Author: Kristina Kelly
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How to Talk to Your Provider About Pain: 5 Tips from a Patient Advocate
Pain is difficult to live with, and getting help for it can be even harder. Here’s what I’ve learned, both from my own appointments and from years of helping other patients through their pain management. 1. Know your pain…intimately Know what sets it off. Know what calms it down. Know its patterns the way you’ve…
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Rib Pain and Autoimmune Disease: Causes You Need to Know
Three common causes of rib pain in autoimmune diseases.
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What Sjogren’s Patients Need to Know About Trichiasis
Trichiasis happens when an eyelash grows inward toward the eyeball rather than outward.
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How to Find Your “Unicorn” Healthcare Provider
The information shared in this post reflects my personal experience as a patient and board-certified patient advocate. It is not intended as medical advice and should not replace guidance from your own healthcare team. My last post about the “if I just” spiral is about the bargaining that happens when a doctor recommends treatment escalation.…
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I’m Taking the Stage at the 5th Virtual Sjögren’s Summit (And You’re Invited)
I used to work 60-plus hours a week. I ran a busy, successful marketing business. I was the person who answered emails at midnight, wrote copy on the weekends, and juggled client visits and meetings during the week. Then I got sick. And I had to figure out real quick how to slash my hours…
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The “If I Just” Spiral: How to Handle Emotions Around Treatment Escalation
The information shared in this post reflects my personal experience as a patient and board-certified patient advocate. It is not intended as medical advice and should not replace guidance from your own healthcare team. Through a thoughtful conversation with my amazing rheumatologist (they do exist!), it was decided that it was time for a biologic…
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AI in the Exam Room. Your Job as a Patient Just Got More Important
If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I talk a lot about reviewing your visit summaries. Read them. Check them for accuracy. Flag anything that doesn’t look right and reach out to your provider to correct it. This has always been important because your medical records follow you for life. And a…
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What I Learned About Getting a Colonoscopy as a Patient with Chronic Illness
The information shared in this post reflects my personal experience as a chronic illness patient and board-certified patient advocate. It is not intended as medical advice and should not replace guidance from your own healthcare team. Always consult your doctor before making any decisions about your care. As someone with Sjogren’s disease, non-radiographical axial spondyloarthritis,…
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The Energy Account Checklist: 5 Steps to Protect Your Energy
Publishing has many moving parts, and occasionally one of those parts eats a paragraph. In my case, an editing issue (aka, autoimmune brain fog) caused a portion of the “Learn to be an Energy Account” section in Chapter 3 of Chronically Ill, Wildly Capable to disappear from the final version. By the time I caught…
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Building a Flexible Career with a Chronic Illness
I left “corporate America” to start my own business a couple of years before I got smacked over the head with multiple autoimmune diseases. I went from juggling four or five clients and working 50-60 hours a week to barely handling one or two clients and working 15 hours a week. I had to learn…
