Tag: Sjogren’s Disease
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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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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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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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2025 Holiday Gift Guide for the Chronic Illness Community
Ho, ho, ho and mistletoe, my friends. If you’re like me, then you have two goals for holiday shopping this year: sticking to a budget and supporting small businesses. And bonus points if it comes from small businesses and creators living with chronic illness. Because helping each other is the best kind of gift. Every…
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Sneaky Sjogren’s: Commonly Overlooked Symptoms That Delay Diagnosis and Treatment
Sjogren’s is a master of disguise—it doesn’t walk into the doctor’s office wearing a big flashing “CALL ME SJOGREN’S” sign. It tiptoes around and spreads its symptoms across different body systems. Forcing specialists to play medical hide-and-seek (and many providers aren’t good at that game). Most people know Sjogren’s for its poster children: dry eyes…
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How to Keep a Medical Binder Without Losing Your Mind (or Your Labs)
Raise your hand if you’ve ever walked into a doctor’s appointment and immediately blanked on your medication list? How about the date of your last MRI? Or what that “mystery rash” even looked like? Yep, me too. Keeping up with chronic illness in the face of fatigue, brain fog, and dismissive providers requires a strategy.…
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