You can now buy Scenes from the Immune System Wars as a Kindle ebook or paperback.
Hi and welcome, I have been blogging about my experiences with chronic illness and chronic pain for over ten years. The book, Scenes
From the Immune System Wars, is a compilation of nine of those years. I have edited and cut down some of the posts so that even if you have read the blog, you will find different material here. I hope that what I have shared will give hope to both the chronically ill and their loved ones.
In 2004 I was diagnosed with CVID (Common Variable Immune Disease) which means my body cannot fight certain germs because I simply do not produce an immune response. I have been on intravenous treatment with gamma globulin, gathered from the plasma of many donors, in order to keep infections at bay. Whenever I go off, I am constantly infected.
In 2011 I was diagnosed with Mixed Connective Tissue Disease or MCTD. This is an autoimmune disease that is wide ranging and causes the autoimmune system to attack various parts of the body. It is similar to Lupus but can cause a host of other autoimmune disorders. In addition to the two main diagnoses, I have a gastric problem that is actually a birth defect, which took years to track down.
Learning there is no cure for whatever it is you have is not something anyone wants to hear. However, there is life beyond the diagnosis: It is a choice we make on a daily or moment by moment basis. After years of panic and trying to find doctors who could fix me, I have come to the realization that I am the one responsible for me in almost every way. It’s me, the Almighty and the medical folks are a distant third. I discovered this through writing about it. Whoever you are and whatever part you play in the chronic disease/pain story, I hope my writing and reflections help you.
Katie Kelfer-Taylor