespoon nutmeg
2 tablespoon celery salt 1/4 tablespoon black pepper
Grind zucchini using medium blade. Sprinkle salt on zucchini. Leave on overnight (store in refrigerator). Next day drain well, rinse in cold water, drain again. In large kettle bring remaining ingredients to boil. Add vegetable. Simmer for 30 minutes. Put into hot canning jars and seal. Process in boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Take out and let cool. Check seals. This makes great relish for hot-dogs and hamburgers.

And this one from Dale.
Zucchini Spread
3 cups zucchini shredded
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbs. lemon juice
4 Tbs. fresh cilantro chopped
8 oz. cream cheese softened
salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend well. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving. Serve with crackers, bread rounds or fresh vegetables. This time of year zucchini are in abundance and it is nice to have lots of recipes that use this versatile veggie. This dip is very tasty and can also be spread on thin slices of French bread and served on individual plates.
The Skinny: Use light cream cheese. Everything else is fairly good for you.

Had enough? How about just one more?
Fried Zucchini
Now don't go ewwwwwww, until you have tried it. And anyone who likes fried green tomatoes will like this too.
Cut zucchini into 1/4 inch thick slices. Dredge in flour. Head oil in a skillet until fairly hot/ then add floured zucchini. Cook until fork tender and brown. Salt lightly and serve.

If you have question or comments about my column, please address them to me at Char@arthritisinsight.com . If you are looking for a special recipe, let me know, and I will make a request in the column to see if someone can come up with it for you. And as always I am looking for recipes you are willing to share.

The holidays will be here before you know it. So send me those favorite holiday recipes and I will put together some special holiday columns to appear in time for people to use them in their own holiday preparations.

From Donna:
October Happening In Ohio
When...October 12-15
Place...Wooster, Ohio
Looks like we have quite a crowd going already! Over 30 people so far! If you can make it, you won't regret the experience of meeting and making new friends with other people with arthritis.
All the information is now on a website thanks to Kimmy! http://fadedjeans.com/ohio

Happy Birthday!
Wishing Happy Birthday this week to Jeanette and Kuch.

Thanks WebMD!
WebMD interviewed Tina last week for a great article entitled: Experimental Vaccine Could Fight Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, DNA Vaccines Fool the Immune System Into Fighting Itself. You can read it at: http://my.webmd.com/content/article/1728.59992 

Can You Help?
Craig Koester is looking for a great doctor in the St. Johnsbury area of Vermont. He has arthritis and fibromyalgia and will be moving there soon. If anyone knows of a rheumatologist there please contact Craig at CraigLKoester@aol.com.  

Special Offers for Arthritis Insight Members
Whenever possible we will try get to our sponsors to agree to discounts and the like for our members. Here are our current special offers:

KAS Enterprises (http://www.kasenterprises.com/theraband.html?ai) has graciously offered to help us out in our quest for fitness. They have put together a special package of Thera-Bands? and accessories. All for $19.99 with free shipping and a free instruction manual. If you mention Arthritis Insight you'll get double Frequent Buyer Bonus Points so you can earn free products!

Sore No More gel (http://www.sorenomore.com/) will send a free sample of the pain relieving gel to any Arthritis Insight Community Member who emails them at dma@glogerm.com .

Therabath Paraffin Therapy Bath is offering $30 off of their regular price of the Therabath unit. Visit http://www.wrmed.com/special_offer.htm for more info.

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Contribute
Have you written something you think our subscribers would like to read? Send it to Tina@arthritisinsight.com and maybe we'll use it in our newsletter.

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A Closing Thought

I've learned:

I've learned ... that when you're in love, it shows.
I've learned ... that just one person saying to me, "You've made my day!" makes my day.
I've learned ... that having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world.
I've learned ... that being kind is more important than being right.
I've learned ... that you should never say no to a gift from a child.
I've learned ... that I can always pray for someone when I don't have the strength to help him in some other way.
I've learned ... that no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with.
I've learned ... that sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand.
I've learned ... that life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.
I've learned ... that we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for.
I've learned ... that money doesn't buy class.
I've learned ... that it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.
I've learned ... that under everyone's hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved.
I've learned ... that the Lord didn't do it all in one day. What makes me think I can?
I've learned ... that to ignore the facts does not change the facts.
I've learned ... that when you plan to get even with someone, you are only letting that person continue to hurt you.
I've learned ... that love, not time, heals all wounds.
I've learned ... that the easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am.
I've learned ... that everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile.
I've learned ... that there's nothing sweeter than sleeping with your babies and feeling their breath on your cheeks.
I've learned ... that no one is perfect until you fall in love with them.
I've learned ... that life is tough, but I'm tougher.
I've learned ... that opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss.
I've learned ... that when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.
I've learned ... that I wish I could have told my Mom that I love her one more time before she passed away.
I've learned ... that one should keep his words both soft and tender, because tomorrow he may have to eat them.
I've learned ... that a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.
I've learned ... that I can't choose how I feel, but I can choose what I do about it.
I've learned ... that when your newly born grandchild holds your little finger in his little fist, that you're hooked for life.
I've learned ... that everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it.
I've learned ... that it is best to give advice in only two circumstances; when it is requested and when it is a life-threatening situation.
I've learned ... that the less time I have to work with, the more things I get done.

-Andy Rooney