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My rheumatoid arthritis puts me in danger of developing serious complications from COVID-19. It’s a really scary place to be. In my new column for HealthCentral, I talk about what it’s like and! interview the amazing Molly Schreiber, who co-founded the #HighRiskCOVID19 campaign that’s making a real difference:

“Just about the only comforting news we hear about COVID-19 is that most people who get it will have only mild symptoms. Except, that is, for a small group of people who are at high risk for complications and death from the disease. This high-risk group includes people living with chronic illness—people like me. By about the ninth time I heard “most people will have only mild symptoms, unless they have underlying health issues,” it started to sound like no one was really worried about me. As if my life was disposable.”

Four years ago, complications from the flu almost killed me. Thanks to my rheumatoid arthritis (RA) fibromyalgia, disability, asthma, and being immunosuppressed by RA meds, I catch viruses more easily and get sicker than others when I do. In 2016, I caught the H1N1 flu and soon became very ill.”

You can read the rest of the column and my interview with Molly on HealthCentral.