Celebrate With Me — Candace Semien

During a random conversation, a family member, one of the smartest little humans in my life, told me about the books she’s been reading. One is nonfiction and the other is young adult fantasy.

What would you do if you were stuck in the grocery store parking lot, crippled by locked joints? Imagine your hands and wrists frozen after parking the car, with toes cramped, shifted apart, and…

As months turn into years and years turn into decades of living with systemic lupus erythematosus, we begin to record what helps mitigate or temper symptoms before they turn into a full-blown flare.

“If you don’t answer to anyone, you will start lying to yourself,” a financial consultant once explained to me. His wisdom, albeit a bit sharp in tone, transcended his focus on money management into…

Pain wakes me at 3:18 a.m., reminding me that lupus stopped me from working. “Yeah, I know,” I sleep-whisper and stare at the digital clock until box breathing cools me back to sleep.

It seems like there should be some decisions a person never has to make for themself. Standing before the consultation window at the pharmacy, I found myself faced with a question that made me…

I think I’ve fallen in a “Doctor Who” rabbit hole. If you’ve ever watched the show, you know the TARDIS, whose letters stand for time and relative dimension in space. On the…

May is Lupus Awareness Month, and for several reasons, Fred Rogers and his eponymous children’s program “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” are on my mind. Fifty-six years ago this month, Mr. Rogers provided testimony to the…

Like any relationship, a patient-doctor one has rules about how to engage and communicate. They’re typically in writing, bearing the patient’s signature of agreement. I’ve seen the rules posted on walls as the U.S.

We’ve heard it said that “you can’t pour from an empty cup.” It’s a reminder to “fill” ourselves before we “pour out” for someone else. Pouring out is an action we do to improve…

Among the various time-management strategies is one where a person breaks up their day into 30-minute blocks and assigns tasks or activities for each block of the 24 hours. Some bullet journalists consider…