Perspective with chronic illness is…let’s just say, flexible in all the wrong ways. Last week? Absolute chaos. A flare so aggressive it felt like my body woke up and chose violence. Enter: steroids—the overachieving frenemy. They did their job and calmed things down, but at the small cost of sleep, sanity, and any hope of... Continue Reading →
My weight and I have been a complicated relationship my entire life. I was never the skinny girl. I was the girl with curves—or as my aunt liked to say, “a brick shithouse.” To this day, I’m still not entirely sure if that was a compliment or a construction assessment. I had curves. Big boobs, small waist,... Continue Reading →
Every morning I wake up and think, today is going to be the day I feel better.Today will be the day I can function like a normal human being.Today is the day I will feel great. Then I get out of bed and realize the pain, fatigue, and general malaise are still there. It’s hard not to feel... Continue Reading →
I recently received a letter regarding my healthcare and the upcoming changes being planned. The first sentence includes the following sentence, "the impacts of inflation and costs incurred from high-cost claimants." high-cost claimants high-cost claimants high-cost claimants Reading this letter today was insulting. The language used—phrases like “high-cost claimants”—felt incredibly dehumanizing. It reduces real people and... Continue Reading →
Living with chronic illness for almost 30 years gives one a thick skin. I've met so many people who love to give me free advice. For the most part, it's all good intended suggestions, but I often feel stumped on how to respond. Today someone said, "My friend says those infusions you take are bad,... Continue Reading →
In today's episode of “Whatever Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger”: Insurance + PBM vs. Me I’ve learned that a lot of people don’t actually know what a PBM is. It stands for Pharmacy Benefits Manager—the middleman between insurance companies and patients that’s supposed to keep drug prices low (spoiler: they don’t) and make private insurance more affordable. It’s... Continue Reading →
Wow, my fingers feel rusty. It's been a hot minute since I've blogged. I took what I haven't allowed myself to take in a long time.....a break (sort of). My health has been horrible over the past three years. In addition to my autoimmune arthritis, I've had to deal with grief, depression, pneumonia, multiple bouts... Continue Reading →
I have a diagnosis of an adjustment mood disorder: better known as depression. It started when I first got sick. It made sense that living in chronic pain would cause some serious mood issues. For the past 20 years, I've struggled to balance the negativity in my head with the life that I want to... Continue Reading →
In my final installment of honoring both Autoimmune Disease Awareness and Women's History month, some people I consider the rock stars of advocacy. First up: MarlaJan Wexler-Gormley from Luck Fupas. I met MarlaJan at a Wego Health conference in which she was the Conference Host and featured speaker. Her health issues are quite overwhelming ranging... Continue Reading →
The disability community is up in arms about statements made by a woman who is described as "American conservative author, talk show host, political commentator, and producer." I will NOT be identifying this woman by name because it's obvious she lives for these moments where she feels she is being unfairly vilified so she can... Continue Reading →
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