Leighton Creations: My Other Passion

Taking a break from everything chronic illness related to share with you my other love, designing jewelry. I'll be posting my jewelry site shortly, but in the mean time, I leave you with a peak at my latest creation. Excuse the cell phone photo:

Sterling silver chain, swarovski pearls wrapped in sterling wire to resemble a nest. Currently taking orders so if anyone is interested, shoot me an email.

Take Your Online Medical Advice With a Grain of Salt

The internet is great for research and general knowledge when it comes to health, but don’t forget that webMD shows you the worst case (and every case) scenario when it comes to a headache. Don’t forget that the blog you read, unless they are citing sources, cannot diagnose you or give accurate medical advice tailored to your body. I have said this before and I will continue to say it again and again: the internet cannot take the place of a physician’s opinion or advice and pseudoscience is not welcome here.

Painkiller Paranoia: The Stigma of Narcotic Use Among Chronically Ill Patients

Examining the fear behind proper narcotic use and what it really means to be chronically ill and using narcotics.

Personal Update

Just spent three hours with my spine surgeon…who I kind of bombarded without an appointment. I’m sure his office staff thinks I'm crazy. As always, he accommodated us and stayed after hours to discuss everything. I feel 20x better after letting him know how detrimental all of these mishaps have been to my health and how I have literally no life since going off of my DMARD.

I think after speaking to Nurse K (the one with SLE) yesterday and me reiterating it to him, he fully understands the whole chronic illness bit more so than he did before. Dr. J said he would do the surgery on his day off if he has to, the problem is the other surgeon, Dr. D, who has a “busy schedule” and isn’t exactly accommodating, but my surgeon insists he will push him to clear his schedule for Friday or sometime this weekend. He’s chief of staff so he has some power over Dr. D. Can I just call him Doctor Dick? Okay then.

Off the record, Dr. J isn’t a fan of Doctor Dick’s personality or bedside manner and is appalled at how he spoke to me (he also apparently told him to cut the shit out after he heard about yesterday), but because my anatomy is so complicated and we’re unsure of what is actually in there (scary right?), he wants “only the best” to perform the thoracotomy and Dr. D is as good as it gets. I trust Dr. J’s opinion and appreciated his willingness to go out of the way for me.

I’m anxious about possibly having to take another semester off of school, but I feel better about the surgery.

I’m in good hands this time around.

Ginormous thanks for the kind messages and words of encouragement :) I’ll get back to you all by tomorrow,

My old autoimmune cocktail. My current one includes more medications than the ones pictured here.

Surgery Was Canceled. Again. For the Fifth Time

 My surgery has been called off for a fifth time, only this go around I was only feet away from the operating room.

I have reached the end of my rope. This will be long so I don’t have to explain to friends and family what happened 100 times.



A big thanks to the support and love, both online and from friends and family. I’d never be as strong as I am without you all, and I am so very grateful.

Check Out the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation!

Rheumatoid Patient Foundation

FINALLY! A Rheumatoid Arthritis Patient Foundation, separate from an “Arthritis” organization. RA is not arthritis. Spread the link pretty please and thank you!

"...Dedicated to improving the lives of patients with Rheumatoid diseases such as Rheumatoid Arthritis and Juvenile Arthritis through a variety of means, including research, public awareness, patient education and patient-led advocacy."

“When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”

-- Franklin D. Roosevelt