The Hidden Enemy Revisited

I have written about my disease, Ankylosing Spondylitis (A.S.), before to help bring awareness to the little-known autoimmune disease. I feel it is time for a follow-up. I don’t write this article and make posts on Facebook for a pity party. My goal is to bring awareness to whichever disease or illness I am patiently trying to support.

Since I last shared about my disease, I have acquired more autoimmune diseases. I’ve learned that once you have one autoimmune disease, you are more likely than not to be diagnosed with others. I have Crohn’s disease, which is severe inflammation of the bowels, and many other not-so-fun things: psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and plain old regular arthritis in my hands and chest.

My hidden enemy [A.S.] and numerous other diseases and conditions that affect millions each year, and by most outward appearances, the individual looks mostly normal. Some such things could be clinical depression, autoimmune diseases, many forms of arthritis, and cancer, to name a few. With A.S., most people who suffer from this debilitating degenerative disease often look normal up into the final stages of the disease. I have been battling this disease for over 30 years; at least that’s when I was finally diagnosed. I was told I most likely went active when I was a teen. Some of the tools I use are biological injectables I self-inject into my stomach every two weeks. Biology does nothing to help curb the pain and discomfort of the disease. The injections help slow the progression and block or suppress my immune system, which is at war with my body. Another tool I use is Tramadol to help take the edge off the severe pain associated with the disease. I say “edge” because on a good day, I am generally at about a 6 on a pain scale of 1 to 10 even with pain medications. There is stronger pain medication, but I choose not to take those because of the high risk of liver and organ damage. I call these tools because that is exactly what they are. People who suffer from disease and conditions that cause chronic pain are not drug addicts. Throughout the course of my A.S., my immune system has attacked a great deal of my joints. It eats them away, then brittle bone grows over the joints, causing a stiffening of the posture and limiting movement of the neck, hips, and spine. Due to this brittle bone growth, I am not allowed to lift more than 10 pounds, and I have to be careful about jarring my body, or I could cause micro-fractures that can cause infections, among other issues. It’s quite embarrassing at times when someone asks for help. I am 6’4 and 220 pounds, so people tend to ask, thinking I look healthy, that I would make a great helper. I either have to take the time to explain my diseases, which usually ends with a look of disbelief or, at times, even being called lazy. Most times, rather than go through all of that embarrassment, I just help the asker. What they don’t see - days or even weeks later, depending on the task - is my pain and limited mobility as my body tries to recover. Stress, even a small amount, can cause my immune system to react violently against my body. The third and probably the most noticeable side effect is fatigue. People with immune diseases can have huge amounts of fatigue sometimes lasting anywhere from a day to months. People who are unaware often think of people dealing with fatigue as, “oh, they are just lazy” or “they are just antisocial.” There is so much more I could tell you about the hidden enemy, but I will save that for another day.

This is Will B. saying, be careful before judging others too harshly. Sometimes they have a hidden enemy.