THE TAPC
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As I sat waiting for my most recent medical tests, my anxiety amped up. I was required to fast and wasn’t even allowed to drink water in preparation. And of course, I needed to get an IV.  When I was younger, I wasn’t bothered by needles, bloodwork, or IVs. But as my medical care for Vasculitis and Crohn’s has required more interventions over the years, my veins have also become more scarred. Previously, this has meant multiple “attempts” since my veins are tricky to get on a

Life has a way of testing us in ways we never imagined. For me, that test came in the form of a chronic, invisible illness called...

Being chronically ill has many challenges. There's the obvious part of it, where you feel exhausted and drained, living in a body that...

Receiving the Take a Pain Check STEM Without Limits Scholarship has reminded me of just how far I’ve come, not just as a student or...

This morning, I realized something I've never contemplated before—probably because I've never had a reason to. I'm not an athlete, so the...

The mental health struggles of arthritis

Unlike most people with both fibromyalgia and arthritis, my fibromyalgia was diagnosed several years before my arthritis. I was diagnosed...

When I was 11, I got a diagnosis that changed my life: juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). But let’s be real, my body had been throwing...

‘What do you mean? Kids don’t get arthritis–’ I remember a mother saying, as she recounted another parents’ comments during a school...

For a long time, I carried my suffering as a personal burden, convinced it only affected me. But as I grew older and took a step back, I...

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve wanted to be a lawyer. When I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at 18 years old, I wondered if...

There is never a time I feel more frustrated or trapped by my chronic illness, than during the holidays. Lupus does not take a vacation....