I am past gut full, the kind of tired that settles into bone and stays, Do not mistake me for spineless, I am spine full, ever fused, segments carrying what I can no longer swallow, a body shaped by pain, by the constant weight of a world that asks too much, I do not bend, ever steadfast, for a system never built for me. Self-Portrait, Bone Side Out by Rae Sabine #ankylosingspondylitis #arttherapistart #arttherapist #arttherapistlife #arttherapistsart

Have You Tried Exercising? They said it like a cure, as if sweat could straighten bone, as if willpower could uncoil pain. But this spine tells a different story, years of quiet wars beneath the skin, vertebrae and bones locking with time, a body learning the language of pain. I have tried everything, movement, stillness, surrender, and still it never leaves. This is not weakness or refusal, but the shape of endurance, the body’s quiet defiance, the art of staying alive. Poem

The story of a spine bound by fire and time. A glimpse beneath the surface, vertebrae locking, inflammation rising. Where fusion and flame meet, the quiet war within Ankylosing spondylitis. Spinal Fusion by Rae Sabine #ankylosingspondylitis #arttherapistart #arttherapist #arttherapistlife #arttherapistsart

Centuries have not softened the story written in bone. The spine and pelvis of a 6th-century skeleton, inspired by an image from the Ankylosing spondylitis Wikipedia page. This piece bears witness to how pain and endurance intertwine, leaving echoes of struggle long after life has ended. Ancient Fusion by Rae Sabine #ankylosingspondylitis #arttherapistart #arttherapist #arttherapistlife #arttherapistsart

A jade plant is woven within a vertebral column. A jade plant’s stems stiffen and harden into trunks as they grow, mirroring the fusion of vertebrae in ankylosing spondylitis. This piece was inspired by @unstrungstudios and reflects how painful the process of fusion can be, yet how it also exists in nature. Natural Fusion by Rae Sabine #ankylosingspondylitis #arttherapistart #arttherapist #arttherapistlife #arttherapistsart

Today is World Autoimmune & Autoinflammatory Arthritis Day, right in the middle of Arthritis Awareness Month — a time that hits close to...