Living

For anyone, dating can be scary — putting yourself out there, being vulnerable, and hoping that the other person accepts you. Having a chronic illness adds another dimension to that...

Starting school while living with the often-times debilitating symptoms of AS can be nerve-wracking. About six months ago I began my first semester of journalism, and despite how ready I...

At the beginning of the holiday season, I was struggling through the start of a flare up. I knew that the holidays had been very difficult in the past and...

Something that I’m sure is common with many of us ASers is that we aren’t happy with our bodies. It’s reasonable…I mean, our bodies do actively work against us every...

Keegan, my husband with AS, always has loved being outside. When I first met Keegan, I was surprised at the 30-minute ride in the hills of southeastern Ohio resulting in...

When I was first diagnosis with nr-AxSpA, I was relieved. I finally knew what was “wrong” with me. There was an actual diagnosis to learn about. I had a ton...

I think this topic is something that people with AS struggle with. I know I do, so I wanted to write about it in case anyone else was too. Are...

Most of the pain I feel these days--well, for the past two decades--is chronic pain related to AxSpA. As I’ve previously mentioned, pain is difficult to describe and I struggle...

Being in nearly constant pain is a very difficult concept for anyone to come to terms with. It can feel so isolating, and can really disrupt your life, and at...

Costochondritis is a condition that causes pain in the chest area. It usually happens when the cartilage around your ribs gets inflamed and swollen. Your rib cage is made up...

I can tell you 10,000 ways AS has limited me, annoyed me, pained me, frustrated me, and made me feel just awful. I know you can, too. In fact, I...

Read part 1 here (where I go over how city life affects me, and how it's affected others). In this part, I'll go over what people go through when they...

I thoroughly enjoy hiking--it’s one of my favorite weekend and after-work activities. Hiking means my joints get some much-needed movement, my body some low-impact exercise, and my mind a bit...

With the start of the new year, plenty of us are thinking about or attempting to tackle resolutions. Perhaps after the long haul that was 2020, we want to be...

I feel like more often than not, our loved ones don’t tend to understand our illnesses. It might take conversation and time for some, but for others, it may never...

I’ve been thinking a lot about accessibility and disability as I work on my third non-fiction book, City Witches. The book is an exploration of how we can embrace the...

I went into my first rheumatology appointment of the year last week with one thought on my mind: I think I might need to go on biologics again. I'll be...

At the beginning of December, I had adjusted my biologic in the hope to have some relief for the increasing AxSpA symptoms I was experiencing after a brief period of...

January 2021 marks one year since my diagnosis of non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis, or my first AxSpAversary if you will. I can confidently say between a pandemic and a newly diagnosed...

Ha, I did it.  I purchased a pair of walking poles. Specifically, these walking poles. I am delighted to have them. So this is what happened. A buddy of mine and a fellow...