Articles

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with AnkylosingSpondylitis.net contributor Jed Finley for the podcast Living With, which explores what it's like to live with a chronic condition. In this...

Steff: I had never heard of AS or anything other than just “arthritis” before I was diagnosed. After I was diagnosed, my rheumatologist gave me a pamphlet about AS, and...

I don’t know about you, but the holidays exhaust me. I don’t even have a big family. We see my dad’s side for Christmas Eve, and then it’s just us...

As this community and our sister communities grow, one universal truth is clear: people are more than just their diagnoses. As 2019 comes to a close and a new year...

The year 2019 is done for (thank god) and a new decade is upon us. I usually don’t get super excited for the new year, but 2019 was one of...

I can't be the only one jealous that bears get to spend most of the holidays hibernating in caves. They go sauntering into their caves, easy as they please to nap...

I love Christmas. I love everything about it. The joy, the social gatherings, the music (come at me, Michael Buble!), the food, the movies. But it is madness. From panic...

Do you ever feel jealous that bears get to hibernate through the holidays? They go sauntering into their caves, easy as they please to nap through the lousy weather, shopping...

Having a chronic illness like ankylosing spondylitis takes its toll on us physically, but it also takes a huge toll on us mentally, too. It’s no secret that a lot...

I’m sure most of us have at least one (or more) family member that just doesn’t quite get what we go through. No matter how many times we try to...

Have you ever seen a high drama press conference? They tend to follow a formula. Something big happened and we know that lots of uncomfortable and repetitive questions are about to fly...

I'm not sure if you know this, dear reader, but my background is in poetry! I got a Master's degree in writing (yes, I do have regrets), I've published several...

Growing up, I had heard of others in my family being diagnosed with serious and life-changing illnesses, but they were older. That's when life deals that card to us. It's...

Lately, I’ve been experiencing an SI joint flare-up. I’ve had the fatigue, the difficulty moving around, the all-over pain, and just about everything else. I started to wonder what other...

Medical appointments seem simple enough: just book, show up, be seen, and follow up, right? Wrong! For many of us, patient care may as well be happening on the dark...

Keegan knows when a storm is coming, and often more accurately than what my iPhone weather app tells me. Changes in the weather, particularly large shift in temperature, pressure, and/or...

The summer of 2019 was the most stressful time of my life. I put The Dude (my elderly uncle and Ward) on hospice, sold his house on an emergency basis...

If you read my article “The River Denial” (all about the difficulty of asking for and accepting accommodations) you read that I was planning on taking my wheelchair to the...

If you don’t deal with chronic pain or illness, you’re probably wondering what it’s actually like to experience a flare-up. Lucky for you, I’ve been through enough for a lifetime...

I'm writing this article to air a frustration I have with something a lot of us with AS have to deal with. I feel like I’m constantly fighting for myself...