“Write about something ordinary that’s inspiring to you, something simple, perhaps overlooked, that fuels your activism.”
First, allow me to give you some reading music:
I would be lying if I didn’t say that there were a million reasons I fight for awareness and better treatments for rheumatic diseases. To me, every single motivating factor is simple and overlooked but perhaps not quite that ordinary.
Before I starting blogging, I thought I was nearly alone in my suffering. I didn’t know the stats but I knew no one outside of my family that had any kind of juvenile arthritis. It wasn’t until high school that I met someone else (also named Kirsten!) who had it growing up and her disease was in remission. In college, I didn’t know anyone with any rheumatic disease save a coworker at a department store. Many of you know I began blogging because I couldn’t discuss my issues with my now-fiance due to anxiety and rejection issues. But then I started hearing from others with this and other rheumatic diseases. Now I know so many families affected with Still’s and other autoimmune arthritis types, be it an adult in the family or a child.
So what motivates me?
- The face I get when I talk about having an arthritic disease if I’m not able to use a large description to really explain what happens
- Waking up to see this sign every single morning
- Idiot articles and show bits in the mainstream media, like Dr. Oz and that recent ‘cured’ child
- Kids and other adults living with this and other rheumatic diseases, no matter their severity or disease status
- People that have lost the battle with this and other rheumatic diseases
- Laura’s dedication and mission was conatgious more than she ever knew
- My fiance’s dedication, encouragement, and support
- Watching my sister battle this disease with incredible strength
- My baby niece – chances are she won’t end up with this or another form of JA, but in case I will fight to get as close to a cure as we can before she even gets sick
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| Me and Mia |
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| Brooke |
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| Laura, I miss you so |
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| Me and the fiance |
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| My sister and my niece Missy |
I love you all. I may not even know you, but you’ve clearly come here because you or someone you know is fighting this or another rheumatic disease. It is a tough road to go down, but trust me things will get better. And if they’re bad right now, scroll back up and look at my baby niece!
My Humira hasn't been working as well lately. I miss the days when the Humira was working fairly well and I had minimal pain. I haven't been "pain-free" in a few years, but, pain level of a 2 or 3 feels amazing after pain levels of 7 or 8 (or higher). It's a reminder that even when you feel "better", your body is still sick. So, I keep going on and telling everyone I can what it's like, what it is and what we can do to help. I'll keep at it.