I am a modern day tin man or should I say tin woman, since that’s more accurate. As a teenager, I closely identified with Dorothy in “The Wiz.”’ As a dark-skinned, 14-year-old black girl living in rural, New Hampshire without my parents, I was in a foreign environment. I naive, learning to believe in myself and discovering my voice. I wanted to go home nearly every day. But, also like her, friendships made my tough days easier and showed me home is never far away.

As a middle-aged woman, yes that’s hard to type and accept, I realize I’ve become the tin man. I have a heart but it’s kind of faulty and requires medication so a new one would be okay. In addition, I require “oil” or tweaks to my joints, specifically in my knees, hands, feet and spine. As I age, more body parts “rust,” or should I say breakdown, and others get bogged down by inflammation or arthritis due to the autoimmune condition that lives within me.

Today, I made four pit stops. I got an x-ray my hand then it was off to the doctor to get a Kenalog and Lidocaine injection in my Basal joint. Afterwards, I was off to the orthopedist for my knee, which meant a stop at x-ray and two MRI appointments.

The whirlwind of doctors appointments swept me up at 10 a.m. and finally allowed me to make it home at 4 p.m. My left hand can now open, close and grip with limited pain. My knees and feet got me back to Penn Station from East 38th Street, which was a long, uphill trip past the sculptures I’ve grown to like on Park Avenue (photo of one included) I may not be able to run yet but walking is fine as long my body always carries me home.

#autoimmunedisease #chronicillness #chronicpain #arthritis #spoonie #disability #invisibleillness #WomensHealth #steroids