• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Kate the (Almost) Great

Chronic illness blog

  • Home
  • Start Here
    • About
    • As Seen On
    • Tags & Topics
    • Popular Posts
  • Blogging Resources
  • Freebie
  • Shop the Blog
    • Products for the Chronically Ill
  • Work with Me
    • Ads and Sponsoring
  • Follow
  • Holiday
    • Gift Guides

in Lifestyle, Uncategorized · April 20, 2015

FAQ + Giveaway

Here are the questions I am asked the most frequently in one handy dandy post. Hope this helps you get to know and understand me better!

FAQ - Kate the (Almost) Great

Q. What’s wrong with you, anyway? Why do you talk a lot about pain?
A. Rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. The RA caused me to dislocate my knee regularly, and each one would cause an arthritis flare, so I had surgery in February 2015 to fix it. My left ankle is also fused and I’ve had multiple surgeries on it.

Q. Where do you live?
A. Boston, Massachusetts, USA. And right in the city, too.

Q. How long have you lived there?
A. Since August 2014. I was born and raised in Maine and went to college in Tennessee.

Q. What do you do?
A. I’m a writer and blogger. I have 1 novel out right now and am working on 3 other books (I’m crazy, I know). A few days a week, I do administrative work for a company in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Q. What’s your book about?
A. Aureole is a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park. It’s about a girl in her early twenties who was taken in by a rich family when she was 11. She was never really accepted by them, and when her whole world is turned around 11 years later, she has to decide if she will fight for what she believes in or start over. Learn more about it here.

Q. Do you really make a full income that you can live off doing that?
A. No, although hopefully I will eventually. I live at home with my parents thanks to the health stuff and to save money, especially because I need money for grad school.


Q. Where are you going to grad school and what for?
A. Boston College to get my masters in English literature

Q. What do you do for fun?
A. Read, write, watch crime shows, putz around on the Internet.

Q. You seem really quiet.
A. I’m not at all, and it amuses me when people assume that.

Q. So you’re an extrovert?
A. Not really. I’m more of an ambivert – I don’t fit neatly into extrovert or introvert tendencies.

Q. What religion are you?
A. Catholic

Q. Are you dating someone?
A. Yes, no, maybe so. If I’m in a serious relationship, I’ll talk about it here and on social media. I will say that I was in a relationship when I started this blog, so if you’re reading an early post and are confused, that’s why.

Q. It seems like you’re always online.
A. I am online an awful lot. That goes back to the whole disabled-from-a-chronic-illness thing. Also, I schedule social media posts throughout the day.

Q. What makes you qualified to teach grammar lessons on your blog?
A. I studied to be a teacher and taught ninth grade English, but stopped because the disabled-from-a-chronic-illness thing happened.

Q. Where did you study?
A. Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee

Q. Did you love it at Vandy/in Nashville?
A. I really did! I could not have lived their for the rest of my life, though. I’m too much of a New Englander and couldn’t handle Nashville summers. I’ll take 110″ of snow in the winter over it being 90 degrees regularly in the summer! But Nashville is such a cool city and has a really fun vibe.

Q. Are you serious?!
A. At any given moment? Probably not. I’m way too sarcastic for my own good.

Enter to win a mug from ABD!

Image used with permission from Ashley Brooke Designs

Winner gets to choose their prize! All mugs here (except for the set) are options.

Kate – Kate the (Almost) Great
Elizabeth and Luke – Something Saturdays
Victoria – Poverty Luxe
Stephanie Rita – Letters from Rita
Ashley Brooke Designs Mug Giveaway - Kate the (Almost) Great

Details:

– Giveaway goes from 4/20/15 12:00 AM EST to 4/26/15 11:59 PM EST.
– You must be 18 to enter.
– This is only open to the USA.
– Any entries that are falsified (aka you lie and say you did something that you didn’t) will be deleted without warning. (Actually had this issue last month. Come on – you’re smarter than that.)
– The winner will be notified via email within 48 hours.
– You will have 48 hours to respond to claim your prize.
– If you do not respond within that time, a new winner will be chosen.

Kate the (Almost) Great Privacy & Disclosure Policy
Join next month’s giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sign up for the monthly newsletter! Become one of the greatest people you will ever meet and get a recap of the best blog posts, extra writing tips, and free downloads. I will never give your email address to anyone or use it for any other purpose without your express permission.
var linkwithin_site_id = 1800999;
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Kate Mitchell

Kate Mitchell is a blogger, chronic illness patient, and advocate who helps people understand chronic illness and helps chronic illness patients live their best lives.

Share this with your family and friends:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr

Related

Previous Post: « My All-Time Faves: Beauty
Next Post: 10 Things I Wish I Knew When I Was Diagnosed »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Kati Rose @ Constantly Seeking Wonder says

    April 20, 2015 at 5:50 am

    Even though I've been reading your blog for a while and had learned most of these things this was still a bit more detailed and linear! It's always good to get a clearer look at a blogger. What would you say your favorite crime show you watch is?

    Loading...
    Reply
  2. grrrallie says

    April 20, 2015 at 11:24 am

    can i just tell you how utterly jealous i am! i'm originally from boston but stuck in about the most anti-boston place you can get and i miss it so much. also boston college <3

    xo, allie
    wellhellosugar.com

    Loading...
    Reply

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Kate the (Almost) Great® is a chronic illness lifestyle blog. It is a resource for chronic illness patients and their loved ones.

  • Bluesky
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Categories

Health
Lifestyle
Writing & Blogging

Pages To Start With

  • About Kate the (Almost) Great®: Meet the Health Blogger
  • As Seen On
  • Follow
  • Health Blog Resources I Actually Use + Recommend
  • Newsletter
  • Popular Posts
  • Privacy Policy & Disclaimer Policy
  • Products for the Chronically Ill: My Recommendations
  • Shop
  • Start Here
  • Tags & Topics
  • Work with Me

Search

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

This blog uses affiliate links. Thank you for supporting Kate the (Almost) Great!

Sign Up for the Newsletter

Please wait...

Thank you for sign up!


Bluehost.com Web Hosting $3.95

Health Union Patient Leader Certification

Support KTAG

If you like what I do, please support me on Ko-fi.




Footer

Sign Up for FREE Instagram Challenge

Get 25 FREE Instagram prompts for chronic health creators!

You can unsubscribe anytime. For more details, review our Privacy Policy.

Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

Get your FREE Instagram challenge here 

and 

For just $5 get your copy of my ebook Take Your Blog (And Income!) to the Next Level with code "greatest".

.

Kate the (Almost) Great

Chronic health lifestyle blog

Lets Go!
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
A letter to my past self 💖 (Disclaimer: I’m o A letter to my past self 💖 (Disclaimer: I’m only speaking about myself, my life, and my experiences. My birthday is tomorrow so do NOT make me deal with comments about toxic positivity) 

Video: a series of videos of Kate, pouring coffee, a lake, pill boxes, and a doctor’s office. Kate speaks in a voiceover with an intercom style and there are captions.
Week 21 of #2025Weekly ⁣ ⁣ 1️⃣ A great wel Week 21 of #2025Weekly ⁣
⁣
1️⃣ A great welcome home to Maine 🌈⁣
2️⃣ Feeling back to normal after my infusion a few weeks ago!⁣
3️⃣ Felt so good to finish work and then go sit on the dock ☺⁣
⁣
◾⁣
⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate sharing what my life is like with 7+ chronic illnesses. Follow me for more and check out my blog at katethealmostgreat.com⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣
◾⁣
⁣
1️⃣ A rainbow over some trees⁣
2️⃣ Kate takes a selfie. She's wearing a black-and-white striped dress, a silver celtic knot necklace, and round tortoisehsell glasses.⁣
3️⃣ A dock on a lake. There's a flag pole with the American flag and the Maine state flag.⁣
⁣
#AlmostGreatHealth #AlmostGreatLife #ChronicallyIll #SpoonieLife #RheumatoidArthritis #RheumatoidDisease #Autoimmune #ButYouDontLookSick #AutoimmuneDisease #SpoonieLife #InvisibleIllness #DisabledAndCute #MaineLife #MaineTheWay #MaineThing #Vacationland #207
Yes, I did give my Finch avatar a navy dress and p Yes, I did give my Finch avatar a navy dress and pink cane. What of it? 

(Not sponsored, by the way. But if you want to gamify taking care of yourself, I recommend checking out Finch.) 

_______ 

Video: a series of videos taken of Kate and her day over the course of the day. There are times stamps in white text over the videos. Kate is a white woman with red-brown hair who wears round tortoiseshell glasses or black aviator sunglasses. Music plays. 

#almostgreatlife #almostgreathealth #chronicallyill #dayinmylifevlog #explore #invisblyill
Learning about my body: Wow, it’s incredible how Learning about my body: Wow, it’s incredible how much we know about the human body!⁣
⁣
Also learning about my body: Do we know anything at all about the human body?⁣
⁣
◾ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣
I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate. Follow me for more content for chronic illness patients and their loved ones!⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣
◾ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣
ID: Screenshots of a thread post written by katethealmostgreat. The text reads what's about the first black box.⁣
⁣
#AlmostGreatHealth #rheumatoidarthritis #arthritis #spoonielife #healthblogger #autoimmune #autoimmunedisease #chronicallyill #healthblog #dysautonomia #fibro #fibromyalgia #endo #chronicallyill #disability #disabled #invisibleillness #DisabledAndCute #spoonielife #healthblogger
Live for yourself 💖 _______ Video: a series Live for yourself 💖 

_______ 

Video: a series of videos featuring Kate. This includes her working on a laptop, drinking, showing off her dress, and opening her kindle.
Week 20 of #2025Weekly ⁣ ⁣ I did very little l Week 20 of #2025Weekly ⁣
⁣
I did very little last week! So little I forgot to schedule this post. I the week at my parents’ while recovering from my infusion. Thankfully I had a fluffy nurse to help! And then I spent the rest of the week catching up from what I missed while dealing with my infusion. ⁣
⁣
▪ ⁣
⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate sharing what my life is like with 7+ chronic illnesses. Follow me for more and check out my blog at katethealmostgreat.com⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣
▪ ⁣
⁣
ID: a golden retriever walks towards the camera on a red rug. There’s a dog toy in his mouth and another one on the rug. ⁣
⁣
 #AlmostGreatHealth #AlmostGreatLife #ChronicallyIll #SpoonieLife #RheumatoidArthritis #RheumatoidDisease #Autoimmune #ButYouDontLookSick #AutoimmuneDisease #SpoonieLife #InvisibleIllness #RetrieversOfInstagram
I don’t think health problems are “deserved” I don’t think health problems are “deserved” or a punishment but I do think if I didn’t have mine I would have the time and energy to take over the world, so … 

_______ 

Video: Kate runs a hand through her hair. White text reads “How I feel knowing that God gave me chronic health issues because I would be too powerful without them”. The audio says “cause I’m too messy and I’m too fuckin clean they told me to get a job”. Kate is a redheaded white woman wearing a green dress with white flowers on it, a black shawl, a silver Celtic knot necklace, and round tortoiseshell glasses 

#AlmostGreatLife #SpoonieHumor #InvisiblyIll
The most common question I get about sharing my ex The most common question I get about sharing my experience with chronic illness is "How do you deal with it?" These 3 quotes are sources of inspiration and indicative of how I do it. ⁣
⁣
1. "Guard your time fiercely. Be generous with it, but be intentional about it." - Davd Duchemin⁣
I am SO intentional with my time. Even when I (rarely) do spur-of-the-moment fun things, I'm doing mental calculations of how to make it happen. ⁣
⁣
2. "Find out who you are and do it on purpose." - Dolly Parton⁣
That's what my blog and advocacy work is. I figured out who I am: someone who helps other patients, who shares her story, who tries to change the world. And I'm doing it on purpose. ⁣
⁣
3. "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but power, love, and self-discipline." - 2 Timothy 1:7 ⁣
I will be afraid some times (we all will) but my spirit is not one of fear or timidity. My spirt of power, love, and self-discipline enables me to keep fighting for myself and others. ⁣
⁣
◾ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣
I’m Kate, a chronic illness patient and advocate. Follow me for more content for chronic illness patients and their loved ones!⁣
⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣◾ ⁣
⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ID: Screenshots of Bluesky posts written by Kate Mitchell | Kate the (Almost) Great with the username katethealmostgreat.bsky.social. ⁣⁣The background is dark teal. The text on each post is one of the quotes mentioned above.
Click the link in my bio to get my medical appoint Click the link in my bio to get my medical appointment freebie! 

_______ 

Video: a series of videos. The first 2 are from doctor’s offices. The most important one is the 3rd which is a screen share of the document. It shows space for medical history, current medical problems, medications, family history, and more. There are captions. 

#AlmostGreatHealth #ChronicIllness #ChronicPain #RheumatoidArthritis #RheumatoidDisease #Fibro #Endometriosis #Endo #POTS #Dysautonomia #SjogrensSyndrome #Sjogrens #Fibromyalgia
Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2025 · Kate the (Almost) Great · Design by Studio Mommy

%d