How I Celebrate Spondyloarthritis Month

Spondyloarthritis month began this month, and although I live with it all year long, it’s kind of nice to have a whole month dedicated to our illness, isn’t it?

The struggles of living with spondyloarthritis

All people with spondyloarthritis have different struggles. We live with this disease every single day of our lives, and some days it really doesn’t feel like something worth celebrating.

For instance, I deal with a great amount of fatigue. The fatigue overtakes the pain for me, which in some cases I do feel lucky for, but most of the time I would rather the pain. At least I would be able to stay awake, but at what cost? I guess.

My fatigue keeps me from doing a lot of things. I had to give up attempting to shower because it was just too hard for me to keep up with, so now I take baths and wash my hair in the laundry room sink.

I got a walker because I need stability on days where my entire body feels weak and it’s hard to walk. Sometimes I also use a cane on days where the fatigue isn’t bad enough for a walker, but I still need something to keep me going.

My pain isn’t as bad. Yes, I get lower back, pelvis, and knee pain. Some days are obviously worse than others, but at least when I’m in pain (and not flaring), I can get out of bed and attempt to do things without needing to nap midday.

Why should we celebrate our pain and fatigue?

So, why celebrate this awful disease that changes our lives forever? Because we deserve something to celebrate.

We live with and suffer from pain that people can’t imagine. We go through things on a daily basis that would cause a “normal” person to break down.

Spondyloarthritis patients are WARRIORS and we show our strength every single second of every single day. Don’t we deserve to celebrate ourselves? I think so!

How I will celebrate spondyloarthritis month

For spondyloarthritis month, I’m going to make sure that I take time out of every day in May to sit down and appreciate all that I do for myself. Whether that be just resting, stretching, eating healthy, going for walks, anything.

I’m also going to remember the harder times, the times where the pain was so bad it kept me up at night. The times I’ve cried because the pain was just unbearable. The time I struggled the most. Why? Because those are the times I showed my strength, and the times I got through even though I thought I never would.

Maybe I’ll make a cake, maybe I’ll get dressed up on May 8th, World AS Day, and make myself feel good. I could treat myself to some fast food or a restaurant meal (at home).

I want to do whatever will make me feel good about having this lifelong illness at such a young age. Whatever will make me smile and realize that I deserve some good in my life too. And you too as well.