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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
I am often asked about my #spooniedog, Georgia Grace. She is still my feisty, stubborn, and adorable sidekick. On days when I hurt, she has been very protective. This is a change since my cat Lola passed. Georgia was always the “world’s worst nurse” but has slowly become my greatest comfort as I’ve been battling […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]