The Girl With Arthritis

 Ironically, for someone who shares my medical experiences online, I am a very private person in real life. There are some details about myself I'm quick to share, like being a crochet enthusiast! But there are several things I keep private, one of them being that I have psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Click here to read the full article at Psoriatic-Arthritis.com.

 I have been told I'm a patient person when it comes to dealing with other people. I especially received a lot of compliments on my patience when I was in college and worked as a tutor and as a teacher's assistant. I loved working with students, appreciating their effort and dedication to learning, even when it was hard or took awhile. Why, oh why, isn't it easy to be patient with myself? I can acknowledge that I have psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and should be patient with myself, especially during flares. But I also have a life and responsibilities to care for, and I can't just wait around for better days. Click here to read the full article at Psoriatic-Arthritis.com.

Please don't judge me based on my good days. Looks can be deceiving for someone with a chronic illness. What looks like a good day might actually be a good day. Or it might be a good few hours. Or it could be someone doing their best to function through the pain. You don't honestly know what someone is going through, especially when they have lived with the pain for a long time. You'd be surprised how much pain people can learn to smile through. Click here to read the full article at Psoriatic-Arthritis.com.

Being diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis at any age is rough, but it can be especially challenging in childhood and young adulthood. No one sees the struggle and pain: they see a young face and assume you have the energy and strength of any young person. While I do sometimes appreciate being able to hide my illness, there are lots of times I wish others could see I was struggling. Click here to read the full article at Psoriatic-Arthritis.com.

   Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) affects every part of your life, even in subtle ways – including your friendships. After living with PsA since childhood, I assumed I knew everything there was to know about navigating friendships with arthritis. But after graduating from college and entering “the real world,” I was in for a huge shock. As it turns out, maintaining adult friendships is much more work than I anticipated. View the full article at HealthGrades.com .

  When I started my first full-time job after graduating college, I was surprised at the toll my 9-to-5 took on my body. I thought I would choose a desk job and that would be it. I was wrong! The long hours, repetitive movements, and even the commute ran me ragged. In my first few months of working, life was an endless cycle of work, sleep, repeat. Fatigue and burning pain from PsA made it impossible to do much else. Over the years, I had to learn ways to make my office job easier on my body. It took a lot of trial and error, but eventually, I figured out what worked. View the full article at HealthGrades.com .

     A month ago, I remember putting my hand over my heart; I could feel it racing, pounding, and skipping beats. It was worn and tired, and so was I. The weeks leading up to that moment were brutal. For six weeks, I was lucky to get four hours of sleep most nights, and all my waking hours were spent stressed and working intensely for finals. Most days, I didn’t really talk to anyone and I skipped meals to accommodate more working hours. Ultimately, I was running myself into the ground. And I didn’t care.      But then came that moment, when I realized my heart was struggling from the stress. A long night in the emergency room made me stop working for the first time since March, and forced me to be still and reflect on my actions. I stared at the monitor that showed a heart that was trying so hard to slow down, and I thought about how cruel I’ve been to it.      It’s been an extremely hard year. I would love to sugar coat that statem...

Where have I been? Right here! I've never left, I've just been less active. I haven't participated in social media nearly as much or even written comments on some of my favourite blogs. If you emailed me, I still responded like usual. But I'm not up for communication at the moment. I haven't for a long time. I'm not tired of all the lovely people on and off the internet. In fact, I miss them a lot. I just haven't felt up to writing. I haven't even been texting with my best friends as often. Even to type is tiring and all I want to do is lie down and stare at the screen. But this isn't even bringing my energy back. I force myself to take a long walk at least once a week (but usually more) but it hasn't helped (nor made it worse so I continue to get out for a minute). I really enjoy being out too, I wander through stores and bring home coffee for my mum and I. But afterward, I need to relax and I end up lying down for the rest of the day and so...

Updated October 2022 Lately, I've spent a lot of time reading articles online. One of my favourite places is All Women Stalk: I like the beauty and hair advice, and I really like the name. Last night I was on All Women Stalk and one article was very interesting to me: 7 Skin Problems That Are So Easy to Treat. I expected this article would talk about things like dry skin, but I was proved very wrong. One of the problems that are so easy to treat is psoriasis. Psoriasis?! Easy to treat?! Over my dead body it's easy to treat. The article states that the number six easiest skin problem to treat is psoriasis. This is what the website says: "You might not realize how common psoriasis is. In fact, it’s one of the most common skin conditions that affect adults. It produces red, scaly, dry patches of skin and can appear most anywhere on the body. There are several types of psoriasis, and some require nothing more than taking a prescription pill. As long as you remember to t...

Whenever I'm introduced to a new doctor or present doctors with new, odd symptoms, my mum likes to tell them "she's going to give you a run for your money." That's completely accurate. Most times, doctors can't figure out what's wrong with me- at least, not for the first two visits. I think the only time I ever got a diagnosis in one doctors appointment was for a classic case of bronchitis (that I walked around with for a month or so because I just didn't want to see another doctor). And I know I'm not alone in that either. Lots of people I know walk around for years not knowing what's wrong with them. I went about a decade. I know a lot of GPs are not able or don't know how to properly treat many autoimmune and other chronic illnesses, but I can't understand why patients aren't refered to specialists faster. It's cruel to make someone suffer and ignore it. I also hate when specialists dismiss patients quickly. Maybe it's ...

I find it funny how adults preach to children that they should treat those with disabilities no differently from others, however adults tend to do the opposite. When I tell my peers about being chronically ill, I don't usually get treated differently after. It does happen, and sometimes it's with extra consideration. It's really nice. Adults, on the other hand, usually treat me differently from others. Occasionally it's just to make sure I'm doing okay, which is always appreciated. Other times it's as if they don't believe me. But more often than not, it's just different from other kids. Adults are often surprised I lead a more normal life than they expect. I would like to set the record straight: People with chronic illnesses are normal people.  I'm not a hypochondriac. I'm not a saint. I'm not looking for attention. I'm a teenager with a chronic illness. I'm a girl who loves her friends. I think homework is the bane of exis...

 "Do you fight this disease or do you live with it?" I was recently presented with this question. And to be quite honest, I gave no answer. I had to think about it for a while before I could answer it.  Chronic illnesses are very complicated by nature. When you're diagnosed with an illness that is serious and are told that there are only treatments to try to control it, it's devastating. That diagnosis can make your life flip, even if the symptoms already seemed to turn the world upside down. It can be confusing and there are even times you might not know what's really going on. But if there is anything I remember clearly from the time of my diagnosis, it was discussing treatment options that can making living with arthritis easier. There was little talk of fighting, so to speak. I think a lot of the time we use the terms "living with," "deal with" or "try to control" to describe what treatment for chronic illnesses are ...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I certainly did. I've had the pleasure of being surrounded by family for the past few days. Although sarcastic by nature, I don't mean it sarcastically: it was actually nice to see my family again. Mostly.    There was one event in particular that stands bright in my memory. It was towards the end of the night and only a few were left. My younger cousins were playing nicely when the inevitable happened- a crash and some crying. An object that wouldn't be heavy to an adult but very heavy to a very petite eight year old fell on said child's foot. Even though we're still questioning if it really "just fell" or "if he threw it at me," one thing I can't question is that the child was really hurting. What I thought was interesting was the reactions of three people. The first person had a wonderful time with the child, however it was quite miserable for the child. He really enjoyed jokingly telling ...