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Patients don’t just need good care, THEY NEED EACH OTHER!
The Spondylitis Association of America (SAA) is the patient organisation in the USA for people like me. Its vision is of “a world free from the pain and disability of ankylosing spondylitis and related diseases.” and its mission is: To be a leader in the quest to cure ankylosing spondylitis and related diseases, and to…
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An unhealthy health care reform in Switzerland, part 2
In my last blog I wrote about the Swiss healthcare reform which is proposed by the Swiss Council of ministers and about a controversial measure to introduce budget limits to outpatient healthcare, putting expenditure limits on treatment. The details are explained in my last blog. This measure is almost universally opposed by those affected: by…
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An unhealthy health care reform in Switzerland
The Swiss Federal Council plans to ration health care as part of health system reform. The immediate purpose of rationing is to reduce costs. As a patient advocate, I am adding my voice to a broad coalition who criticise this proposal as misguided. Will rationing health care reduce financial health costs? And how will rationing…
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“This horror will grow mild, this darkness light”
John Milton, the English poet, wrote these lines in the 1660s in his epic poem Paradise Lost. It was a time of failed revolution, religious repression, and endemic plague sweeping through the land where there were no vaccines, effective protective measures, or intensive care units. I am often reminded of his words, and they give…
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The Covid Jab – a surprisingly emotional experience
The whole world is talking about it. Charts graph its progress. Touted as one of the greatest achievements of mankind. Yet many people reject it and seem to fear it even more than Covid-19. The title of my blog is a bit of a give-away. Yes, this blog is about the Covid-19 vaccines, or rather…
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Vulnerability, a word for our times
Recently I took part in a clinical trial to help establish how my medication might affect the course of a Covid-19 infection. To start I needed to give a blood sample by pricking my finger and putting a few drops into a tiny vial. After reading the instructions and laying out the equipment, I pricked…
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Climbing the Eiger at 60?
“You’ve got to be kidding!” said my friend Jeannie about my plan to climb the Eiger over the Mittellegi ridge. Or maybe she thought that I was mad. After all, I have suffered from severe Spondyloarthritis and moderately severe Inflammatory Bowel Disease for decades. However, the medication I take has a huge positive effect on…
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Patient leadership in health care?
“We cannot rest until there are Patient CEOs in every healthcare organisation around the world” Michael Seres 1969-2020.
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Another Patient Journey: 2019 was a good year
Picking up the story from my last blog Was 2019 really that bad? my doctors advised that I should stop the TNF blocker drugs, that had enabled me to live a normal life for the past three years, before undergoing cancer surgery. That made sense. These drugs work by dampening the immune system. I could…
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Was 2019 really that bad?
If you’d told me in March 2019 that I wouldn’t write another blog on “arthritis and me” until 2020, I would have laughed and said you didn’t know me! I had started two new drafts. They will be finished one day, but first I have to write about breast cancer and get that off my…
A life free from the burdens of rheumatic disorders
