When starting the home training process for subcutaneous immune globulin (SCIG) administration, the nursing service is very clear that patients should plan on administering their weekly SCIG when someone is home with them in case of a reaction. This is a doable plan for those who are married or have others who live with them. But in my case, I live alone. However, I wasn’t going to allow the fact that I live alone stop me from transitioning to SCIG, so I decided to take advantage of an interest-free payment option from my wireless carrier and invest in an Apple watch. [More]

Do you remember navigating those fun houses with mazes of glass hallways and mirrors at the state fairs of our youth? When I think about the 12 years it took to get my rare disease diagnosis, it reminds me of those fun houses — only it was not so fun. [More]

As a teen, I idolized Princess Diana and was devastated when she died. As a mom of three young boys at the time, and having grown up without my own mom, I knew all too well the devastation her young sons were feeling. All I kept thinking was: Those poor boys. With the news of Prince Harry’s autobiography Spare being released in January, I pre-ordered a copy and cleared my reading calendar. Even so, I was completely unprepared for the emotions I experienced when I read it. [More]

I’ve often shared about my “Sunday SubQ” routine of clearing my afternoon schedule, turning on my guilty pleasure reality TV shows and administering my weekly dose of subcutaneous immune globulin (SCIG). However, I recently grappled with what to do when two Sundays in a row happened to be holidays and my infusions were due. Luckily, when it comes to SCIG, it’s easy to flex the infusing schedule by two days, either way! [More]

Five years ago, when I started blogging on the professional level, I was highly encouraged to include social media pages that corresponded with my blog. And, even though my local paper no longer supports blog content, I continue to promote my writing through social media. About a year ago, I branched my content into the world of TikTok, where I came upon an adorable geriatric pug, Noodle, and his wonderful adoptive owner, Jonathan Graziano. [More]

There is no doubt about it. It’s an ongoing juggling act to be chronically ill. If we aren’t juggling our energy stores, we are juggling our med schedules. And nobody can dismiss for a moment the juggling chronically ill patients and their families must do to pay for those meds. If meds are in the rare disease category, it’s a bigger juggle. I’m beginning to think I should have gone to clown school instead of college. [More]

By Dawn DeBois

When I transitioned from monthly intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) treatments to we [More]

Immune globulin (IG) patient Dawn DeBois explains to readers how people who suffer from chronic illness have their own type of SAD. [More]