I’m back…I think…

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So, I ‘ve taken some time off from writing this blog.  I think the combination of living with RA/Fibro/Sjogren’s/Graves’/& DSAP in addition to writing was wearing on me.  I’m thinking that I will change the name of this blog.  I don’t just live with RA.  I live with autoimmune diseases.  Each take a significant part of my life and make it just slightly more difficult.  Change is good right?

So I’m going to change the name of this blog to autoimmune diseases and ME.  Emphasizing ME.  I’m not going to lose my identity b/c of these diseases.  They are a part of me but not the whole package.  I’ll continue to document my journey.  Welcome aboard.

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Kelly holds masters degrees in both Special Education and Speech-Language Pathology. She works full-time as a speech-language pathologist in both a public school setting and as an adjunct faculty member at a university, in Philadelphia, PA. She specializes in both autism and augmentative/alternative communication and took her skills to Uganda, Africa to start a special needs program for disabled children living in an orphanage in 2011. Kelly began experiencing symptoms of autoimmune arthritis in 1984 (while in her teens) but wasn’t officially diagnosed with autoimmune arthritis until 2001. Her first diagnosis was Sjogren’s syndrome. Eventually her diagnosis was changed to sero-negative RA and now Polyarticular Spondlyoarthropathy. She also manages thyroid disease (resulting from Graves Disease), fibromyalgia, renin-deficient hypertension, and disseminated superficial actinic porokeratosis (DSAP) on a daily basis. Kelly connected with other autoimmune arthritis patients via social media in 2008. She began volunteering with the “Buckle Me UP! Movement”, which evolved into the International Autoimmune Arthritis Movement (IAAM) beginning in 2009. Then became a cofounder of IFAA in 2013. She has represented the ACR on Capitol Hill as an Advocate for Arthritis, was a finalist in Wego Health’s Health Activist Hero awards in 2014, and speaks at various healthcare conferences as a patient advocate in the Philadelphia area.

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