Through the Pain

When I was 27 years old, I was diagnosed with A.S. I had problems since high school but A.S. was hard to diagnose back then. I have been a personal trainer for over 34 years. For many years I used a holistic approach to my disease. I did weight training (modified) cardio, stretching, massage, chiropractic, acupuncture, and anything else I could think of, and it helped.

My AS was no longer "static"

When I was first diagnosed there weren't biologics or much else that could help. Like the brochure says, it's a progressive disease and boy has it progressed. In my 20s and 30s I would mostly be OK until I had a flare-up that would last between 3 weeks to 3 months. In my 40s I would hurt all the time, and the flare-ups would be much worse and longer. And I started hurting 365 days of the year. Sometimes the pain would be so bad and there seemed to be no end in sight. A few years ago, I decided that it was time to start on biologics. I talked to my doctor, and we decided on Humira. It has helped a lot. It's not a cure and I'm not fully out of pain but it has been life changing.

Becoming an author

During the pandemic I decided to write a book about having A.S. and being a personal trainer called "Through the Pain" I self-published last year on Amazon. I'm very proud of the book and I believe it can help many people. Life isn't perfect but I'm trying to rise above the disease.