Episode 1 of the Arthritis Life podcast is now available on all major podcast players
Sarah Dillingham shares her unique experiences living and working with rheumatoid arthritis in England and the USA. She and Cheryl discuss their best advice for newly diagnosed patients, explore how fatigue can be more debilitating than pain, highlight the importance of mental health treatment for chronic conditions, and dig into the impact of rheumatoid disease on everyday life.
Sarah’s experience designing her own custom wedding day splint (due to not wanting to wear the typical ugly splints available in the current market) led her to form a start-up called Grace and Able, where she’s developing more comfortable and aesthetically pleasing wrist braces. She also runs the Women with Rheumatoid Disease Facebook community.
Here’s the show breakdown:
- 01:25 – Sarah’s diagnosis story and brief medical history
- 08:30 – Highlights and lowlights from Sarah’s experience with medical providers
- 23:34 – Sarah’s advice for newly diagnosed patients (includes a discussion on social media)
- 38:00 – How rheumatoid disease has affected Sarah’s experiences at work
- 42:27 – The effects rheumatoid disease has had on Sarah’s friendships and romantic relationships
- 47:11 – The origin of Sarah’s custom wedding day splint, which led her to form Grace & Able.
- 51:00 – How chronic illness has affected Sarah and Cheryl’s mental health.
- 59:54 – Why fatigue is the hardest part of coping with RA (even more so than pain).
- 1:07:20 – What to do when there are no more treatment options – how to have this discussion with your doctor and care team.
- 1:11:41 – Sarah’s frustrations with day to day living, and how she’s learned much of what she’s needed to cope with pain and daily living challenges from other patients and not health professionals.
- 1:18:00 – The three MOST important parts of Sarah’s current management of her condition.
This episode is brought to you by the Beginner’s Guide to Life with Rheumatoid Arthritis, an intensive 4 week online education and support program that Cheryl designed from scratch to empower people with rheumatoid arthritis to manage their disease with more confidence and clarity.
