A.S. Face 0942: Annie
Passed away February 14, 2016
I was diagnosed with AS when I was in my early 20s though I think I had symptoms for many years before that- including my gym teacher telling me off for not being able to do the high jump back flop although I looked tall and sporty. I am now 59 and my picture shows me after I got my MSc (Research) last year. I put the sticks by the bushes in my garden so this is just before I fell down! It was hard going as I was working full time and had a family and I had to ask for extra time as I had 6 months confined to bed with severe AS symptoms combined with haywire diabetes while I was doing it. I have other complications as well but try not to dwell on them.
I just want to say that even if diagnosis is devastating, with perseverance and support you can still have a GOOD life even though you have to sometimes live within the confines of day to day illness/ fatigue/ infection. I often sing the praises of Embrel that gave me back a certain quality of life and help me get back to work as a genetics researcher in a University, after being sick of seeing the four walls of my bedroom, reading a thousand books on my kindle and achieving massively high scores on Angry Birds on my IPAD as I didn’t have enough strength to hold a book …
Thanks for all you do – much appreciated.
Annie
Wales, United Kingdom
Dear Annie,
Thank you so much for sharing your story with us.
Sincerely Cookie
Excellent, wonderful, fabulous…is what comes to my mind Annie. Thanks for giving me my bed time encouragement.