Category Archives: chronic disease

ankylosing spondylitis, chronic disease

The Disease Everyone Loves to Hate

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Content note: this post discusses the topics of suicide and death.

I had a pretty good treatment day recently.

I didn’t even get upset that a new nurse tried and failed to get my infusion started. What’s another blown vein, anyway?

The infusion team was excited because they thought they’d seen a picture of me on a Facebook ad (it wasn’t me) – they’d even saved a screenshot to show me. My conversations with the nurses were light-hearted before I transitioned into catching up on emails.

I hid myself in my favorite corner where I can sometimes pretend I’m the only one in the room and I nearly forgot I was in a building with the word “cancer” all over the front of it.

I love the infusion team. And I better love them – these are treatments that I’ll need for the rest of my life unless this drug stops working or a better treatment shows up. I’m what you call incurable.

But as I was leaving my appointment I almost walked into a vendor table being set up for an event. On the table was a sign reserving it for a lingerie business. And then my eyes caught something else: pink.

Pink was everywhere. Rose petal fabric. Pink shirts. Pink everything. Pink was in the air. It smelled pink.

October. Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

I can’t explain how crushing it was to leave my better-than-usual treatment, then turn the corner into an explosion of pink for an event that screamed, “You’re in someone else’s space.”

I have Ankylosing Spondylitis. The infusions I receive for my disease happen in a medical complex named Mercy Cancer Center. Every time I enter the building I see the name in big bold letters above the door and behind the check-in desk. While I wait for my appointment I see poster-sized lists of support groups and special events specifically for people with cancer.

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Becoming Incurable, chronic disease

Becoming Incurable | Help Make This Chronic Disease Documentary a Reality

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Last summer I announced that I was being featured in Becoming Incurable, a film featuring the stories of three people in Sacramento, California, each living with different chronic diseases: Ankylosing Spondylitis, Lyme Disease, Mold Illness, and Dystonia.

In that announcement I said:

Since that day in February when I received Victoria’s (filmmaker/director) email, I have welcomed her into my life with Ankylosing Spondylitis and hidden nothing from view.

I am heartened by Victoria’s passion, curiosity, and talent in videography and visual storytelling. I am humbled by her desire to make this more than a film. She has poured heart and soul into this and I have witnessed her feel deeply and dream big as she has jumped into the deep end with us three professional, chronic survivors.

What I didn’t realize, even when I told all of you that I was in the film, was how big of an impact it would have in the chronic disease community even before the movie itself was ever finished! Becoming Incurable has become much more than a film; it has become a platform empowering people to share their own stories and lives with incurable diseases, largely thanks to the passion and drive of director/filmmaker Victoria.

Becoming Incurable Banner Image
Voices of the Chronically Incurable

Becoming Incurable, which is scheduled for release in 2019, has already been telling short stories of people living with chronic diseases in the USA and abroad in “Inside Incurable Lives” video episodes and audio-digital magazine issues (find the latest issues on Facebook or the film’s website).

Continue reading Becoming Incurable | Help Make This Chronic Disease Documentary a Reality →

ankylosing spondylitis, chronic disease

I Will Never Graduate from Treatment

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​Many months ago during a routine drug treatment I heard a happy commotion and looked up to see balloons entering a private room across the infusion center. Noticing my curiosity, the nurse checking my vitals offered, “Last day of chemo.”

My lips curled upward into a celebratory smile, but it was interrupted as a different feeling suddenly took my breath away.

“Oh,” I breathed in sharply, “I’ll never get balloons.”

I was crushed.

The nurse asked, “What are you receiving infusions for?”

“Ankylosing Spondylitis,” I ventured, waiting to see if I would need to explain the disease to her.

“Oh, yes,” she replied, “I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. Perhaps we can bring you balloons for your next infusion?”

Someone walking by offered me a cupcake. I shook my head, no. Continue reading I Will Never Graduate from Treatment →

Advocacy, ankylosing spondylitis, chronic disease, chronic pain, Grief, Invisible disease, Relationships, sickness, spondylitis, spondyloarthritis

Your Friend Just Got Diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis. What the Heck?

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First of all, what is Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS)?

Wait, how do you even pronounce it?

Ankylosing Spondylitis (An-kee-low-sing Spon-dih-ly-tuss) is a disease that causes inflammation throughout the body, especially in the spine and low back, and can cause bone spurs to fuse joints together, typically in the spine. As you can imagine, extra bone growing in your body that’s not supposed to be there can be quite painful. Additionally, since AS is systemic it can also damage organs including the eyes, liver, lungs, and more.

AS is generally treated by a specialist doctor called a rheumatologist. The clinical treatment recommended to slow down the progression of AS, as stated in the 2015 AS treatment guidelines published by the American College of Rheumatology, is a biologic drug if non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs fail (my understanding is that a combination of therapies is common, both pharmacological and complementary). A biologic is a specialty drug made from living cells (biologically, rather than chemically) that, in short, suppresses the immune system. In ankylosing spondylitis, the body constantly attacks itself, seemingly without a real danger present, which causes inflammation and damage. The biologic drugs slow that reaction but in doing so also decrease the body’s ability to fight infection. You can read more about how autoimmune vs auto-inflammatory diseases work here (hint: AS isn’t proven to be autoimmune).

So now that you know a teeny bit more about AS imagine you are the one who was just diagnosed with it.

Scary, huh?

Congratulations are in order simply because you are reading this blog post. It’s difficult to believe, but I often hear from people whose family and friends shun them for “faking being sick.” These same family and friends often don’t make an effort to learn what their loved one is actually experiencing. So thank goodness you believe your friend and want to learn more.

Continue reading Your Friend Just Got Diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis. What the Heck? →