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“I have been diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis.” That simple statement comes with extremely powerful emotions that can often feel contradictory. When my family doctor revealed that the results of a recent MRI showed evidence of ankylosing spondylitis (AS), the two main emotions I felt were relief and fear.

Last night, my husband, Dave, and I were sitting outside, drinks in hand, with a sliver of moon hanging above us in the deepening indigo sky. We both gasped and said, “Ooooh, wow,” as a shooting star flared briefly overhead, then turned back to each other to continue our chat.

“Oh, no! We forgot to burp the carrots today!” my 5-year-old son exclaimed with alarm as we waited to see the chiropractor. The appointment was a little break from our morning home-schooling routine. I looked over at him, chuckled as I saw a sticker on his forehead that read…

Last month, my son turned 5, which also means I’ve had ankylosing spondylitis (AS) symptoms for five years. As he enthusiastically blew out the candles on his candy-covered birthday cake, I had flashbacks to the time shortly after his birth when I started experiencing symptoms. Those first few years of…

It helps when someone understands what it’s like to live with ankylosing spondylitis (AS). My only sister, Angie Lole, and I live on different sides of the world (she’s in the U.S., and I’m in Australia), but we have something that links us closely: We’ve both been diagnosed…

I hopped off the chairlift, making sure to get out of its way before it swung around the corner and had a chance to knock me over on its way back down. My 8-year-old son, who had learned to ski mere hours earlier, was already waiting for me and coaxing…

My first symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) weren’t the commonly discussed sacroiliac pain, which is at the base of the spine. Instead, I was waking up in the wee hours of the night with intense burning in the middle of my spine, ribs, and shoulder blades. After 2…

As I slowly loaded packets of minced beef and frozen salmon onto the supermarket checkout conveyor belt, I heard a loud and impatient sigh from behind me. Another customer was standing close by, brows furrowed, with a partly full basket dangling from one manicured hand. I was at the tail…

When I was pregnant before I was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), I was pretty tired. Particularly at the end of my pregnancy, when I could hardly take a breath, my organs were all squished, and my body was expending its resources on growing another human being, I needed…

Confession time: I wasn’t always a big advocate for gut health. I’m a skeptical person, so I mentally categorized it with unproven alternative therapies and fad diets. I’ve always eaten pretty healthily, but I didn’t make the connection that what I ingest — even if generally considered healthy — could…