Author: asmyjointsturn

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.

Making Lemonade with Georgia Grace by Kelly Conway

November 23, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

When life gives you lemons, you have to make a choice: you can choose to remain bitter or you can add something to make that lemon sweeter. When Kelly brought her puppy Georgia Grace home, she could never have predicted all the medical emergencies they would endure together. Their love for each other was what […]

Voices matter…

November 20, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

I cofounded the International Foundation for Autoimmune & Autoinflammatory Arthritis (IFAA) in 2013 with three fellow patients Tiffany Westrich-Robertson, Tami Brown, and Amanda John. Our mission has always been to use our voices to impact education, awareness, and research. We’ve grown and evolved over the years, but we always held fast to the idea that our […]

I am an impatient patient…

November 17, 2019.Reading time 6 minutes.

The past few weeks, I’ve been documenting my battle with an upper respiratory virus/sinus infection/laryngitis, etc. Three weeks in, and I’m still not well. I feel like I may have turned a corner because my voice is a tad bit better. I’m still on antibiotics, but off of prednisone. Thankfully, sleep is a bit easier […]

Getting sick, while being sick…

November 10, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

Two weeks ago, I started with a dry cough. After my bout with pneumonia, I watched it closely. By the middle of the week, I felt wrecked. Body aches, stuffy nose, sore throat, ear ache, etc. I called my doctor but they had no appointments until the following day. My goal was to return to […]

Making lemonade…

November 5, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

A year ago, I wrote a book about my dog, Georgia Grace. Georgia is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who lives with multiple, serious chronic illnesses including the top 3: Syringomyelia, Chronic Valvular Heart Disease, and Diabetes. I was told her life expectancy was three years. Today, she is 10 years, 6 months and […]

Daring to believe…

October 27, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

I just recently started to feel like my new medication is working. It’s kind of shocking. My pain level is so much more tolerable. I still have pain, but I can make it all day without taking extra meds. My swelling is also getting better. I still swell when I overdo it, but for the […]

Oh the places we will go…

October 15, 2019.Reading time 5 minutes.

I’ve not taken a proper vacation since my dog was diagnosed with diabetes. I refused to leave her for over two years until this past September, when I traveled to Washington DC for 2 nights for a patient advocacy trip. I admit that I was a wreck until I had her back in my arms. […]

RD Blogweek Day 5: Advice…

October 4, 2019.Reading time 2 minutes.

I’m proud to participate in the 5th annual RA Blog Week. Today’s topic: Advice – What advice would you give to your newly diagnosed self after what you’ve learned living with RD? Today has been a very difficult day. Not because of my help, but because of my dog’s health. The past three days […]

RD Blog Week: Day4: Community

October 3, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

I’m so honored to be participating in the 5th annual RD Blog week. Today’s topic is: Community – Our community is often hard on each other, even going as far as accusing others of not having RA when they can physically do more than others. How can we educate our own community on RA and […]

RD Blog week 2019: Day 3: Disability

October 2, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

I’m proud to participate in the 5th annual RD blog week. Today is day three and the topic is: Disability – Discuss your feelings about our position within the disabled community with variable disability. How do you deal with limitations that are present some days and not others? Professionally, I’m a speech-language pathologist and I […]