Tag: wellness

Visualizing the Invisible

September 30, 2026

Photo by Jenna Day on Unsplash This past summer during Spondyloarthritis Awareness Month, I started Invisible Pain with the goal of learning more about my own chronic conditions and bringing awareness to chronic pain issues that make patients feel invisible. As we come to the end of #PainAwarenessMonth, it’s important to reflect on the 60 million plus Americans for which the awareness of pain never ends. It continues daily with stiff and … More Visualizing the Invisible

Access to Care: An ACPA Survey

September 12, 2026

Photo by Owen Michael Grech on Unsplash This week I took the American Chronic Pain Association (ACPA) Chronic Pain Access and Care Experiences Survey. The ACPA is using the survey to collect data from chronic pain patients to better understand their realities of accessing care, patient-clinician relationships, pain-related stigma, treatment barriers, and the unintended consequences of healthcare policies affecting pain management.  The survey is intended for educational and … More Access to Care: An ACPA Survey

Pain Awareness Month – September 2026

September 6, 2026

Photo by Ilse Orsel on Unsplash In 2001, the American Chronic Pain Association (ACPA) led a coalition of organizations to establish September as Pain Awareness Month. At the same time, they created a consortium of pain organizations called Partners for Understanding Pain, which “strives to create greater understanding among health care professionals, individuals and families who are struggling with pain management, the business community, … More Pain Awareness Month – September 2026

Autoimmunity and the ER

July 14, 2026

Photo by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on Unsplash “David, open your eyes.” The medic is calm but stern as he tries to speak over my guttural wails and a commotion of sirens, swinging doors, and patient groans. “Can you hear me, David?” I lie on a stretcher in the hallway, pressed up against the wall as doctors and nurses rush by, my contorted limbs thrashing underneath stretcher belts and grasping for air.  “Nurse! Nurse! We need help, please? We were told a room was ready when we called ten minutes … More Autoimmunity and the ER