Articles

I'm sitting here at lunch on a Friday thinking about how I'm going to get through the next 12 hours. I know what's coming. Dinner needs to happen. Kids need...

Disabled individuals endure many challenges throughout life. Living with an illness is exhausting both physically and mentally from a range of symptoms, attending a handful of appointments, and reoccurring flare-ups...

My household was caught in the midwestern regional blackout of 2021. The greater Detroit area-where we live-was especially hard hit. The day started out like any other. Meds, coffee, breakfast...

You can mask if you want to, even if you need to leave your friends behind. For me, and several other teachers out there, school has started up again. Our...

I remember when I found out I had an autoimmune disease. Learning my body had begun to attack itself was a strange moment for me. I couldn’t get a particular...

Just to set the stage-—I’m not the one with AS. My husband, Keegan, is. And I’m his caregiver. We both are at home all day. I work from my garage...

I read recently that the longer it takes to get a diagnosis for AS the bleaker the long-term outcome for the sufferer. Teresa and I have talked a lot about...

Up until recently, I’d been pretty lucky with my doctors. My family doctor was the first doctor I told about my pain 4 years ago. She believed me right away...

Picture this: I'm seven years old, and there are several large adults holding me down to a hospital bed so that a nurse could inject me with a needle. At...

Something that's getting a lot of attention in the chronic illness community right now is the idea of a dynamic disability. So what is a dynamic disability and what can...

I thought I would share my diagnosis story with you guys for two reasons. Firstly, because it’s a pretty unique and crazy tale and secondly, to show to anyone who...

“Try this, it will totally change your life!” “This amazing drug is now over the counter, I use it every day!” “All I need is 100mg of this and I'm...

Ankylosing spondylitis diagnoses can take years to find, and they usually come after a ton of pain and unexplained symptoms with a search for doctors that will take you seriously...

During a flare-up, we all have our tools and assistive devices to make things better. From a walker to a cane to a showering chair, we try to keep up...

I’ve been using my mobility aids (mostly my walker) more and more the past few months. Over the course of the pandemic, my chronic fatigue has gotten worse, so I...

In the past year, I have gained unwanted weight. This is due to a lack of mobility and medication. I was pretty much bed-bound for three months, while on steroids for 5 months...

TENS stands for transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. This is a fancy way of describing mild zaps of electricity being sent through the skin to disrupt pain sensations. It's important to discuss...

My best days go full circle, with a natural flow from activity, rest, more activity, relaxation, and then sleep. I begin and end the day with a quiet spiritual practice...

I've learned that a lot of people in the ankylosing spondylitis community have experienced the incredibly disgusting, horribly painful, grossly unattractive plague that is shingles. So have I. And so...

I grieve for myself. I should say my former self. I no longer grieve the event that caused the grief (that ship has sailed). Instead, I grieve my suffering. What...