askmir.org

Originally I was going to have a site where I would help people be their own best medical advocates. This came about because of some medical issues I have had and continue to have, and seeing that people around me were not necessarily making informed decisions about their health care, they were just doing what their doctors told them to do.

This changed two years ago when I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Inflammatory Arthritis and Rupus. This was on top of a longtime diagnosis of lupus (SLE), fibromylgia, Raynaud’s Disease, lupus arthritis, severe osteoporosis, an ulcer, retina damage from one of the drugs that had been helping my lupus and more.

It was suggested that I start blogging about my experiences, which I’d already decided to do, but I will still try to help people advocate for themselves as I do for myself.

While I will share my own journey dealing with my lupus and RA, I will also have available, some time soon, pamphlets on diseases such as lupus, RA, diabetes, MS, various cancers and more, for a nominal fee. The pamphlets, in PDF form, will give an overview of the disease or condition and give very basic questions to ask your doctor, whether it’s a new diagnosis or not. More detailed questions can be discussed for a nominal fee.

I want to make it very clear that I am not a doctor nor do I have any medical training. I am drawing on years of experience with medical issues, and the writing and editing I have done in the medical field. I will share what I am doing for myself. The one thing I ask is that you remember that everyone is different and reacts differently to medical conditions, medicines and other treatments. What works for me may not work for you. What works for you, may not work for me.

My next few posts will start with my initial diagnosis of Raynaud’s Disease and how things progressed from there, what changes I had to make in my life and how I am dealing with these medical issues now.

I hope you will subscribe to this site and will find it helpful for yourself or perhaps to help you understand someone else going through similar issues.If you have similar issues and have had good results from a specific treatment, I hope you will share them on this site.  I welcome feedback and questions – just keep it clean. I reserve the right to remove any posts that attack me or someone else who has posted.

You can also email me directly at miriam.romain@gmail.com.