The Lighter Side of Medicine

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February 25, 2016

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I just want to feel better.

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Growing Up

I believe that one of the most profound elements of growing up is realizing just how ridiculous the beliefs and judgements were that we held as young people. I will gladly raise my hand and say that many things that I believed, said, and thought were idiotic, embarrassing, and potentially damaging. At times it even keeps me up at night, contemplating whether or not I may have done harm to others because of things I may have said. Especially as a teenager. It is encouraging, though, to be able to look back at some of the thoughts I had when I was younger and know that I no longer believe those things; to know that I have moved on and grown up. Now with all of that said, I assume that people I went to school with have also outgrown some of their own thoughts, but I occasionally wonder about particular individuals. I was 14 when I became very ill. At that time, several people (mostly classmates and even some of their parents), kept saying that it wasn't a big ...

Over 80

I read through a little bit of research tonight regarding upcoming potential treatments for autoimmune disease. The new possible treatment still has a long way to go along the avenue of research before it is put to the test, but it could very well be a game changer for millions of people suffering from autoimmune conditions. There was one sentence in the article that had me confused. It said that it could help with the over 80 types of autoimmune disorders that millions suffer from. Are there really only about 80? I thought there were way more. Here are the autoimmune conditions that I suffer from: Crohn's Disease Chronic Pouchitis Hashimoto's Thyroiditis Psoriasis Sjögren's Phenomenon Raynaud's Phenomenon Macular Degeneration Ankylosing Spondylitis So 8 that I can think of right now. That means that I have about 10% of all autoimmune diseases out there. Seriously? That is a huge number. What the hell is wrong with my system?

Truly Invisible

We, the collective 'we' of Spoonie-dom, speak a lot about Invisible Disease; the illnesses that cannot be perceived by a cursory glance. These illnesses are umderneath the surface and often go hand in hand with the dreaded 'but you don't look sick' comments and the general distrust that comes with it. However, many of the illnesses that fall within that umbrella, especially once officially diagnosed, have some kind of specific evidence to back it up. For instance, sure you can't just notice inflamed intestines by looking at someone, but the pathology in their last colonoscopy would show inflammation or their bloodwork may show something a little off, like increased inflammatory markers. Many diseases are difficult to see but have medical science to back it up - like abnormal bloodwork, CT scans, MRIs, ultrasounds, biopsies, etc... But what about the truly invisible diseases? So far as we know, science has yet to distinguish any particular visible evidence (...

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