Inflammation motivation…

June 17, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

I recently read an article called: “Chronic inflammation removes motivation by reducing dopamine in the brain.” Reading the article was one of those “OMG this is me!!!” moments. For the past few years, I just could not figure out where my motivation went. Granted, I’m exhausted and in pain….but I have ZERO motivation for things […]

With a hope and a flare….

June 10, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

This past week, I’ve been dealing with one of the worst flare ups of my disease in years. I say the word “disease” because honestly, no one seems to know for sure what I have. Sometimes I’m told I have rheumatoid arthritis. Other times, I’m told I have psoriatic arthritis or spondyloarthopathy. All I know….is […]

Sorry for smiling….

May 5, 2019.Reading time 20 minutes.

Recently, social media has been buzzing with the warning that the government will soon be using social media tracking to crack down on disability fraud. I wouldn’t say this is surprising. People have been spying on the disabled for years. Growing up, I always heard how people “faked disability” to milk the system. My family […]

Who knows best…

March 18, 2019.Reading time 4 minutes.

Insurance is a blessing and a curse in my life. I’m grateful to have coverage, but so frustrated a the antiquated system of step therapy that they industry still holds valid. I’ve written before about suffering for 7 years before finding a biologic drug that made me feel somewhat human again. Why? Because I had […]

A little bit more…

February 18, 2019.Reading time 5 minutes.

I may have become cocky and over confident in my ability to tolerate pain. On an average day, my fingers, elbows, shoulders, hips, lower back, knees, ankles and feet hurt. A lot. Each day starts out with almost all my joints revolting when I try to stand up in the morning. It eases up […]

You ain’t no copper penny…

January 27, 2019.Reading time 5 minutes.

Recently, I’ve been going through a lot a stress. Health, family, pets, household issues, etc….if I wasn’t for bad luck, I’d seriously have none. On top of it all, I’ve gained a ton of weight from both inactivity due to my broken foot and stress eating. Then I ended up getting sick. The kind of […]

Abled People Are From Mars, Disabled People Are From Venus….

January 6, 2019.Reading time 17 minutes.

I’ve been documenting my journey with my broken foot. It’s been frustrating, painful, and difficult to say the least. Non-weight bearing is hard when you don’t have autoimmune arthritis, but when you do, it’s nearly overwhelming. When I found out my foot hadn’t healed, I decided to stay at my parents’ house over the Christmas […]

Four more weeks…

December 18, 2018.Reading time 8 minutes.

I had my follow up for my broken foot (AKA 5th metatarsal fracture) today. I’ve been trying my best to not bear weight on my foot since 11/1/2018. The past 46 days have been difficult. I’ve tried my best to not walk. I admit, it’s so hard in my stair-filled house, so there are times when […]

In the news…

December 7, 2018.Reading time 1 minute.

A few months ago, I was contacted by a writer looking to do a story about a patient for the American College of Rheumatology‘s online magazine, “The Rheumatologist“. She wanted to talk to someone who had attending the ACR’s annual Advocates for Arthritis event in Washington DC. I was honored someone recommended me for the […]

A scary good day…

December 6, 2018.Reading time 7 minutes.

On Monday, I had my annual mammogram. The following day, I received a message that there was a problem and I needed to come back. I missed the call and didn’t get the message until late, so I had to wait until this morning to call back. The way the message sounded, there was an […]