The Spoonie Self Care Centre

I started this site (with the help and support from my husband Marc) after experiencing a health crisis that shook my world upside down in late 2017.
 
I have had quite a journey, and I wanted to take the time to share it with you.
 
I have struggled with health issues my entire adult life. Day to day life included depression, anxiety and chronic illness (Sjogren's, Vasculitis).
 
While I went through cycles of being ill in my early twenties,  I never seemed to be so sick that my illnesses held me back in life.
 
I was still able to mange working full time, I went back to school, I traveled with my husband, I even had a child.
 
To the outside world, I had the perfect life. 

In 2017 all of that changed.
 
In the span of several weeks I went from one of the happiest moments of the my life (becoming pregnant) to some of my darkest.
 
Late in 2017, I had a quick and sudden onset of depression, and several weeks into my pregnancy I had a miscarriage.
 
Sadly this caused me emotional distress including post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to my postpartum depression with my first child who had colic.

What followed after I can only describe as my darkest moments of life including life threatening depression and suicidal ideation.
 
As I worked through my trauma and began to heal emotionally, my physical health started to deteriorate. My autoimmune disease started to rear it's head.
 
In the midst of my emotional roller coaster I had almost forgotten I had a physical illness. 

By late 2018, I was back in my rheumatologists office trying to understand the symptoms of the worst debilitating flare-up of my life.
 
Already diagnosed with Sjogren's, my doctor explained that my bloodwork was now indicating I had Lupus.

I started on a new treatment plan, and currently (as of June 2022) I am still off work on disability trying to get my autoimmune condition under control.