Spoon Theory – Autoimmune Warrior

My #ThisIsSjogrens Awareness Campaign Submission

Did you know that April is Sjogren’s Awareness Month? That’s right, according to the Sjogren’s Foundation, April was declared Sjogren’s Awareness Month in 1988 when New York Congresswoman Louise Slaughter read it into the Congressional Record.

The 2021 theme for this awareness campaign is Coming Together to Conquer Sjogren’s. When you post on social media or other digital platforms about Sjogren’s, use the hashtag #ThisIsSjogrens to highlight your personal experience as part of the campaign. The purpose of the campaign is to raise awareness about the complexities of the disease, and provide a voice to the 3 million+ Americans (and many more worldwide) who live with it every day.

As April is fast approaching, I wanted to share my personal #ThisIsSjogrens submission with the Autoimmune Warrior blog followers. Read my submission, below!

Name: Isabel

Current age: 28

Age when diagnosed: 20

Please finish with the following sentence: “Since I was diagnosed with Sjögren’s, I have learned…”
Since I was diagnosed with Sjogren’s, I have learned how important self-care is. Although you can’t let the disease rule your life, you must also learn to listen to your body and take the needed time to rest and recharge.

What are your 3 most difficult symptoms?
My three most difficult symptoms are eye dryness, mouth dryness and joint pain, although I also experience fatigue, brain fog and peripheral neuropathy.

What are ways that you cope with your most difficult symptoms?
For eye dryness, I use artificial tears eye drops several times a day, and I also take prescription eye drops to reduce inflammation in my tear glands. I also had punctal plugs inserted in my tear ducts to increase my tear retention. For mouth dryness, I use artificial saliva and take pilocarpine, a medication that stimulates saliva production, and I drink plenty of water throughout the day. For joint pain, I take a prescription medication that reduces inflammation and pain in my joints.

What is one of the ways that you’ve been able to effectively cope with symptoms during this past year in the pandemic?
During the past year of the pandemic, I have taken more time to rest which is helping to reduce my fatigue levels. Also, since I now work from home, I’m able to use a humidifier to humidify my home office environment, which helps with my dryness symptoms.

What is the best tip you would share with another Sjögren’s patient?
If I had to give a tip to another Sjogren’s patient, I would say to find a team of medical professionals who are familiar with the disease. Many medical professionals think that Sjogren’s is just dry eyes and dry mouth, and don’t realize that there is a lot more to the condition and the other symptoms it can cause.

How does the Sjögren’s community and the Foundation give you strength?
The Sjogren’s community and Foundation help to connect me with others who have the disease, so I can build a community around me of other patients who understand what I’m going through.

What do you wish people understood about Sjögren’s and how it affects you?
I wish people understood how much having a chronic illness like Sjogren’s impacts my health and day-to-day wellbeing. I might not be able to do things that I once could due to this disease, but I won’t let that stop me from achieving my personal and professional goals.

To participate in the #ThisIsSjogrens campaign, answer the questions in the Sjogren’s Foundation questionnaire and email your answers to etrocchio@sjogrens.org.

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Christopher Cross Nearly Dies from COVID-19, Temporarily Paralyzed by Autoimmune Disease

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Famed singer-songwriter Christopher Cross recently detailed his excruciating battle with COVID-19 in an exclusive interview with CBS.

In the interview, the 69-year-old Grammy winner described his ordeal as ‘the worst 10 days of [his] life,’ saying that he had a number of ‘come to Jesus moments’ where he was left begging for his life from a higher power.

Cross states that in early March, when the pandemic had just struck North America, he and his girlfriend Joy were touring in Mexico City for a concert. Upon their return to the United States, they fell ill and ended up testing positive for COVID-19.

“Nobody knew about masks, or anything like that,” Cross said. “No one wore masks on the plane, no one was doing that. We weren’t made aware that it was a problem.” In total, he and his girlfriend were sick for about three weeks’ time. While Joy continued to get better, Cross got continuously sicker, landing him in the intensive care unit at the hospital for 10 days.

In April, Cross says he finally began to feel better, and ended up going to the supermarket. However, when he returned home, his legs completely gave out. That’s when he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), a neurological autoimmune disease which causes the body to attack its own nerves. His doctors believe that he developed Guillain-Barre Syndrome as a direct result of COVID-19.

Describing his COVID-19 and Guillain-Barre diagnosis, Cross says tearfully, “I couldn’t walk, I could barely move. And so, it was certainly the darkest of times for me…It really was touch-and-go, and tough.” He became paralyzed from the waist down, and his hands were paralytic as well; being a professional musician, he was concerned he would never be able to play the guitar again.

Guillain-Barre is one of many devastating effects that have been reported by COVID-19 surviv o rs. Early in the pandemic, disturbing reports came out about multisystem inflammatory syndrome, an autoimmune complication in children who had been affected by the virus. It is thought to be similar to Kawasaki disease, an inflammatory condition affecting the heart’s coronary arteries.

Though Cross himself was only temporarily paralyzed by Guillain-Barre, he reports that he is still feeling the impact of this neurological autoimmune disease now. Initially, he used a wheelchair, and though he no longer needs it, he now relies on a cane as his mobility aid. He also suffers from nerve pain, brain fog, memory loss and issues with his speech.

*Christopher Cross undergoes physical therapy to heal from the affects of Guillain-Barre and COVID-19.*

Last month, Cross shared further details on his Instagram page about his grueling recovery, and paid tribute to the medical staff that helped him during that harrowing time, saying, “I’m grateful for my care team, especially my physical therapist, who has helped me to build strength and walk again.” He continued, “I realize that I am lucky to have survived COVID-19 and be on the mend from GBS. Most of all, I am blessed to have the love and support of many people.”

Though he’s recovered from the coronavirus, and has a 90% to 100% prognosis of making a full recovery from Guillain-Barre, Cross explained that he still wants to share his story to help others. “I felt it was sort of my obligation to share with people: ‘Look, this is a big deal…you’ve got to wear your mask. You’ve got to take care of each other. Because this could happen to you.'”

As part of his healing, Cross is turning to his music, which has always been a source of solace for the singer-songwriter. And, he can’t wait to get back to touring…when it’s safe to do so, of course!

What is Spoon Theory?

May 24, 2020May 24, 2020Isabel3 Comments

The term ‘spoon theory’ was coined by Long Island, New York based blogger Christine Miserandino, a chronic illness advocate living with systemic lupus erythmatosus (SLE). The theory states that those with chronic illness only have so many ‘spoons’, or units of energy, available to them in order to accomplish their daily tasks. This is in contrast to healthy, able-bodied individuals, who have a much greater supply of ‘spoons’ that allow them to achieve all that they need to get done throughout the day.

Christine first created the term after she tried explaining to a friend what it was like to live with the autoimmune disease lupus. After having some difficulty explaining how she lived with chronic pain, chronic fatigue, and challenging symptoms, she realized that it would be easier to explain her disease if she had a visual aid. This is when she handed her friend 12 spoons to represent units of energy, and took each spoon away as her friend described every activity that she had to do throughout the day, including routine items like doing the groceries, cooking a meal, showering, and even getting out of bed. Her friend quickly realized that she didn’t have enough spoons to complete all the necessary tasks in her daily life, and had to make difficult choices, like whether to eat dinner or run an errand instead.

Christine later decided to write a post on her blog But You Don’t Look Sick, to describe her interaction with her friend and the creation of the ‘spoon theory’. This also lead to the development of the term ‘spoonie’, to describe someone with a chronic illness who has to make difficult choices throughout their daily lives on what they will and won’t be able to do.

I think that spoon theory is an excellent way to describe what it’s like to live with an autoimmune disease to any healthy, able-bodied person who may not otherwise understand what you’re going through. This is especially true if you have an invisible illness (when you don’t have any obvious outward symptoms), and others perceive you as lazy, inconsistent, or having poor time management skills.

One of the most difficult aspects of having limited ‘spoons’ is that some friends or family members may not understand why you can’t do certain things, like go out for a fun night on the town on a Friday after work, or why you can’t run a 5k with them, or be a bridesmaid at their week-long destination wedding. These are tough decisions that any spoonie or autoimmune warrior has to make, but, they’re just part of the reality of living with a chronic illness.

On a more positive note, sometimes, have limited ‘spoons’ does force us to choose the things that really matter in life. Maybe you don’t want to go to your Great Aunt’s potluck, but if you were perfectly healthy, you would have begrudgingly gone, just to be nice. But when you live with chronic pain, fatigue and other symptoms, you don’t have the luxury of being a ‘yes-man’ (or woman). You have to decide what is worth your time and what isn’t.

This sentiment was echoed by Estrella Bibbey in the video, Sjogren’s Syndrome: A Place to Begin, when describing her life with Sjogren’s Syndrome. “This kind of illness makes you slow down, it makes you choose wisely, and it makes you want to conserve your energy for the very best things,” she said. “I don’t live my life just willy-nilly, [like] we’re going to do whatever and just pick up the pieces later. It’s a more controlled experience, but we choose the really good things and we make sure our energies are focused on the really good events. When we commit to going to a birthday party, or some other kind of social event, we commit to it and we are really excited to be there, and we made a space in our lives to be there.”

If you’re a spoonie (like me) and I had to give you one piece of advice, I would say to practice self-care, be kind to yourself, and make sure you’re using your limited spoons wisely.

What do you think of the term ‘spoon theory’? Does it accurately describe your life as an autoimmune warrior? Have you ever had to make a difficult decision about using your ‘spoons’? Comment below and let me know!