Ankylosing = fusing
Spondylitis = inflammation of the spine.

Ankylosing spondylitis = autoimmune disease primarily attacking the spine and hips that can, at its worst, cause partial to full fusion of the spine. Ligaments calcify, new bones grow, and the spine cannot move. At all. If this is going to happen, it takes decades. Some patients experience relief from pain once fusion is complete. Some doctors did – and, I am appalled to say, some still do – advise patients to “wait out” the pain and look forward to the day when they fuse.

Wait for decades until the day your spine is wrecked.

I can only speak to my own experience of pain with ankylosing spondylitis. Untreated, my pain would drive me to darkest despair. But, while I can only speak to my own pain, I know I am not alone in experiencing agony. Therefore I think it’s reasonable to call the Wait Til You Fuse disease management strategy a dangerous crock of shit.

Context.