The Girl With Arthritis

I was lucky enough to have about a year-and-a-half-long remission from psoriatic arthritis (PsA) - and it was just as you would think - absolutely fabulous. It fell right around my senior year of high school and first semester of college, letting me spend those times like any other teenager. But it would be a lie to say PsA wasn’t still a concern during this blissful period. Click here to read the full article at Psoriatic-Arthritis.com.

I have the worst time at the eye doctors. All things about the eyes just creep me out- I can barely think about contact lenses. Unfortunately, autoimmune arthritis has a tendency to affect the eyes, especially in children. Lots of us have to do full eye exams at least once a year, if not twice or possibly more. Yay. I've had a heck of a time through the years with my eye exams. I used to have to go twice a year but after switching to a new eye doctor last year, it was determined I could go once a year. But no matter how often I go, I never get used to it. Eye drops? Those are a struggle. Want me to look into the light? Yeah, we'll see about that. And don't even talk to me about glaucoma tests. I may not like them at all, but I do have ways of getting through them. If you can't seem to keep your eye open for drops, there is a way that could make it easier. Tilt your head back onto the head of the chair, that way you can push your head into the chair and you won...

Recently one YouTube, a very well known Youtuber did a video talking about what he is most afraid of. He said that since he is an atheist, death is the scariest thing for him. Imagining nothingness for eternity scares him a lot. Many people agreed, saying that death is their fear because of it. How I see it, they probably don't actually fear death itself, they fear nothingness. Every fear we have tends to be for a bigger reason, and some of them come for bigger reasons. For example, I don't like the dark. It's not that I fear the darkness itself, it's that I fear there is danger I can't see. But that's not my 'biggest fear.' I suppose you could say fear is pain. It sounds funny from a person who's had arthritis since before they could remember but it's true. I am actually afraid of actual pain, but there is more to it. I'm afraid of what's happening to cause the pain. I'm afraid something is wrong. I'm horribly afraid of suffe...

When I tell people I go to the hospital a lot, do my own shots, and all this sort of thing regarding medicine, they say that they couldn't handle it. I know a lot of people who have a lot of fears or anxiety about needing medical treatment. Trust me, I've been there. In fact, I still have a lot of fears medical wise. Granted, not as much as I began with but, none the less, I still have fears. Whilst there are many fears and anxiety, a lot of the ones I've heard about from others seem to revolve around these five things: 1. Fear of a poor quality of life. No one wants to live in pain or be disabled. I don't think anyone would like that. 2. Fear of the unknown. It's hard to live not knowing what tomorrow will bring. Living asking 'Do I have cancer,' 'Is my liver failing as we speak,' and 'What's wrong' is very stressful and painful. I know this fear and pain personally. 3. Fear of inability to pay for treatment. Walking around feeling o...