What has AS taken from you?
For me… Ankylosing Spondylitis took away a part of my childhood.
I was diagnosed around the age of 8.
School life… somehow I managed. I smiled, adjusted, and tried to live normally like everyone else. But deep inside, things were already changing.
The biggest thing AS took from me was probably my college life.
I never really got to experience it.
By that time, life had become completely different for me. My hips were severely damaged, I was in constant pain, and eventually I ended up on a wheelchair for a period of time.
Going to college like a normal student wasn’t even possible anymore.
While people around my age were building memories, friendships, enjoying campus life, and exploring their future…
I was trying to figure out how to live with pain inside my own body.
But at the same time, AS gave me some things too.
It made me mature much earlier than my age.
It taught me patience.
It taught me how to stay calm even when life feels unfair.
It taught me how to keep moving forward even when things are falling apart internally.
Most importantly, it taught me to always look for the positive side even in difficult situations.
I won’t lie and say this journey is easy.
It changes you.
But maybe that’s the strange thing about struggles like this…
They take away one version of you, but slowly build another.
Today, even after surgeries, pain, limitations, and everything this disease has taken from me…
I’m still here. Still trying. Still rebuilding myself step by step.
Still learning.
Still fighting.
Still moving forward one step at a time.