Welcome To My New Life Fighting A Disease I've Never Heard Of Before....... Ankylosing Spondylitis

  Last night my hip was throbbing with pain. Another hallmark pain of the Ankylosing Spondylitis disease I live with daily. I took my nighttime medications and as I lay in bed awaiting relief, I thought about contentment. What is contentment to me personally?   I thought about all the materialistic items I own. My home, car, land, and sentimental possessions all passed through my thoughts. Then I thought about my early childhood years. I remembered all those loved ones who have passed on and what an impact they made in my life. I truly have been blessed with some wonderful people through the years. That leads me to the friends and family I have today. I know if I was in need, they would drop everything and rush to my side. That is a priceless treasure. I would consider myself rich to have such people as my support system.   As I continue thinking, I hear my oldest son's laughter in the living room. He has always had an infectious laughter. I smile to myself. My childr...

  Frustration.... such a little word but it carries so much meaning. Frustration, it is what I've felt for the past week, dealing with medical insurance renewal. Yes, it's that time of year again, choose a plan. If only it was that simple.    Having a rheumatic autoimmune disease, Ankylosing Spondylitis, entails many doctors and many medicines. Therefore, I need an insurance plan that covers a majority of what or whom I need to fight this disease. It is no easy feat to find the "perfect" plan. There actually are no perfect plans available to me.   I resort to finding the insurance plan that covers the specialty drugs I need. Luckily, that plan also has my primary general physician, my neurologist, and my opthamologist included as in-network doctors. The only doctor it lacks is my rheumatologist. Oh, and it also lacks coverage for the folic acid I need to take daily to combat the side effects of the chemotherapy drug. The chemo drug makes my hair fall out, unless ...

  Yesterday I got a call no one wants to receive. I picked up my ringing phone at 2:05 pm. I heard my husband's voice on the other end of the line. He sounded a bit different. I immediately knew something was wrong. That's when I heard the terrifying words, I've been in a wreck. My stomach dropped and my heart began pounding. My first response was "are you ok?". My husband said, he thought he was okay. He said a truck reversed in the road, because apparently it missed a driveway. My husband had stopped in the road waiting for the truck to proceed. Next thing my husband knew the truck backed right into the front of our Mitsubishi Galant.    I knew my husband was okay and talking to me, waiting for the police to arrive. I should have been relieved but I began shaking severely. I sometimes experience this shakiness with no onset occurrence. I wanted to go to my husband but I could barely walk due to the shaking. I definitely didn't think I should drive. Luckily...