A.S. Face 0088: Julie Saunders

A.S. Face 0088: Julie Saunders

My name is Julie Saunders and I have AS.  I am 48years old. As a child I knew my back was not like others.  I could not do gymnastics and bend like the other kids, even though I tried.  I noticed as a teenager laying on my stomach would really hurt.  When I would get up my back would lock up and it was very painful before it would subside.  I had a doctor look at my back and told me I had scoliosis.  Around 14 years old, my friends and I would walk around our neighborhood.  Three times that summer my back would lock up in severe pain.  I would drop to the ground.  I wanted to go to the ER; however, my parents did not realize it was so bad.  I later found out I had inflamation of the spinal cord.  I always had back problems through the years.  In my late twenties and thirties I had colon problems.  They thought I had ulcerative colitis.  About every 5-10 years I would have different problems that seemed severe, eyes, colon, spasms,stomach, bladder, ect.   I started having knee  and elbow pain in my late 30′s.  My orthopedic Doctor sent me to a Rhuematologist.  After blood work and MRI’s  and a couple of years, she thought I had AS.  I am now on Remicade, sulfazine and celebrex.  At times I feel like they don’t work until I miss a dose or right before my infusion.  I can tell it makes a difference.  I have hope they will find a cure for AS.
Birmingham, Alabama United States of America