A Little Bit About the Girls

Kirbir, or Kirsten, has lived with Still's Disease (aka systemic onset JRA/JIA) since age 5. After many misdiagnoses - including a leukemia scare and subsequent 'death sentence' - her mama took matters into her own hands and began researching. A few months later, she took her findings along with evidence and meticulous notes she had kept to Kirsten's team of docs who confirmed the Still's diagnosis. The docs turned around and told the family there was nothing more to do for Kirsten and so OTC NSAIDs became a way of life. At age 19, she met the love of her life and knew the second she saw him that she would spend the rest of her life with him. He encouraged her to begin blogging about her health issues and trust doctors again. The end result five years later is an engaged couple living with Arthur and working on planning their August 2014 wedding.




Beth has been diagnosed with an "Atypical" form of RA for about three years now, but her Rhuemy says shes probably had the disease since about 12 or 13. The "Atypical" diagnosis comes because instead of starting at the small joints and working its way up to the bigger ones, her RA started at the biggest joints while the smaller joints are still pretty much intact. She's had terrible reactions to MXT and Plaquenil so now a mixture of NSAID, COX2 inhibitors, and a strict anti-inflammatory diet are her treatment options "until biologics are necessary". Beth met her hubby-2B in 2009. He's been patient and gentle and loving through all her diagnosis' and different treatment experiments. He's taken care of her and her medical costs, especially in 2010 when the pain was so bad she took a hiatus from working. He encouraged her to go back and finish school (which she will in March 2013) so they will both have a better future life. The wedding date is set for October 5th 2013. So within the next year there will be a college graduation, a new house, a wedding, and the crazy Rheumatoid roller-coaster.




Heather has lived with Rheumatoid Arthritis since she was about 12 years old. Initially told it was "just growing pains" by a pediatric rheumatologist due to her seronegativity and prescribed prescription painkillers and PT, she did not receive a diagnosis until she was 18. In the nearly 10 years since her RA diagnosis, her doctors have concluded her RA is probably systemic onset JIA or a lupus/RA crossover her doctors have called "Rhupus." Despite the ups and downs of life with RA, Heather went to law school where she met her now-husband at orientation. After graduating law school together, passing the California Bar Exam, and surviving a year working as attorneys, Heather and Michael were engaged in July 2011 and married in San Diego on Cinco De Mayo, May 5, 2012. Heather looks forward to sharing her two cents about planning a wedding as a spoonie and life on the other side as newlyweds working together to navigate the craziness of living with chronic illness!!






Kinsey was diagnosed with fibromyalgia just over a year ago--only four months before she graduated from the University of Louisville with her degree in music education. Because of the diagnosis, she wasn't able to take a job and has been growing her online presence, first through her ChickOpinion blog and social media, then her ChickOpinion.com website, and most recently through contributing to other websites and starting her own Etsy shop. Kinsey has tried different medications (Cymbalta, Lyrica, Flexeril, Savella, Gabapentin, and a few others), but none of them have worked. The ones that do take the pain away either push her pulse insanely high or turn her into a zombie. She does yoga daily and tries to eat mostly healthy foods to keep her body as happy as possible.

Kinsey and her fiancé, Josh, met in 2007 in choir at the University of Louisville. They were friends until Christmas of 2010, when they started dating. In the summer of 2012 Kinsey took Josh to Yellowstone National Park for his first time there. He knew it is Kinsey's favorite place in the world and proposed on a sandbar in the presence of two bison. He has been nothing but supportive of Kinsey and she feels incredibly lucky to have a partner like him. They are getting married this summer in Louisville, KY, where both of their immediate families live. Since she has so much time on her hands, Kinsey is making her own dress, invitations, centerpieces, programs, and everything else!