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.
My courage is visible. My invisible disabilities are not. When you see me, you can’t tell I’m disabled. Here’s what I want you to know about my life with invisible disabilities. This is my sixth time participating in Invisible Disabilities Awareness Week.
Costochondritis: Coping with chest wall pain with arthritis and fibromyalgia
What is costochondritis? Why does it happen? How is it diagnosed and treated?
It’s that time of year again! It’s time to celebrate fellow patient leaders with the WEGO Health Awards. I’m thrilled to say that I’ve been nominated for the 10th Annual WEGO Health Awards in a number of categories. This post tells you what the awards are about and how you can help by endorsing me, especially if I’ve made a difference in your own health journey.
Advocacy Initiatives, A Move, and More for May 2021! Ah, where to start? Today’s post is a personal update post. I rarely take the opportunity to do these types of posts, but we’ve had a lot happening and there’s no better way to update than by telling it like it is! Read on to learn more about my May initiatives – my busiest month by far in 2021.
Walking for Ankylosing Spondylitis is challenging for me with fibromyalgia and MECFS to deal with as well. But May is here. Time for change!
Happy International Day of Persons with Disabilities in Taiwan! I’ve seen zero coverage in Taiwan and I hope this post raises some awareness for the disabled community in Taiwan.
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.