By Chassity Stewart, as told to Hallie Levine
I’m no stranger to autoimmune disease: I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), in 2003. Yet I unknowingly suffered symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) for years, mistaking some of them as related to my ulcerative colitis. Thankfully, I was diagnosed with AS in 2019 and on the necessary treatment within a year. My journey to a biologic was long, and oftentimes painful. But it was the right decision for me, as it is for many patients with AS.
Push and Push Until You Get the Right Diagnosis
Most people…
