Ankylosing Spondylitis, or AS, is an inflammatory form of arthritis that primarily affects the spine. Other joints can become involved. It causes inflammation of the spinal vertebrae that can lead to severe, chronic pain and discomfort.
AS can also cause inflammation, pain, and stiffness in the shoulders, hips, ribs, heels and hands and feet. Sometimes the eyes, lungs and heart can become involved. The involvement of the sacroiliac joints (SI) doing the progression of this disease are a hallmark feature of Ankylosing Spondylitis.
Today marks exactly two years since I started taking Enbrel to help with pain and inflammation from Ankylosing Spondylitis, aka axial spondyloarthritis. In all this time, I’ve been paying out of pocket for Enbrel. My monthly bill for 8 injections is 30,000NT per month. As you can guess, the stress of coming up with this […]
October 12 – It’s World Arthritis Day! I’ve been living with Axial Spondyloarthritis (Ankylosing Spondylitis) and osteoarthritis for over a decade. Last week I found out I have ANOTHER arthritis diagnosis! Ta-da! My rheumy has decided I have Psoriatic Arthritis! Guess what? AS and PsA are subsets of Spondyoarthropathies. I didn’t even know it’s possible […]
BELIEVE US: Invisible Illness Awareness Week 2019 – How to show compassion when someone says they are disabled or have an invisible illness.
Failing, Succeeding, Pausing, Deciding and Thriving with Chronic Illness – Read about how I’m managing my chronic life and learning from it every day.
Ankylosing Spondylitis Ten Years After Diagnosis – What do you wish you had known in your first year after diagnosis compared to what you know now?
Chronic Illness Prompts: Meeting, Advocating, Tweaking, Working, Curating – What chronic illness bloggers write about when given writing prompts to write about their chronic lives.
A Chronic Voice hosts a link-up party each month for those of us who are chronically ill. Sheryl’s writing prompts for August are: Figuring, Completing, Boring, Cuddling, and Chatting.
The day I got a call about testing a robotic exoskeleton designed for assisting people with mobility issues was life-changing. We knew things would be difficult for us when I got sick, but we didn’t know I’d lose the use of my legs. My life changed with KEEOGO.
Art Therapy for Chronic Illness Interview with Karen Swank Fitch – MSW’s art series features artists to show how art is used as therapy for chronic illness.
Alternative Treatments to Chronic Illness: Do They Work? Here are the alternative treatments I’ve tried that did not work to alleviate my disease symptoms.