• Chronic Illness,  Invisible Illness,  Rheumatoid Arthritis

    My Invisible Illness Photo Shoot

    Introduction People often remark that those of us with invisible illnesses “don’t look sick.” However, we deal with substantial physical and emotional challenges. To shed light on the often hidden side of living with chronic illness, I completed an “Invisible Illness Photo Shoot” with dear friend and phenomenal photographer Jessica Keener Photography. Goals of the photo shoot 1. To illustrate that you cannot tell what someone is going through just by looking at them. I hope that these photos help people remember to “be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle” (Ian MacLaren). 2. To help those who have similar invisible challenges not feel alone. I have benefited from…

  • Chronic Illness,  Invisible Illness,  Rheumatoid Arthritis

    To my Chronic Illness Medical Team…

    It was very therapeutic for me to write a guest blog post for CreakyJoints, a patient advocacy and education site that focuses on arthritis and related conditions. To my chronic illness medical team is my love letter to the often unsung heroes in the medical profession: providers who care for patients like me who have chronic, complex, invisible illnesses. I am so fortunate to have had dozens of compassionate, caring providers during my 16 years with rheumatoid arthritis. I hope to inspire other providers to go into some of the less popular specialties such as pediatric rheumatology, where there are currently some shortages nation-wide. You won’t have the most straightforward patients,…