It’s hard to believe that at 35 weeks of pregnancy, I’m just getting around to writing about the second trimester. But such is life. Although the first trimester seemed to drag on, the second trimester seemed to fly by. While the nausea of the first trimester thankfully retreated around week 14, the fatigue remained. I did get a few weeks of reprieve, but I didn’t take nearly enough advantage of ..read more

This post is long overdue. Blame it on pregnancy, I guess. Way back in June, I virtually attended the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) Congress. This was the first big conference I attended virtually and it was a lot to take in. Normally, when you attend in-person, you have to really pick and choose because you can only attend one session at a time. But because of time ..read more

The first trimester is tough. No one tells you how hard it's going to be. While I’m lucky that lupus and RA have been quiet, the nausea and fatigue have been a lot. RA fatigue has nothing on pregnancy fatigue, in my opinion. And I keep telling my husband that while this whole pregnancy thing is harder than I expected it would be, I’m grateful, endlessly grateful. There were certainly times when I ..read more

Well, that’s the big announcement. My husband and I are expecting. We’re so, so grateful. There was a large part of my 20s where I couldn’t even get a doctor to entertain what it would look like for me to get pregnant. And now, at 35, here I am and here we are. I’ll have more to say in a post devoted to the first trimester, including when and how we found out, etc ..read more

This is a visual representation of my story that was created for me by Rebeka Ryvola as a participant in Convening The Center.It has been 13 years since I traveled from the kingdom of the well to the kingdom of the sick. And 13 years since I began to mourn the loss of my previous life. Unsurprisingly, much has happened in that time. Aside from adding diagnoses and oft changing medication ..read more

As I explained in a previous post, My Job, Not My Illnesses, Got Me A COVID-19 Vaccine. And my getting the vaccine only solved half my problem. The other half of the problem is that my husband, who is unable to work remotely, and works in a very public-facing occupation, had yet to be vaccinated as of the end of March. My husband has asthma and high blood pressure. While he’s 37, he’s definitely ..read more

For those of us who live with illness, the pandemic has brought into relief for many what some of us recognize is a daily slog of inequality and missed opportunities. There have been many lessons that I’ve learned over the past year, and I’ll have another post about that. But the major issue right now, is getting vaccinated. And I’ve been vaccinated, not because of my illnesses, but because of my ..read more

I am feeling triggered. Eight years after I graduated with a PhD from the University of Michigan, they are finally, finally starting to address the issue of graduate students with disabilities. While I was a student, I became vocal about experiences I, along with others, had as a result of identifying as a student with a chronic illness or disability. I’ve linked the report, “Executive Summary ..read more

First off, a Trigger warning. If you don’t want to read about vaccinations or see a picture of me getting one, then please skip this post. I hemmed and hawed about getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Not so much because of the vaccine itself, but because I work in healthcare and was able to get it fairly early on. But I couldn’t help feel like there might be people needing it more than me. I didn’t ..read more

Oh what a year it has been. I plan to spend some time in the new year reflecting on COVID and everything the pandemic has taught me. But for now, wishing you and yours a healthy and happy holiday season and a better 2021 for us all. From my little family to yours ..read more