Have you ever seen the training videos for retail workers about the dangers of repetitive motion injuries? They came to mind the other day after a recent experience switching medications to treat my ankylosing spondylitis.

Managing ankylosing spondylitis – or any chronic disease – is like the momentum of a repetitive motion injury, but worse. Chronic diseases come with a slightly different package. With enough rest and care, a repetitive motion injury can heal and go away, but chronic (read: always there) diseases have no cure.

For example:

To get a new specialty prescription I must call my doctor, health insurance company, drug manufacturing company, and pharmacy multiple times over several days (or weeks) to finally get the medication in hand. Often guesswork determines who to call next because as a patient I don’t know where the process has stalled. It feels a bit ironic for me to be the last to know. I hear things like this on the phone: Continue reading Why Sick People Neglect Their Healthcare →