fight like a girl

This is my third day of classes at University of New Mexico and I am battling lots of pain with the everyday tasks that I am faced with. Yesterday, I met one girl in my class that told me about 'ARC' which is the Accessibility Resource Center at UNM. The program can set up something similar to an IEP (or what I was use to calling it, 504 plan). I realize I did not really need this when I was at the smaller campus and my classes were much smaller. But now, I am on a much larger campus and facing having to walk way more than I'm use to. This isn't a problem but, my body feels other wise. I recently got a FitBit over Christmas and I went from under 5,000 steps to almost 13,000 per day. This is great and very healthy but, my body is not happy. I feel like I am dragging and going so slow compared to the other young adults around me. I feel like I need a cushion of time which means having to wake up much earlier and feeling my stiffness dissipate as I start to move and ge...

When I was young, only a few years into my diagnosis and still figuring out what was best for me, I eventually assumed I wouldn't end up going off to college. This assumption became more and more real for me. I remember my mom talking about someone she knew who had a daughter who didn't stick with her medicines once she left for school. I remember my mom telling me how important my medicines were for me to take and never to miss a dose. I remember learning each drug name, what it was for, and when I took it. I remember the shape of the pill and the color, I still can remember the first pill I ever had to swallow. Tomorrow, January 11th, I will be changing that assumption my young self had well into recent years. I will be going off to college. I will be living in the dorms and I will be taking fourteen credit hours. I remember in high school, my mom said "You know the Arthritis Foundation has a scholarship program. You should apply." I grew angry at the thought. I...