Did I go too far? — Met my new rheumatologist for the first time this week. My lupus is still active so she’s starting me on a new drug: Methotrexate. Methotrexate is pretty nasty stuff (it’s a chemo drug in higher doses) so it’s not advised to get pregnant while taking it, or for a while…

Only a total muppet would have a problem with that — Well, it’s finally happened. After three years on Medium, I’ve just been rejected by a publication for being British. Excuse me madam?! I could still submit if I made the article less “UK-centric,” presumably by removing the sole reference to the NHS and monetary amounts given in pounds sterling, the…

Why does lupus involve so much paperwork?! — One thing I’ve learnt since I was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is that being sick is only the beginning. Sometimes life just piles crap on top of crap… Autoimmune diseases come in pairs…or worse Did you know that it’s actually pretty rare to have just one autoimmune disease? …

We can learn so much from our pets! — There’s an expression that I really like: education is a lifelong journey. But what counts as an education? It doesn’t have to be a bachelor’s degree or even a master’s — Eva the Cat has taught me more in four short years than university ever did. Rule one: make your own fun

Answer: not all, but some — Let’s bust a myth: parents are not all jealous of childfree people. While we are pretty used to parents and other pro-natalists telling us we “should” have children, this could be for many reasons: perhaps they’re worried about “population collapse” a la Elon Musk, or maybe they’re religious and take…

Am I old before my time? Thoughts on early menopause — I’ve never been what you could call a ‘typical’ woman. Maybe that’s why I’ve been quite excitedly looking forward to menopause for the last few years. My periods are (were) hellishly painful and I don’t want children. The longing for an end to fertility only intensified shortly before my lupus…

What in the fresh monarchical hell is this?!?! — When Brits discover that children in the USA have to “pledge allegiance to the flag” every day, we go through something akin to the five stages of grief: Denial — come on now, stop yanking my chain, that’s ludicrous Anger — how? How is this a thing? It’s outrageous Bargaining…

I will be a corpse one day too, I still don’t want one in my house — If you ever express disdain for the way an out-of-control child is acting, or just a general dislike of their company, one response is all but guaranteed: “You were a child once!” There are many flaws in this ‘argument’. First off, if referring to bad behaviour, while we might be…

See also: it’s not a dick, don’t take it so hard — It finally happened! I got my first “I’m unfollowing you” comment! Do I get inducted into the Medium hall of fame now? I feel like I’ve made it. It was all because of this article: I Don’t Want Children Because I Don’t Like Them And that should be okaymedium.com I mean, thanks for proving my point, I guess, society really is intolerant of women…