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I was in my early forties when I was diagnosed with degenerative osteoarthritis in both hips. Unable to cross a room without two canes or a walker, I couldn't stand at the kitchen counter long enough to open a can of soup, let alone prepare a decent family meal. The pain in my left side was almost unbearable, but I couldn't stomach the pain meds my doctor kept prescribing. Worst of all, my only child was in middle school and I was too exhausted to drive the carpool, let alone volunteer for his extra-curricular activities.  Read more >

Some months ago, a phone conversation with my BlogHer colleague Rita Arens turned toward my experience of having ankylosing spondylitis, an arthritic condition that froze my spine over the course of 30 years, first into a ramrod pole and now into a shepherd's crook. With her encouragement, I jabbered on about how, along the way, I've loved and lost, borne and raised two children, managed a career and had bi-lateral hip replacements - two surgeries - a week apart, followed by single doses of radiation. Then Rita suggested that my story would be a good addition to the "Own Your Beauty" series.That shut me up.  Read more >