![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.phoenixfiredesigns.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/me-booth-2022.jpeg\")
<\/a>So, first, I\u2019m May, the one-woman owner and creator of PhoenixFire Designs. I live in Tampa Bay, Florida with my husband and our three cats. (Ginger, aka The FL\u00d6\u00d6F is of course, my official shop assistant, along with our brown tabby, Bella, and our tiny tabico Tala.) I started making jewelry around 1999, first as a simple hobby after seeing some beads at the craft store. Initially, I had no idea what I was doing, but I kept at it, and eventually, some people started asking about buying things. I am entirely self-taught and after a few years, I started working with wire wrapping as well. (And never looked back! lol)<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/a>During these first years, I worked as an administrative assistant and did jewelry as a hobby. I opened my etsy shop in 2006. Back then, it was such a new website, I had to explain to people it was like the \u201chandmade ebay\u201d because so few people had heard of it yet!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2011, at age 34, I had to have a hysterectomy due to nearly 3lbs of tumors in my uterus. While I was on medical leave, my job let me go and at that time, I decided to try and run this business full time. It was around that time, I expanded into doing in-person shows, markets, and events.<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/a>In 2017, at age 40, I was diagnosed with multiple autoimmune diseases, primarily systemic lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis. In autoimmune diseases, your own immune system attacks your normal, healthy cells. With systemic lupus, it literally means your entire system, from organs, to joints, to skin, etc. Every part of your body is vulnerable to attack. In rheumatoid arthritis, it is primarily targeting your joints and connective tissues. (The parts that hold your tendons and muscles to your skeleton.) These diseases are progressive, degenerative, and cumulative, meaning they only get worse, never better, and the damage done builds on top of old damage and makes it ever worsening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the past 6 years, I have been proactively under the care of multiple specialist doctors and taking multiple medications in an attempt to slow down the progress of my diseases, but, things have progressed for the worse. I am now what would basically be referred to as \u201cfunctionally disabled,\u201d being unable to work a regular job with normal hours any more due to the constant flux in my daily quality of life, energy levels, fatigue, and pain. For many years, I kept my diseases private in an effort to keep this news from my mother who was very ill with her own health issues. Since she passed in January of this year, I am opening up more about this aspect of my life. (It\u2019s been \u201ceasy\u201d to hide since these diseases are \u201cinvisible\u201d and don\u2019t show obviously when you look at me. Many people have no idea I\u2019m chronically ill.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The best way I can describe living with autoimmune diseases is to think about the last time you were really sick with the flu, and how utterly exhausted you get; and how tired every single thing is to do; and how no matter how much you rest, you\u2019re still tired, and all while having deep aches in your bones. That\u2019s how I feel. Because my body is not only constantly fighting a battle, so it\u2019s exhausting just *being* but also it\u2019s attacking me and doing damage while it\u2019s fighting that battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are secondary things I also deal with such as my lupus makes me allergic to the sun. So I have to wear long sleeves and long pants literally every single day – even when I\u2019m out at shows in 100f weather! – to prevent my skin from thinking the UV light is an attack. I get horrible, angry welts all over any exposed skin that takes weeks of steroid creams to get under control. I also have a condition called Sjogrens which means my body doesn\u2019t produce enough moisture, so I have chronic dry eyes, mouth, and it can even affect organs. I\u2019ve also had migraines since I was 16 which of course, can be debilitating during an attack.<\/p>\n\n\n