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20+ Dystopian, Science Fiction, and Fantasy Books To Escape With
in Lifestyle &middot May 21, 2018

20+ Dystopian, Science Fiction, and Fantasy Books To Escape With

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in Lifestyle &middot May 21, 2018

20+ Dystopian, Science Fiction, and Fantasy Books To Escape With

20+ Dystopian, Science Fiction, and Fantasy Books To Escape With

I'm back with more book suggestions! You guys loved the historical fiction one, so I hope you enjoy this one, too. I decided to combine so many smaller genres into one post ... Read the Post...

in Writing & Blogging &middot May 18, 2018

How To Use Pinterest for Blog Traffic

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in Writing & Blogging &middot May 18, 2018

How To Use Pinterest for Blog Traffic

It isn't a secret that Pinterest can be awesome for your blog traffic. In fact, in April, 67.61% of my traffic came from Pinterest. Over 67%! That didn't happen overnight; ... Read the Post...

Text reads: Buy my ebook for chronic health bloggers, worth $140, but buy for $10! There is also an image of the ebook cover. The ebook is named "Take Your Blog (And Income!) To The Next Level: Resources for Chronic Health Bloggers".
What I Wish I Knew When I Graduated from College
in Lifestyle &middot May 16, 2018

What I Wish I Knew When I Graduated from College

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in Lifestyle &middot May 16, 2018

What I Wish I Knew When I Graduated from College

What I Wish I Knew When I Graduated from College

It's hard to believe it, but this month marks five years since I graduated from college. FIVE! I've been through a lot and learned a lot since that May in 2013, but it wasn't ... Read the Post...

Helping Someone with Arthritis
in Health &middot May 14, 2018

Helping Someone with RA

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in Health &middot May 14, 2018

Helping Someone with RA

Helping Someone with Arthritis

1 in 4 Americans have a form of arthritis and 1.5 million Americans live with rheumatoid arthritis specifically. Rheumatoid arthritis (also known as RA) is a form of ... Read the Post...

in Lifestyle &middot May 11, 2018

Best Gifts for Graduates

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in Lifestyle &middot May 11, 2018

Best Gifts for Graduates

It's that season again - graduation season! One of my cousins graduates from college on Saturday and another graduates from high school at the beginning of June, not to ... Read the Post...

in Health &middot May 9, 2018

Attending the HealtheVoices 2018 Conference

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in Health &middot May 9, 2018

Attending the HealtheVoices 2018 Conference

As anyone who has been blogging since 2014 or earlier will tell you, blogging has changed a lot in the last couple of years. When I first started in 2013, posts across the ... Read the Post...

Tips for Writing about Chronic Illness ft. Examples from The West Wing
in Writing & Blogging &middot May 7, 2018

Tips for Writing about Chronic Illness ft. Examples from The West Wing

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in Writing & Blogging &middot May 7, 2018

Tips for Writing about Chronic Illness ft. Examples from The West Wing

Tips for Writing about Chronic Illness ft. Examples from The West Wing

If you're a regular reader, you're well aware that I live with a variety of chronic illnesses and have since 2001 (although we didn't know about it at that point, but that's a ... Read the Post...

in Health &middot May 4, 2018

My Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment + How I Got There

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in Health &middot May 4, 2018

My Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment + How I Got There

Happy Arthritis Awareness Month! If you follow me on Instagram, you've probably already seen me sharing information and personal anecdotes in honor of the month in my stories. ... Read the Post...

April Blog Traffic Report
in Writing & Blogging &middot May 2, 2018

April Blog Traffic Report

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in Writing & Blogging &middot May 2, 2018

April Blog Traffic Report

April Blog Traffic Report

Happy May! I hope you all had a great April and are starting off May on the right foot. Per usual, it's time for my April blog traffic report. I'm very happy with these ... Read the Post...

in Lifestyle &middot April 30, 2018

Currently [Vol. 18]

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in Lifestyle &middot April 30, 2018

Currently [Vol. 18]

What's up! Happy Monday and welcome back to the 18th edition of the Currently series. This is a series where I basically talk about my life and what has been happening in a ... Read the Post...

How I Organize My Books
in Lifestyle &middot April 27, 2018

How I Organize My Books

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in Lifestyle &middot April 27, 2018

How I Organize My Books

How I Organize My Books

We've had quite the collection of book posts around here recently! My lovely guest posters from the last week decided to write about books (which I don't hate), and I'm ... Read the Post...

Do you have a lot of books? Here are some ways to display them so they look good on your shelf.
in Lifestyle &middot April 24, 2018

How To Display Your Books

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in Lifestyle &middot April 24, 2018

How To Display Your Books

Do you have a lot of books? Here are some ways to display them so they look good on your shelf.

As a journalist and writer, I love books. Maybe you can relate! I appreciate many types of books (as my overflowing bookshelf clearly demonstrates), but there's something ... Read the Post...

Looking for something to read? Check out these 5 books from a variety of genres and get reading!
in Lifestyle &middot April 20, 2018

5 Books I’ve Recently Read That Should Be on Your Next Reading List

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in Lifestyle &middot April 20, 2018

5 Books I’ve Recently Read That Should Be on Your Next Reading List

Looking for something to read? Check out these 5 books from a variety of genres and get reading!

Looking for some great books to add to your "to be read" list? Then look no further! I've been on a bit of a reading kick lately (especially since I'm rereading all of the ... Read the Post...

in Lifestyle &middot April 18, 2018

My Sister Dressed Me for a Week

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in Lifestyle &middot April 18, 2018

My Sister Dressed Me for a Week

Not going to lie, I got my idea for this post from Buzzfeed. A while ago, I saw a post about someone's mom picking their outfit for the week, and I thought, "Huh, that sounds ... Read the Post...

in Writing & Blogging &middot April 16, 2018

Steps to Writing a Book: Editing

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in Writing & Blogging &middot April 16, 2018

Steps to Writing a Book: Editing

Welcome back to another post in the Steps to Writing a Book series! This is probably the most difficult step - editing. When it comes to the first draft, you just need to get ... Read the Post...

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Kate the (Almost) Great® is a chronic illness lifestyle blog. It is a resource for chronic illness patients and their loved ones.

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Kate the (Almost) Great

Chronic health lifestyle blog

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Reminder: you can be proud of your disability comm Reminder: you can be proud of your disability community while wishing your body cooperated more⁣
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⬛⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate sharing what my life is like with 10+ chronic illnesses. Follow me for more and check out my blog at katethealmostgreat.com⁣⁣.⁣
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 ID: Screenshot of a thread post. The background is dark teal, and it's written by katethealmostgreat. ⁣The text reads what's above the first black box.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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#DisabilityPride #ChronicallyIll #InvisibleIllness #Disabled #Disability
I don’t know the exact date of my RA diagnosis, bu I don’t know the exact date of my RA diagnosis, but this is from right around then in July 2010. ⁣
⁣
When I was diagnosed, I had been having symptoms for 9 years. ⁣
- 9 years of foot pain (partially from tarsal coalition)⁣
- Arthritic damage in said food⁣
- Carpal tunnel off and on for several years⁣
- And more⁣
⁣
I was finally diagnosed because I woke up one morning and was unable to open my jaw more than 8 mm. It turned out that I had horrible arthritic damage to my TMJs, which got me off the waiting list at MGH rheumatology. I left that appointment with an autoimmune arthritis diagnosis. ⁣
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The fact that July is not only my diagnosis anniversary but also Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Month has always seemed right. I may not have been diagnosed with JA, but given the amount of arthritis I had along with my many years of symptoms, it's generally accepted that I had it. ⁣
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This year marks 16 years since diagnosis and this fall marks 25 years since my symptoms started. It's pretty weird that so much time has already passed!⁣
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⬛⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate sharing what my life is like with 10+ chronic illnesses. Follow me for more and check out my blog at katethealmostgreat.com⁣⁣.⁣
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ID: Kate at 19 at Fenway Park for a Red Sox game. ⁣
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#RheumatoidArthritis #AutoimmuneDisease #Arthritis #JuvenileArthritis #JRA
Dos and don'ts for when someone in your life is di Dos and don'ts for when someone in your life is diagnosed with autoimmune arthritis! What are some that you would add?⁣
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I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate sharing what my life is like with 10+ chronic illnesses. Follow me for more and check out my blog at katethealmostgreat.com⁣⁣.⁣
⁣
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ID: "So someone you know was diagnosed with Autoimmune Arthritis". Under the Do column (indicated with a green checkmark) is:⁣
"As how they feel about it⁣
Offer specific ways to help⁣
Treat them normally⁣
Ask follow-up questions⁣
Wear a mask around them when sick."⁣
Under the don't don't column (indicated with an x in a red circle) is:⁣
"Say “At least it’s not xyz!”⁣
Say that and not follow through⁣
Assume nothing about their lives has changed⁣
Conflate autoimmune arthritis with osteoarthritis⁣
Pass your cold to an immunosuppressed person".⁣
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#AutoimmuneDisease #RheumatoidArthritis #PsoriaticArthritis #AnkylosingSpondylitis #JuvenileArthritis
Weekj 26 of 2026 Weekly Scenes of a summer week Weekj 26 of 2026 Weekly 

Scenes of a summer week in Maine! So glad I work from home, which means I can work from my real home (Maine, if that wasn’t clear)

1️⃣ Lots of Harley time
2️⃣ Working from home means saving my PTO for fun things!
3️⃣ Lots of duck families (📸 my dad)
4️⃣ What a lot of my days look like - Harley and my current project (needlepoint). And, yes, I’m still in a cast.
5️⃣ Learned how to play Mahjong, which my parents love
6️⃣ Lake views on the 4th

⬛⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate sharing what my life is like with 10+ chronic illnesses. Follow me for more and check out my blog at katethealmostgreat.com⁣⁣.⁣⁣⁣⁣

⬛⁣⁣⁣

IDs:
1️⃣ Harley the golden retriever on a deck as seen through some plants
2️⃣ Kate takes a selfie
3️⃣ A duck with little ducklings following on a lake
4️⃣ Harley coming up to Kate. Her legs are out on an ottoman, 1 foot in a walking cast, and an in-progress needlepoint project
5️⃣ Looking down at a Mahjong table with the game set up
6️⃣ A kayak on the shore of a lake 

#MaineTheWay #MaineSummer #Needlepoint #MaineLife
Living with chronic pain is really hard. You’re wi Living with chronic pain is really hard. You’re winning every day you’re still here.⁣
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I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate sharing what my life is like with 10+ chronic illnesses. Follow me for more and check out my blog at katethealmostgreat.com⁣⁣.⁣
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ID: The background image is a lake at sunset. Text reads what's above the first square and also "katethealmostgreat".⁣
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#ChronicIllness #ChronicPain #RheumatoidArthritis #Fibromyalgia #Endometriosis
I've been spending a fair amount of time at my foo I've been spending a fair amount of time at my foot surgeon's office this year, and boy has it been messing with my head. ⁣
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I spent a lot of time from 2001-2010 dealing with my left foot. Long story short, it took until this foot surgeon saw me in 2010 after fixing this foot for me to be diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. But I spent those 9 years going from doctor to doctor, having surgery after surgery, trying to figure out what was causing my pain and to fix it. ⁣
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Was it the tarsal coalition? Did I have another chronic health issue? Etc. ⁣
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I spent from age 10 to 19 unsure what exactly was wrong with me and in huge amounts of pain. We thought we figured it out, and then something else happened. ⁣
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We know exactly what is wrong with this foot this time around: in 2024, I got 3 stress fractures, and no one put me in a boot. They almost fully healed before breaking in 2025, and then the same thing happened in 2026. ⁣
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This is a different part of the foot than I used to deal with, but any problems with my feet and especially my left foot messes with me. While this doctor eventually fixed the problems and even got me diagnosed with RA, every time I go back to his office, I have to fight not to become 17 again. ⁣
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PTSD is a bitch.⁣
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(PS - if you want to know why I'm going back to this guy when it messes with me, it's because I don't trust anyone else to fix my foot.)⁣
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⬛⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate sharing what my life is like with 10+ chronic illnesses. Follow me for more and check out my blog at katethealmostgreat.com⁣⁣.⁣
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ID: Kate takes a selfie in a doctor's office. ⁣
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#PTSDAwareness #ChronicallyIll #TarsalCoalition #RheumatoidArthritis #Osteoporosis
Week 25 of #2026Weekly Happy to be in Maine for Week 25 of #2026Weekly 

Happy to be in Maine for a few weeks! I didn’t get up to a lot, so another week of very few pictures

1️⃣ IVIG 
2️⃣ Lots of beautiful birds have been coming to my mom’s bird feeder!

⬛⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate sharing what my life is like with 10+ chronic illnesses. Follow me for more and check out my blog at katethealmostgreat.com⁣⁣.⁣⁣⁣⁣

⬛⁣⁣⁣

IDs: 
1️⃣ Looking at Kate’s lap. Tubes are coming out from under her shirt and there’s a Kindle
2️⃣ Birds arriving at a bird feeder as seen through a window

#ChronicallyIll #InvisibleIllness #ChronicPain #IVIG
What do you have to do every day for your chronic What do you have to do every day for your chronic illnesses? ⁣
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For context, I have rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, endometriosis, POTS, heart disease, osteoporosis, and more. ⁣
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⬛⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
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I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate sharing what my life is like with 10+ chronic illnesses. Follow me for more and check out my blog at katethealmostgreat.com⁣⁣.⁣
⁣
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ID: ⁣
Things I Do Every Day for My Chronic Illnesses⁣
Take pills at least 4 times a day⁣
Don’t eat gluten, dairy, corn, soy, or eggs⁣
Sleep 7+ hours a night⁣
Consume 80-100 grams of protein, 120 mg of calcium, 5-10 grams of sodium⁣
Wear a mask whenever I leave the house⁣
Do pilates 4+ days a week⁣
Work from home⁣
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#ChronicallyIll #InvisibleIllness #RheumatoidArthritis #Fibromyalgia
Filmed this back in April (hence the sweater) but Filmed this back in April (hence the sweater) but it applies to whenever I have appointments! 

Video: Kate talks to the camera while holding a purse. She holds up individual items mentioned in the video before putting them in the bag. There are captions. 

#ChronicallyIll #RheumatoidArthritis #Osteoporosis #ChronicPain
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