A.S. Face 2116: Darwin R. Drake SR
For years I suffered from pain in my back, hips, and knees. Every doctor always said it was my job and to find new employment and lose weight. So I “sucked it up” like the Army taught me and just kept moving forward. When I lost vision from a retinal tear I got a litany of testing done and found out I was HLA-B27 positive but nobody could tell me what that meant.
Flash forward 10 years of the pain getting worse and 2 cases of iritis per year I got a new eye doctor. He said we were going about this all wrong. He ran even more tests and told my to find a rheumy that specializes in autoimmune and get with a gastroenterologist because he knows there is a problem there.
Sure enough, go through all the testing, scoping, scanning and my new rheumy hits me with this crazy sounding illness I’ve never heard of.
Suddenly everything I had ever complained about was summed up in two words: Ankylosing Spondylitis!
Now that my issues have a cause and a name, I can fight it. I can find the people who have it for support and understanding and guidance.
Is life better or easier now? No, of course not. But at least I am on a path rather than wandering aimlessly. I take a biologic, altered my diet, and focus on improving my way of life that will enable me to live WITH A.S., not suffer from it.
My new mantra is:
A.S. can kiss my A-S-S!
Darwin R. Drake SR
Arizona, United States of America
For years I suffered from pain in my back, hips, and knees. Every doctor always said it was my job and to find new employment and lose weight. So I “sucked it up” like the Army taught me and just kept moving forward. When I lost vision from a retinal tear I got a litany of testing done and found out I was HLA-B27 positive but nobody could tell me what that meant.
Flash forward 10 years of the pain getting worse and 2 cases of iritis per year I got a new eye doctor. He said we were going about this all wrong. He ran even more tests and told my to find a rheumy that specializes in autoimmune and get with a gastroenterologist because he knows there is a problem there.
Sure enough, go through all the testing, scoping, scanning and my new rheumy hits me with this crazy sounding illness I’ve never heard of.
Suddenly everything I had ever complained about was summed up in two words: Ankylosing Spondylitis!
Now that my issues have a cause and a name, I can fight it. I can find the people who have it for support and understanding and guidance.
Is life better or easier now? No, of course not. But at least I am on a path rather than wandering aimlessly. I take a biologic, altered my diet, and focus on improving my way of life that will enable me to live WITH A.S., not suffer from it.
My new mantra is:
A.S. can kiss my A-S-S!
Darwin R. Drake SR
Arizona, United States of America
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