The Girl With Arthritis

Over tired. Over stressed. Over busy. Is it being young that keeps us over everything, or is it simply life with a chronic illness? I have yet to know the answer. It seems that whenever the world gets busy, all symptoms increase. And when there's one thing going on, there's a hundred things going on. And when there's a hundred things going on, you have no time to rest. It's a vicious cycle. Sometimes I have to tell myself over and over again that I am not lazy because I want to lie down and go on Facebook when I get a free moment. The rest is so necessary to a person with a chronic illness, and it's not just a half hour you need. It can take a few hours to get the rest necessary. Don't feel guilt for the need to rest during the day: You are very strong and deserve it. You deserve to be able to take care of yourself the best way you know how to. That means relaxing when you need it. When things get busy, it's even more important to get this rest. Put yourse...

Whether you call it the flu jab, flu shot, or influenza vaccination, there is one thing I know for certain: I've been hearing about it nonstop sine December. We're now ending January and the peak of flu season. It is said to be extremely important for people with chronic illnesses and weakened immune systems to receive the flu vaccine. For obvious reasons, flu can send one into horrible flares or become very serious in individuals with such health concerns. But still, no one really wants that jab. Including me. Yep, me. I hate getting the flu vaccine. The person who doesn't flinch at getting eight tubes of blood taken or giving herself a shot twice a week is afraid of a little flu shot. I admit it: I haven't gotten it this year. I wasn't raised getting vaccinated yearly and it's still a foreign idea to me. Not only that, but I haven't been well the last few weeks. I've gotten sick several times since November and it tends to last a few weeks. I'm j...

I'm a very sensitive person. Though I can be quite sensitive emotionally, I mean this in the physical sense. Be it temperature or touch, it can be very intense. I've never really liked being touched because it can be quite painful, especially regarding my back. I can recall the favourite game among friends at age eleven being to poke me in the back when I least expected it: They liked to watch me jump. It was a cruel game, but children can be cruel. However, when I was about thirteen I had a cruel teacher. I wasn't a huge fan of her to begin with, I thought she was a bit loud and too free to share her personal opinions. That and I thought she was an idiot, but that's a story for another time. Having been so young, my teachers were told about my juvenile arthritis and all that fun stuff. Unfortunately for me, this teacher couldn't hear over her own thoughts. I think I had even brought it up with this teacher, trying to help her remember when she made us do experime...

"I hate chronic fatigue so much. It's so hard to handle and work through." "I get tired sometimes too." I wish it was just feeling tired. I can deal with that. A twenty minute nap can help. A cup of coffee can help. But chronic fatige just doesn't. It hang around like a little black rain cloud. Sometimes it's little and seems to disappear. Other times you're trapped and can't get away. And if the physical side effects weren't so bad, sometimes people just assume you're really lazy. I hate that. So much. Sometimes I think the worst part of having psoriatic arthritis is that even if I'm not too sore or stiff to do something, I have too much fatigue to do it. Things suffer when you can't get up and do things. Work. School. Friends. Family. But most importantly, you. The Spoon Theory is a way of explaining chronic illness and fatigue to someone, and it's the best way I know how to explain it. I highly recommend reading ...

Hello! Today I really want to share this short film. I found it a few months ago but was only uploaded to the creator's YouTube channel recently, so I thought it would be the perfect time to share. I've loved this video and watched it probably a hundred times. I really hope you can spare the time to enjoy it. "Flawed" is the true story of a woman who falls in love with a plastic surgeon, and must confront the idea of feeling flawed. I could relate to the message of her story completely. I think a lot of people can. Check out other works of Andrea Dorfman on her YouTube channel as well if you can: She does fantastic work and I highly recommend them! Click here to see the video through YouTube. Or use this link: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc5bSu1QMrE .

Mental health. Some may argue that your physical health is most important, and as important as it may be I think mental health is just as important. I would rather lose my physical health but still have a healthy mind. Our mental and emotional health are very connected to physical health, and it's time we gave them such importance. So why do we degrade such things? I've heard so many rude comments regarding diseases of the mind. Not comments meant to be funny, but outright rude. With that I've found a lot of ignorance. It's not right. I don't even want to get into the comments because this is not what it's about. This is about people shutting out one another. Everyone knows what's going on in their heads, or at least have an idea. Then, to hear so many people scoff at serious emotions and diseases is distressing. It can make a person suffering feel ashamed, and cause them to hide and suffer even more. Why are we so ashamed of needing help with our mental...

I'm a graphic design student. More or less, I study art. It's not an easy thing to study: There are sleepless nights working, sacrifices made and -of course- many, many tears shed. You put so much effort and work into what you do that if it were between you or your piece being hit by a bus, you would throw yourself into it. It's extremely hard, but it is very well worth it in the end. I've always had an interest in medicine. Since the age of three I said I was going to be a doctor when I grew up. That's obviously changed. But I still really like medicine, despite the fact that sometimes I feel like I live in a medical drama gone wrong. I do a lot of reading on the subject and watch a lot of reality documentaries about doctors, nurses and patients (international and otherwise). I am often able to understand 'doctor talk' and I think it's interesting. A lot of people have asked me why I don't study medicine if I'm so interested in it and keep a...