#365 – Au Revoir, Not Adieu

Thirty-five years of living life with rheumatoid arthritis boiled down into three-hundred and sixty-five days of tips, tricks, techniques and strategies.

Right from the beginning, I decided that this blog would be devoted to helping people live well with a debilitating and chronic disease. I didn't want it to be a rant nor a rave, except when I saw public areas where small improvements would mean great gains in accessibility.

As I write this last post, my hope is that this blog has served as a springboard for ways in which you can live well, in spite of a chronic disease.

To sum up this blogging year, I've spent close to eleven-hundred hours compiling, photographing, searching, linking, writing and responding.

I wrote to forty-four businesses whose products or services I endorse, asking for giveaways for my readers. A big round of applause to the following businesses who supported me - and in turn you - in providing their wares:

Of course, a giveaway wouldn't work if people didn't enter. Hats off to all of you who took the time to participate.

Special thanks go to Beth Havey (Boomer Highway), Dorlee M. (Social Work Career Development) and S. Emerson (Accrete Web Solutions) for being such consistent and loyal supporters through your numerous comments and tweets.

To guest posters Gillian, Harmony, Lene and Kathryn - your open-hearted gift of words reverberate out, sending signals of hope and encouragement.

When I discovered that this blog has been linked to an article or a post, I did a little happy dance - thanks for making the music, Lene and Annette!

Everyone needs a Maarten in their life. You've seen a bit of his creative handiwork on this blog. I've run out of days or I'd show you a few more of his beautifully-crafted, functional pieces. Thank you for always surprising me with that just-right tool.

To the editors of Healthline.com, your award came at just the right time. This is proof that sometimes you never know when or on which shores the ripples of your words or actions will reach.

Words aren't enough to express my gratitude to Kathrin, but they will have to do. Every flame of an idea needs a spark; Kathrin's spark ignited this project. You dreamed bigger for me, setting the bar higher and allowing me the satisfaction of reaching it. A Rheumful of Tips was originally only thirty-three tips long. I distinctly remember wondering - or maybe that was whining 🙂 - how I could write "everyday for a whole year!"  Whenever I wrote myself into a maze, Kathrin was there to artfully guide me out with her expertise and encouragement.

Finally, to the many readers who have carved out time out from your busy schedules to visit, consistently or periodically, I thank you. Your comments have helped to round out A Rheumful of Tips.

The English language sometimes lacks the exact word to convey what we mean. In French, "Adieu" means that you suspect that you will never again see the person, whereas "Au revoir" is "good-bye", but not "farewell". For now I will bid you "Au Revoir!" as new sparks are igniting to take my experience further.

Yours heartfully,
Marianna

P.S. In the meantime, you can always visit me on Twitter and Pinterest. Please stay tuned and in touch.

I'm so glad we had this time together...

26 Replies to “#365 – Au Revoir, Not Adieu”

  1. Congratulations! I am very proud of you-I know that this took a lot of time and dedication!
    Now, time to focus on that book….
    ~Your sister

  2. … just to have a laugh or sing a song.
    Seems we just get started and before you know it,
    Comes the time we have to say, “so long”.

    Congratulations Marianna on completing your year-long project – you are inspiritos!
    8)

  3. this is been an amazing journey that has resulted in a collection of truly helpful tips for people with RA and chronic illness. I’m going to miss starting my day with these posts – they always Imade me feel is this rate things were possible with small changes. It has been a lovely way of getting to know you and look forward to continuing our friendship

    1. Lene, it has been a pleasure tweeting, commenting, reading with you. (Maybe one day it will even be “meeting”)

      Well, we’ll always have Twitter. Here’s looking at you, kid! 🙂

  4. I’m going to miss your daily posts in my e-mail. You have been most helpful (and I don’t just mean the free by pass cutters!) . Thanks for all your posts and concern.

    Gillian, aka Kia

    1. Kia/Gillian,
      Au revoir is bonjour since we’ve now connected on Twitter and Pinterest. 🙂

      How do you like those bypass pruners? Don’t you wish more things were made with that power gear? Door knobs, taps, milk cartons . . . .

  5. Many, many thanks, Marianna.
    Fortunately, I don’t have rheumatoid arthritis, just everyday aches and pains that pale in comparison to others. However, many of your tips were very helpful for me, too.
    I’ll miss opening your daily emails.

  6. Thank you very much for the mention. It has been great reading your 365 posts this last year. You have even giving those who don’t suffer with rheumatoid arthritis great helpful hints for when we get regular “getting old” arthritis.

    But, you can’t stop! You have to keep this going! Don’t be a stranger. I’m keeping this blog in my RSS feedreader for even the occasional post. (wink)

  7. This is the second “Au revoir” blog post I have read today.

    Although I do not have rheumatoid arthritis the tips have been helpful for those of us with slower movements and stiffer ageing hands. Thank you Marianna.

  8. What do you mean, “all done”?! How quickly we come to accept a new norm, with your daily inspirations popping into our email in-boxes and into our hearts, what say we add a year or two… 😉 Thank you, Marianna, for sharing so much of yourself and reaching out to many, many more people than you could imagine. I look forward with great pleasure to the next chapter. Now to echo Nancy’s suggestion and whistle for tidbits…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojydNb3Lrrs

  9. It’s been quite a year! Thank you, so much, Marianna for your daily inspirations!

    And, though this is an au revoir and not an adieu, I can’t help but recall a favorite poem about a writer noticing the slow coming of the night. The imagery, in the poem, of a writer as “he puts the pen away. It rests gently on the table” is so poignant and beautiful; as has been ART.

    Thank you, again, Marianna and I will definitely stay tune and in touch 🙂

    1. Casper, staying in tune and in touch is an easy thing to do with you.

      Do you recall the name of the poem? (Gee, there once was a time when I would have never asked that question! Never say never.) 🙂

  10. Congratulations, Marianna! It took so much dedication, hard work and generosity on your part to be coming up with so many creative and helpful posts day after day for a full year… You were always most inspiring! And now, it’s true, you do have more than enough info to put a book together 🙂

  11. I am a 45 year old male. I was diagnosed with R.A. about 6 years ago. This disease has changed my life. When it started, I knew little of what to expect and how this disease would progress. I started reading about it but since the symptoms, etc. didn’t match my condition at that time, I relaxed and had a false sense of relief. I assumed it must be a mild form and that I will be fine.

    However my body started to feel the full power of R.A. after about a year and I started consuming a cocktail of allopathic medication. My body started to crumble – pain, inflammation in all possible joints, lack of strength, mental fatigue, confusion about the future and a total surrender to the disease. I also lost a successful business and that hurt me mentally and financially.

    The allopathic medication proved to be of little help and was almost (I was able to move with great difficulty) bedridden for about 18 months.

    This is when I decided to fight. I had to. The doctors were not able to give me a satisfactory recovery plan. I decided to try alternate routes to recovery. First with Ayurveda and then with Homeopathy. This new combination helped me. My body started to respond and this fuelled my quest for more alternate medical therapies.

    Today I use combination of Ayurvedic & Homeopathic medicines, I do Accunpucture, Yoga & Urine Therapy besides exercises to strengthen my body. It’s been more than a year since I stopped allopatic medication and now depend solely on natural remedies. Besides natural medicines, I also stick to diet that’s suitable to my body.

    My ESR (sedimentation rate) which was 130 has come down to 30 & CRP which was 80 is now 11 in about a years time.

    I believe that our body is capable of healing itself but sometimes we just have to provide the right stimulus for healing. If the stimulus is nature based (non chemical) the impact maybe slow but definitely long lasting and without any side effects.

    I have benefited from natural remedies and hope this information is useful to people with problems similar to mine. Also if anyone does benefit, please pay it forward and educate others.

    1. You have obviously found the key to help you unlock your body’s healing potential. That’s wonderful! Three cheers and a Hip Hip Hooray from me! I like what you said: “I believe that our body is capable of healing itself but sometimes we just have to provide the right stimulus for healing.”

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