Days 28, 29 & 30 Autoimmune Disease as a Part of Life

        This was an interesting week of my Summer Institute experience - I was reminded about my humanity through my autoimmune disease. Last year I was diagnosed with a rare eye condition, uveitis, which is caused by an antigene in my body, HLA B27. I found out about this after being hospitalized during my previous internship at PAPER Magazine in New York City. That summer, I spent two weeks in pain caused by inflammation and constant migraines. This week I experienced similar pain after I started tapering down the number of steroid eye drops I put in my left eye. I was reminded about how it is hard to sleep and wake up when the condition worsens. Moreover, during the first half of the week, I had a difficult time looking at the screen and focusing on what my teammates were saying party because of pain and partly because I was worried about this being a permanent state of my health. I was suddenly reminded of the students that I have met through the Disability and Accessibility Services at Berea, and how it is easy to forget that there are many people around you with invisible sicknesses.
        Today, I spent some time talking to my primary eye doctor, who allowed me to up the medication amount, even though it could be dangerous for me in the longer run. However, it felt like a relief, even if temporary. I can now go back to working with the team and not worry about my disease. This week has been the definition of taking life one day at a time. While I have not progressed this week as I have done in the previous weeks, I have taken important steps to ensure that I can continue with my progress after this week.


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