Author: Kristina Kelly
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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…
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7 Advocacy Phrases Every Sjogren’s Patient Should Know
For my Sjogren’s patients, medical appointments can feel like a battleground where you have to hold the line and get strategic. It took me four years and four rheumatologists to get diagnosed. It can be rough out there! If you’ve ever heard frustrating comments like: “A diagnosis doesn’t really matter.” “Your labs are normal, so…
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How to Build a Flexible Career With a Chronic Illness: Introducing Chronically Ill, Wildly Capable
I was running a successful digital marketing business before I got sick with multiple autoimmune diseases. Before fatigue knocked me to the ground. Before the pain was a gnawing distraction. Before my brain felt my runny scrambled eggs. I had to learn how to pivot my career while still being able to pay my bills,…
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20-Seconds to Improve your Doctor Appointments
https://resources.littleenginepatientadvocacy.com/20-second-appointment-opener-worksheet
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Affordable Sjogren’s Mini Courses for Every Step of your Autoimmune Journey
When Dr. Sarah Schafer of Sjogren’s Advocate and I created the masterclass Streamlining Sjogren’s: How to Navigate a Path to Diagnosis and Treatment, our goal was simple: give patients a clear roadmap to understanding Sjogren’s disease, which is far too often misunderstood and dismissed. We poured months into building a five-hour video masterclass with downloadable…
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12 Things I’ve Learned About Ankylosing Spondylitis (and Axial Spondyloarthritis)
While math and I are typically not friends, I’m going to throw some numbers at you: That is what it took to finally get answers and treatment for progressing lower back stiffness and pain that plagued me for nearly five years. I don’t think I slept through the night without cringing or gasping in pain…
Little Engine Patient Advocacy 