Autoimmune Illness
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Taking Great Pains
There is the kind of pain that takes your breath away but then mercilessly leaves you alone after a short while. An electric jolt when you stub your toe in the middle of the night. The surprising sharpness of a paper cut. The sting of fumes when you chop onions. And then there’s the pain… Continue reading
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Phoenix Rising
For N.G., thank you for reminding me that I have wings. I am not the me I was before all this began. The grieving process, for the me that used to be, has been punishing. It’s like attending your own funeral even though you are still alive. At the beginning, I felt completely broken. Like… Continue reading
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Riding the Tides
Three days after I started taking prednisolone (30mg), I got sick. Really sick. A nasty cold that completely took away my taste and smell. No fever, no chills. Just coughing, phlegm, and a nose that filled the thickest tissue with one blow. After two weeks on prednisolone, I was talked into getting four vaccines, all… Continue reading
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Finding My Own Way to a Correct Diagnosis
Like most, my autoimmune journey started with a misdiagnosis. Though it begged me to advocate for myself, this was a skill that I simply did not possess and one that would take me years to hone. I accepted the original diagnosis in 2011 of active Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) with secondary Sjögren’s Syndrome and overlapping psoriatic… Continue reading
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A Blog About Being a Menopausal, Ex-Pat with Autoimmune Disease
I put off starting this blog for a long time. The idea first came to me over a year ago. Since then, it has taken many different forms inside my head: A blog about menopause. A blog about being an ex-pat. A blog about having an autoimmune disease. I had tons of ideas and would… Continue reading
All Flared Up 