A.S. Face 1567: Jewel Baird
My name is Jewel Baird. I am 50 years old and I live in Andersonville, TN…and it has been a rough year. I think I am finally “feeling ” my age. I was diagnosed with A.S. in 2006…after a seemingly minor car accident in 2002 left me with a long list of pains and unexplained symptoms from nausea and dizziness to neck and back pain that just seemed to get worse no matter the treatment. I lost count of the doctors I saw and the times I was told that IF I was overweight. ..they would tell me to lose weight. ..until an orthopedic doctor sent me to a rheumatologist who solved the mystery in about a 10 minute conversation (verified, of course, by examination, bloodwork, and the x-rays of my SI Joints, which had shown inflammation for about 4 years). It has been a long, painful, frustrating journey. Thanks be to God I now have peace. There is also a sense of community in knowing that others are suffering from the same affliction… I guess…I know that sounds bad…and I am sorry for each person who feels this pain…but I also know that unexplainable pain tortured my brain. I thought I was going crazy. I was the 1st in my family to be diagnosed and had never heard of Ankylosing Spondylitis before 2006, although my neck had been hurting for AT LEAST 4 years before the accident. My doctor said it was my desk job. Thank goodness I finally changed doctors.
Tennessee, United States of America
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