On Episode 61 of the Arthritis Life Podcast, Catina shares her journey getting diagnosed with endometriosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and fibromyalgia after being told by numerous doctors she was not sick. She also shares reflections about what it’s like to balance a nursing career with managing her rheumatoid arthritis, and shares how she formed Nurse Loves Essentials to support others.
Episode at a glance:
- Catina’s diagnosis journey/saga for endometriosis, RA, fibromyalgia: was initially told it was “growing pains,” not believed for years
- How Catina managed to push through pain and work as a nurse
- Catina’s experiences as a black woman managing multiple chronic conditions
- How Catina’s experiences inspired her to form the Nurse Loves Essentials company, community and coaching services
- Catina’s mindset tips for coping with chronic pain and chronic illness
Medical disclaimer:
All content found on Arthritis Life public channels was created for generalized informational purposes only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Episode Sponsors
Rheum to THRIVE, a community support & education program Cheryl created to help people with rheumatic disease go from overwhelmed, confused and alone to confident, supported and connected. Registration is open now through March 31st, 2022 – it’s only open twice a year so join now if you’re interested!
Rheumatoid Arthritis Roadmap, a self-paced online course Cheryl created that teaches you how to confidently manage your physical, social and emotional life with rheumatoid arthritis.
Speaker Bios:
Catina Morrison is a Registered Nurse, Chronic Illness Coach and Founder and CEO of Nurse Loves Essentials LLC. After decades of symptoms and medical gaslighting, she was finally diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia and endometriosis in my 30’s. Her experiences with the healthcare system fueled her passion for assisting women with autoimmune diseases to reach their best quality of life through mindset, self-advocacy and implementing natural and holistic methods consistently. She uses her platform to educate and inspire others with rheumatoid arthritis and other chronic illnesses to thrive not just survive as they learn to overcome the challenges of their health condition.
Cheryl Crow
Cheryl is an occupational therapist who has lived with rheumatoid arthritis for nineteen years. Her life passion is helping others with rheumatoid arthritis figure out how to live a full life despite arthritis, by developing tools to navigate physical, emotional and social challenges. She formed the educational company Arthritis Life in 2019 after seeing a huge need for more engaging, accessible, and (dare I say) FUN patient education and self-management resources.
Episode links:
- Catina’s socials and website
- IG: https://www.instagram.com/nurse_loves_essentials/
- Twitter: @NurseLoves
- Facebook: Nurse Loves Essentials LLC
- Clubhouse: rn_loves_esntls
- Website: www.nurselovesessentials.com
- Cheryl’s Arthritis Life Pages:
- Youtube channel
- Instagram @arthritis_life_cheryl
- TikTok @arthritislife –
- Arthritis Life Facebook Page
- Cheryl on Twitter
- Arthritis Life Podcast Facebook Group
Full Episode Transcript:
[Introductory music]
Cheryl:
I’m so excited to have Catina Morrison on the podcast today. Welcome!
Catina:
Thank you. It is wonderful to be here. Thank you for actually offering me the opportunity to join you on your platform.
Cheryl:
Oh, it’s so great. And if we just start by telling the audience just a little bit about yourself, like, where you live and what your relationship to arthritis is?
Catina:
Yes, my name is Catina Morrison. I am a registered nurse and a chronic illness coach. I live in Tampa, Florida, in sunny Tampa, Florida. We’ve been having some cool days recently. But we’re adjusting, you know, 50s is cold for us. But yes, I live in Tampa, Florida. I actually was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 2015. 2015, 2016, around that timeframe, actually 2016. And at that time, I had actually been suffering symptoms of it for a period of time, untreated, while I waited for a diagnosis and seeing multiple providers. But I know we’ll get into that further on into this session. But yes, I have rheumatoid arthritis. I also have fibromyalgia and previous to my hysterectomy in 2020, I had endometriosis. So, I have a multitude of chronic illnesses and surprise, they all are related in some type of way. And that’s what I’ve learned throughout my journey. I also have many family members who have these illnesses. So, my connection runs quite deep with autoimmune disease and chronic illness.
Cheryl:
Wow. Yeah, thank you for sharing. And it really is the saying that I learned at one point is like, “Autoimmune diseases don’t like to travel alone,” which always stuck with me because I’m like, yeah, when you have one, you’re more likely to have more. So, and I know that that’s a common question people ask me is like, “If I have fibromyalgia, and rheumatoid arthritis, and I have pain, how do I know which one it’s from?” And that’s probably, you know, a hard question, right. But, but first, okay, I’m so not linear, but I try for the podcast. I like to start with the diagnosis journey-slash-saga. I know, unfortunately, like many people years was not a very straightforward diagnosis experience for rheumatoid arthritis. And you can — if there’s, I mean, if you want to you can talk about the fibromyalgia and endometriosis diagnosis as well. But yeah, can you walk us through a little bit, like, what were your initial symptoms? And, you know, what was your treatment like by medical providers? Even though you’re — you’ve been a nurse for how long, sorry?
Catina:
Yes, I’ve been a nurse for 16 years. But I’ve worked in the healthcare industry for over 23 years now, this year. So, I’ve had a long career in the health and wellness industry.
Cheryl:
Well, and it’s — so, it’s always I don’t know why I’m still surprised. But when people are like, you have the expertise of a nurse and you presented with symptoms. And it’s, I don’t want to tell you your story, but you weren’t even taken perfectly seriously. So, let’s. I’ll give you the microphone to share a little about that.
Catina
Yes. So, literally, to be honest, my symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis started very early in my — they started in childhood, actually, from the moment and to be honest with you, everything literally seemed to start around the same time that I started my menstrual cycle. And I developed symptoms that I now know, more than 25 years later, was consistent with endometriosis. So, once I started developing those symptoms, soon after, I also started developing pain in my joints and my hands and my knees and in my feet and toes, very young. And I would say as early as 11, 12 years old. And when I go to my doctors, they always informed me that it was, “Oh, I’m too young to have anything like arthritis, it’s just growing pains.” But those growing pains consistently extended to be throughout my life, throughout my teenage years. And I just — they informed me just take Tylenol, rest, you know, take a hot bath, and that’s what I would do.
But as life progressed, those symptoms would come and go. They would be intermittent. So, as my life progressed and in 2000, all the way up until 2012, I was in a very severe car accident. And in that car accident, during that car accident, my husband and I literally almost lost our lives. We were on vacation in Jamaica. And it was a very traumatic experience that resulted in PTSD as a result of it. But one of the other things that resulted was that those symptoms that would frequently come and go actually stayed constant from that time. And that’s when the swelling became consistent, and the pain in my hands and in my elbows, my knees, my feet, throughout my body became consistent. Because there was trigger point pain, the doctors originally said, “Oh, this is fibromyalgia.” And so, that was the original diagnosis. But fibromyalgia is not usually consistent with pains in your hands or the swelling that I was having to those areas. So eventually, I had to go to multiple different practitioners. Eventually, after going to about 12 different doctors, hand specialists, rheumatologists, different types of naturopaths and different types of physicians, eventually, four years later, I finally was referred by my OBGYN by my primary care physician to one of her friends who took me seriously.
Previous to that, a doctor told me your pain is in your head. If you see swelling — if you think swelling, you’ll see swelling; if you think pain, you’ll feel pain. This was me as a registered nurse hearing this. And finally, as I mentioned, the doctor who my primary care physician referred me to after me letting her know, “Listen, I’ve been in consistent pain now for four years. And I’m not getting any help. I’m trying natural things that give me some relief. But I need actually medical attention to these issues.” In time, I was able to get the solutions, but right after that, once that rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis was provided, and I got the treatments, I was able to get more relief and in combination with some of the natural things I tried, as well as was able to get additional diagnoses. Finally, the endometriosis was finally diagnosed as well. So, around — before, it was considered just I was having fibroids and cysts. But it seems as if they realized that, “Oh, you have rheumatoid arthritis. So, this connects to this condition as well,” as I did research and my doctors did research, actually, has a high level of patients with rheumatoid arthritis who also have all of these other conditions, female related conditions. So, my journey was that. A lifetime of chronic illness and pain, but no diagnosis until about 25 years of struggling. And after that traumatic car accident.
Cheryl:
Oh, my gosh. Well, first of all, I’m so sorry to hear about that car accident and the resulting PTSD. That’s just, it’s such a difficult experience to go through, even if you hadn’t already been living with so much chronic pain. So, thank you for sharing that. And I’m glad that you and your husband survived. And I wanted to ask just a couple follow up questions. Were you able to work during this time? Like, okay, how did you manage that? I think that to myself, sometimes; I think like, how did I do that? I don’t know. So, it’s okay, if you don’t know.
Catina:
You know, oftentimes, as — and I think it’s as women we push through, especially when I have lived so long with pain, I oftentimes will just continue to push through. And I would have times that I’ve had to take time off of work for periods of time, but I would go to work with my TENS unit on, go to work with my TENS unit on, with my essential oils, or whatever I needed to assist me, and just push through. And the funny thing is, that’s what a podiatrist that I saw said to me, and can we pause for a second.
Cheryl:
Yes.
Catina:
Yes, and the strange thing is, as you mentioned that, the podiatrist that I saw prior to my diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. I was going to him and he saw my feet and he said, “This is obviously rheumatoid arthritis. I don’t know why the doctors haven’t diagnosed you.” And he said, usually, people who have rheumatoid arthritis also have issues with neuroma’s, these small tumors that attach to the nerves, nerve endings. And that’s what I had. He said he had, in 36 years of his career, he had never seen someone with such bad, um, such a bad case of neuromas in his career. In fact, also because I have a foot deformity, I have fractures throughout my feet as well from the years of walking improperly that no one had ever addressed. As I was talking about this foot pain, no one ever took X-rays of my feet. No one — they never — “Just wear Dr. Scholl’s insoles,” is what I was always referred to do. He did ultrasounds in that first appointment. And he said, “This is rheumatoid arthritis. You have the most case of neuromas that I’ve ever seen in a person’s feet and ankles. And on top of it, you have fractures throughout your feet,” he said, how — he said, “How did you walk through all this pain?” and his answer was, only a woman could be able to have obviously be going through excruciating pain, but continue to push through. And that’s why I want, why I tell my story as a woman, is because we, we push through, but in pushing through, sometimes we can do more damage to ourselves than good. It’s important for us too, while we’re pushing through fighting for solutions and fighting for answers, because I endured pain for too long in my life without solutions. And it was it was not — it was, I don’t recommend or want that for anyone else.
Cheryl:
Absolutely. And I know that currently, there’s a lot more research being done on like racial disparities in health care. And I just, you know, want to, if you’re comfortable with me bringing it up, you know, that people, you know, black, indigenous, and people of color are much more likely to experience a delay in diagnosis for any condition that causes pain, like your pain. And, you know, it’s not taken as seriously as a Caucasian person like me, even though mine, just for the record, also wasn’t taken seriously for anyone listening. So, there’s also the intersection between, you know, feminine, you know, women’s issues, you know, gender, and race, but I can’t help but think that must maybe had something to do with it as well. I don’t know what your thoughts are on that, if you want to speak to it.
Catina:
Yes, I’m definitely comfortable with speaking to that because actually, you know, as a health professional, and as a black woman, I definitely have experienced that, you know. And I’ve seen it throughout my life, seeing how the disparities between the patients that are cared for and the disparities between the care I received, and also close friends and family members of mine, their experiences, you know, are unfortunately we live in a society that does — is not only a patriarchy, but it also is a society that still has all of these deficits that are today could be associated with stereotypes and can be, it can influence the way that people care for someone because of the color of their skin, or these perceptions that they have carried with them. And they don’t even know that they have them because especially as a registered nurse to tell the nurse that if you think pain, you will feel pain, if you think swelling, you’ll see swelling, and to think that someone who’s not asking for pain medicine is seeking pain medicine. Imagine what that podiatrist saw in my feet. Imagine the excruciating pain I was going through.
I should be someone who really needed pain medications, but I never requested it. I requested solutions, I requested diagnostic testing. And unfortunately, the society we live in, has created an area that the delayed care that people of color receive, black women and men and other people of other races receive, also leads to poor results in their health. Meaning their delayed care means that these that you’re at increased risk for other conditions like pulmonary hypertension, or cardiac, the effects of it affecting your heart. So, sometimes those things are not genetic, but it’s because of the delayed care that you now have these additional health conditions. So, it really is something that needs to be addressed in our society and these type of conversations. I’m so glad that you asked that question. Actually, it brings attention to it. It doesn’t matter what your socioeconomic status is, what your profession is. If you are a person of color, there’s a great chance that you will not receive the care and the treatment that you deserve. But you can work to get it back through self-advocacy. And that’s one of the things that are a part of the things that I teach and educate people about, is the importance to advocate for yourself, and to find the providers that are going to provide you the care and treatment and respect that you deserve.
Cheryl:
Thank you so much for sharing that. And yeah, it’s really fascinating that you can see it from both the patient and the health provider perspective, you know, witnessing disparities over the years. And I know that the American College of Rheumatology has been doing a lot of efforts over the last couple years, you know, that are trying to say, hey, you know, even just updating the textbooks, you know. You say, okay, they say, for rheumatoid arthritis, warm, tender pink skin on your joints. It’s like, well, wait a minute, you know, that’s, it’s pink, if you’re Caucasian, like me, I’ve like transparent skin. Like, I could, like, see my veins through my skin, but it’s not gonna necessarily look pink on everyone’s skin, you know. And they’re updating the pictures that go on the textbooks for the lupus rash and everything. So, just even, it’s so many layers to it, you know. It’s the treatment you get in terms of being listened to, and those kind of soft skills, and just the kind of default quote-unquote ‘person’ that is talked about. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard this, like, you know, it’s like when people talk about the ‘default person’ is like a male in general, or like, the ‘default person’ is like, a Caucasian person in our culture. S,o anyways, yeah, thank you for sharing about that. And, you know, like, it’s just wonderful that you’re able to, like you said, turn your negative experiences, or your uncomfortable experiences with having to suffer so long, so long, too long without the answers, and now you’re helping others through your coaching. And I want to get into that, but first, I keep meaning to ask, what nursing setting were you in? Like, what kind of nursing were you doing?
Catina:
You know, throughout my current 16 years as a nurse, and prior to that, the other ancillary work that I did within the health and wellness industry, I have worked from the hospital setting to the clinic setting. And thankfully, I was able to maneuver my career to a work-from-home setting. So, I currently also work in the corporate side of things, in quality, quality assurance as far as ensuring that the healthcare data that we process is meeting the standards, that members and patients are getting the quality of care that they deserve, and it’s been documented appropriately. So, it was nice and a blessing because not everyone with disabilities or with rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions are able to have that opportunity to work-from-home. But when my career transitioned, it was at the perfect time. It was actually before that car accident took place. And it allowed me the opportunity to be able to have more flexibility to be able to go to my room and lay down when I need to and get back to work and still be productive from my bed if I need to. So yes, I worked, like I said, from the hospital setting, clinic setting. And now, for several years, I’ve been working from home. And I really appreciated that, especially in the times we’re living in right now.
Cheryl:
I was gonna say, I think so many will resonate with that. And it actually is so great you mentioned that because — or, sorry, the reason I said actually is that most people would not imagine that there’d be a lot of opportunities to work as a nurse from home. Like, it would almost seem like that’s one of the least likely, in my brain, like my stereotype of what it would be like to be a nurse is like, oh, you have to be on your feet 12 hours a day. Like, my sister’s a night shift NICU, neonatal ICU nurse, and so she’s gone and from like 8pm to 8am, or gone longer than that including the commute. But point being, you know, it’s great to know that like, in the OT world, we call those ‘non-clinical jobs’. I don’t know if it’s the same or aren’t, you know, but you don’t have to necessarily be at the bedside to still do that career because I know, I get that question a lot from people with rheumatoid arthritis or other inflammatory rheumatic diseases, you know, they, a lot of us are interested in working in health care, right. And, you know, in your case, you worked in health care before your official diagnosis, but you clearly lived with health, you know, challenges for a while. But then there’s this, there’s this fear of like, am I gonna be able to actually sustain that job. Like, am I gonna be too tired? So, it’s great that you found a job and within nursing where you can use your nursing skills and expertise while still meeting your body’s needs for rest, and yeah, that’s wonderful. Yay! I’m sorry, I’m really bad at ending sentences. This is only Episode 61. So, I’m still learning.
Catina:
That’s okay. I’m just like that.
Cheryl:
Oh, I know. It’s okay. You know what, people like listening, hopefully, people like listening to real people, which is, we’re real. We make mistakes. That’s okay. Yeah. So, okay, so now, again, attempting to be linear. So, I want to hear more if you want to share more about, you know, how your journey inspired you to help others through your LLC and other endeavors called Nurse Loves Essentials — which I love that name, sorry, just to begin with, that’s a great name. And, yeah, can you walk us through a little bit about how did that evolve? And what do you do today with that?
Catina:
Yes. You know, as when I transitioned my career from the setting, from the hospital setting, clinic setting, to working from home. Initially, it was my first stage was doing coaching for an insurance company, where I would do disease management for chronic illnesses for that particular company. And I enjoyed it very much. And I just remembered as I transitioned my career further into the quality assurance area things and auditing, and that I was getting pulled away from that thing that brought me that joy, that really filled my tank where I was actually having that one-on-one connection with the patients and the members.
So, and when 2020 hit and I had more time on my hands, I realized that I was really missing that aspect of things. And I noticed how on social media, there were so many people who were providing education on things like, you know, how to be confident, or educational on social media strategies, things like that. And I was like, I don’t see many people who look like me who are providing education on health and wellness. And I said, another thing I don’t see is anyone providing that specifically to our community, with people with autoimmune diseases and chronic illnesses. But that’s because I believed that I have not actually seen it yet. And it was when I said, when one day it just came to me, I was like, I want to educate people about their health; I want to help people through their journeys. I’ve been doing that for my friends and family members for some time, why not grow that? And I started my page on Instagram in June. And I woke up one morning said, well, I’m going to post my first real post. So, let’s see what happens. It was my first public page, ever. So, I was like, I don’t know what, I started out with zero followers. And, um, a month later that zero followers or likes was like, 250. And I was like, wait a minute, I’m on to something here. I can literally take this to actually creating a coaching business because people were reaching out to me asking me, “Would you — are you providing coaching? Could you be my coach?” and I was like, okay, that’s the next phase. Let me go ahead and start those services.
So, once I created my LLC, I created my paid website, and I started seeing clients. And I tell you, it’s been the most fulfilling thing that I’ve done, honestly, to really be able to connect with people and see them transform. As with Nurse Loves Essentials, as I say that I assist women with chronic illnesses and autoimmune diseases to reach their best quality of life. And my focus is on mindset, self-advocacy, and educating and implementing on natural holistic methods. And my goal, and what I do for women is a system with decreasing that time of struggle that I went through. It’s important for us to learn how to thrive and not just survive our conditions. And that’s what my journey was. It went from, I’ve left that world of bedside nursing, but I still want that connection. I still want to help others. And what better way to help others then doing something that connects to our personal journeys. And that’s been a blessing for me and a privilege, and I’m so excited to continue in this journey.
Cheryl:
Yeah, that’s so great. I really do think that working with people, just in general, the helping fields like occupational therapy or, you know, nursing, or teaching, you know, these are fields that are, you know, counselling, they’re like a calming, right. So, yeah, like, I also have left like a traditional, you know, occupational therapy, you know, work setting. But it’s like, I always knew I was going to come back to, like, you know, doing it like now I do. And I use my skills through more of like a coaching, you know, model versus a direct therapy model. But anyway, I really resonate with that, you know, being able to say, okay, like, here’s the struggles I had, and here’s how you can kind of fast track yourself to a better quality of life, and not have to do it the hard way. Like we did it, right?
Catina:
Please, avoid the hard way. And I will say that Cheryl is doing an amazing job with all the life hacks that she shows, I even look at and I’m like, “Oh, I need to apply that.” So, I appreciate everything that you’re doing, too. You’re doing an amazing job educating and teaching others and that’s beautiful to take what you’ve learned from your occupational therapy background, and incorporate it into really touching the lives of others. So, if no one ever told you…
Cheryl:
Oh, thank you.
Catina:
We all are admiring you. Not just me, because I read through the comments too, we all admire everything that you are doing. So, keep up the amazing work.
Cheryl:
Thank you. And right back at you. Um, it’s amazing. I actually did not know until today that you didn’t even start your page till June of 2021. Because yeah, now you have 1,585 followers at the time of this recording, which is amazing. And it’s also you know, of course, the depth, like the depth of impact is just as important as the breadth, you know. And so, um, so I do think you mentioned you, you didn’t see anyone — I want to touch on that — you didn’t see anyone that looked like you in the kind of coaching and wellness world. And that really is something that I know that some organizations like I mentioned, the American College of Rheumatology and like Creaky Joints, which is an advocacy non-profit for multiple health conditions including arthritis conditions, it’s like, really trying to — a lot of people are trying to amplify, you know, voices of people of color, not just have the, you know… There was a really great Instagram post I saw once that said, “Not everyone with a chronic illness as a skinny white woman,” you know? And I’m like, gosh, I am, like — I mean, all I can do is share my own personal story, right, on a daily basis, because just for capacity, but also I do feel an obligation to amplify the voices of people that are not, you know, not necessarily again that like kind of default image that comes up for people when they look up, oh, rheumatoid arthritis. Like, I even was trying to, you know, look on Tik Tok, okay, for people who are not skinny white women who have rheumatoid arthritis, and like, I had to scroll for a long time. And that might also be because my feed is curated for what they think I’m interested in. So, that might, you know, might be my fault, too, for not — anyway. There’s problems.
Catina:
Theres problems. So, but this is the other thing that I admire about you, is that while you may be, as you mentioned, that the default, you are doing the work to make it inclusive. Diversity and inclusion, inclusion and diversity, is important throughout all aspects of our life. It shouldn’t just be about our work environments, it should be seen across social media, and in all aspects of our lives. And you, even having me on here and openly discussing this, because that is a problem, that when people don’t see people who look like them, it is sometimes difficult for them to connect to the journeys and the stories. But when we make it inclusive, it helps so many people. It broadens the audience and the impact that we all can have together. And we need to come together, especially in the autoimmune disease, chronic illness, rheumatoid arthritis, whichever we connect on, communities, because we need solutions. We need support. But we need it for everyone, not just not just the default client or patient. It needs to be for everyone and I appreciate the work you’re doing to improve that.
Cheryl:
Thank you. I just, you know, I’ve mentioned before but just you know, for anyone listening you know, privilege doesn’t mean that you did anything wrong. Sometimes people will get, or like Caucasian people or white people kind of are like, “Well, it’s not my fault.” or, you know, like, “I didn’t do anything,” it’s like, acknowledging you have privilege doesn’t mean that you made a mistake. It just means that you have an advantage, and unearned advantage, through no work of your own, just through what you were born looking like and your socio economics, potentially. You know, I think that health privilege kind of helps people realize, yeah, like, it’s not someone’s fault who was born with a health condition, you know, but that — or someone who was not born with health condition. If you’re born totally healthy, you have a health privilege. It doesn’t mean that you did something wrong, but it means that you have an advantage, you know, if you were born able to move your body versus somebody with like, severe cerebral palsy, you know. Anyway, but I want to, I want to make sure I talk about mindset a little bit because that’s like, I always joke that for Arthritis Life, my real tagline for myself, for my business, is ‘Come for the life hacks, stay for the emotional support’, because I love sharing life hacks, and that’s like, part of the bread and butter of occupational therapy. But the deeper work is, what really kind of lights me up, is like figuring out how do we accept and how do we, you know, persevere and you mentioned thriving, you know, how do we thrive mentally, not just physically while living with chronic illness? So, you know, what are some of the tips, I guess, mindset tips — mindset being like a broad word that people interpret differently — but mindset tips that you find helpful for you managing multiple chronic pain conditions?
Catina:
Yeah, well, you know, strangely enough, I was just talking to another person that you’re aware of, you know, are Cristina Montoya, Arthritis Dietitian, she is a good friend of mine. And we were talking about this exact same thing not long before this, that the importance of mindset. How intrinsic it is in order for us to be able to cope with living with it. Now, mindset does not heal you. But it is a starting point to it. Because as I mentioned to you, I myself lived, suffered from PTSD as a result of the car accident, and also from depression. But it was me really having changing my mindset to get the help that I needed at that time. And also, learning to do things that actually helped me to heal emotionally and mentally. For me, that’s journaling as a major part of it. And that’s also why I partnered with MindFlight journal, because they’re a chronic illness journal. They have a chronic illness journal that helps you not only to document your health, your health conditions, but also to improve the mindset towards positivity through prompts and more. And that particular, um, journaling has helped me. I’m a person who does also — I’m a poet and a songwriter. When I went back to literally writing my thoughts and writing positive affirmations, citing those, and then looking at my health condition through the eyes, through the eyesight of growth mindset rather than seeing it as this terrible thing that was placed upon me, “I don’t know if I can live anymore with this,” you have those moments that you feel like that. Literally, in limbo stages where I could barely — when my feet touch the ground, and it would bring me to my knees in pain and crying or waking up in that, it can be so hard to see the brighter side of things. But the beautiful thing is, the beautiful side of things, was that I was still living, and I still had time to find solutions. I could do things little by little that could help me. Implementing, like I said, natural, holistic things such as essential oils, or finding naturopath physicians and practitioners that could help me.
So, that’s what I encourage is, let’s look at growth, look at our health, from this mindset of growth mindset. Let’s see that each thing that we go through is a learning experience. And see every challenge is something that we can and we will overcome, and never give up in doing that. And what also helps me in that area was connecting with others and finally sharing my story. The problem is oftentimes we go through things and we isolate. And we stay quiet because we don’t think that anyone else is going through what we’re going through. But like you said, look at my page. I started at zero to over 1,500 in this timeframe. And then there’s up many other accounts of people with autoimmune diseases and chronic illnesses. There’s so many people like us. What it none of us started a page? What if none of us actually reached out and connected with our friends and family members and others to share our journeys? How can we help others learn to thrive and not just survive by showing how we did it? And that’s what my mindset was, is that I need to share what I have experienced to help and change the lives of others. And it started with that flicker of, hey, what we hear in the corporate side of things about growth mindset, I look at health from that side, that mindset too, developing that wellness mindset throughout life. So, it’s really what has helped me to overcome my challenges and to overcome the battles and struggles with depression and PTSD from long periods of time of chronic pain. Now, I see I’m so happy each day to wake up and I start it off journaling and with positive affirmations.
Cheryl:
That’s amazing. And I just have to ask, did you go through any formal therapy with a psychologist or psychiatrist or counsellor for the PTSD, specifically?
Catina:
I didn’t. I did not go through formal with a therapist. What I did, and to be honest with you, my doctors became my therapist. I’ve had long relationships with them. And I’m so comfortable with them. It was while I was working with that particular primary care physician who I’ve had as a doctor now for 11 years or so, and my OB/GYN who helped me through those struggles with endometriosis. Literally, they had those conversations with me. And I did have to receive some treatment at one point, of medication to assist me through the process. But once I got on my feet, and I got to see things clearer, that’s when these other techniques that I was implementing really helped me. Now, I do encourage others who, when you are struggling with mental health, and when you are not able to find ways to overcome it, when each day just becomes a burden to you, don’t let it even get to that point. Literally, open up and talk about it. In the health industry, in the clinic setting, there’s an assessment that’s done, that’s called a PHQ9. And as a nurse, when I answer those questions, I could easily just tell an untruth or tell a lie about how I was feeling. But I finally was very honest about how I was feeling. And my doctor then provided me this, what I needed to be able to cope. And then, once I got on that journey implementing other mindset techniques helped me through the process. And believe it or not, nutrition, exercise has a lot to do with how we feel overall, too. And I wasn’t doing well in those areas at one point. So, yes, but I do highly recommend answering those questions, you know, correctly and appropriately and honestly — not correctly, honestly. And getting the help that you personally need. And it’s different for each person.
Cheryl:
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And one of my little, um, what would I say, soap boxes that I do, I really think that there is a stigma against getting help. And I will say that — getting formal help, you know. And I didn’t go seek to seek real therapy from a, you know, a psychologist until I was having a lot of symptoms of postpartum depression, and I still didn’t actually seek it until my son was a little over a year old. Because I was like, okay, now this is lasting too long. Like, this is, you know, I kept thinking it’s about to get better. And that’s where sometimes a mindset that’s over optimistic actually is not helpful, right. Because I was kind of delusional. Like, anyway, so that’s my older story. But so, this is where I think there’s so many different tangents I could go on. But I will say, for any psychologist or health providers listening, there is a little bit of a awkwardness in the balance, I think, sometimes in the communities between like, anyone right now could call themselves a health coach. Like, I could literally just open a website and be like, “I’m a health coach, and I’m going to coach your mindset, and I’m going to help you heal all your traumas.” And like, there is a point at which people need — so, I know, I’m not saying that you’re doing this. So, first of all you already are, you’re a nurse, and so you already have some expertise. But like, if you’re experiencing like a lot of issues, like getting pleasure out of activities and things that formerly brought you pleasure or if you’re experiencing a lot of anxiety, and my symptoms were more anxiety, which feels really productive.
Like, when you feel anxiety, it’s like the opposite of depression, right, in some ways. Like, because depression isn’t sadness, right. Depression is a lack of volition and a lack of feeling. So, you kind of like feel nothing. And then, so, anxiety is like feeling too much. You’re like, I’m worried, I’m worried, I’m freaked out. Like, what’s gonna happen? And so, — uh-oh, where’d my train of thought go — oh, point being that like, you know, there’s a point where yes, like some random person calling themselves a health coach, I’m sure it would have been helpful for me to get some kind of mindset coaching or health coaching. But I really needed like a formal — like, the complexity of what I was going through with managing — how am I supposed to know if I’m finding pleasure in former activities. If I’ve never been a mom before? How much pleasure am I supposed to have? Like, I don’t — you know what I mean? I was just, there was rheumatoid arthritis flare up, and there was — so, long story short, just for anyone who’s really struggling, I think when I hear PTSD, I think, oh, my gosh. Like, you know, first of all, you’re obviously clearly a very mentally strong person. So, like, as evidenced by like, literally a doctor saying, like, in 36 years, I’ve never seen anyone who can just like, walk with feet like yours, like, so don’t feel bad if you’re like, “Wow, she didn’t even quote-unquote ‘need to go’ to a psychologist or psychiatrist, like, maybe I don’t have to.” Like, if you’re struggling, it’s so good to get the help you need. And again, I’ve had health coaches and chronic illness coaches on the podcast other than you and I don’t, I’m not bashing anyone. But you know what I’m saying? There’s like a little bit of an awkwardness.
Catina:
Yeah, I agree. Because we need to get the appropriate provider to give us the appropriate care when we need it. Now, all of us are on different spectrums of things. And you would have to understand why I may have not went ahead that traditional route, but we would have to — that would be a whole another story that goes from childhood to now. But thankfully, I was able to get the help from my primary care physician and the treatment that I needed, and then to be able to utilize those mindset strategies. But I do not feel that as a nurse, I don’t function as a therapist, I don’t function as a nutritionist, those are not my scope of care. You know, that everyone needs to function within the scope that is appropriate to them. As a nurse, I have a background of training that most health coaches do not. So, that’s also why I chose to go into this area, because I also didn’t see a lot of nurses who were using their knowledge and their experience and evidence-based practice understanding to really help others. But I totally support if you need or if you have health conditions such as this, most — in most cases, you need a doctor to treat your condition. I believe that we can use natural methods in conjunction with medicinal methods to reach the optimal health care, you know, optimal level of health that we each can achieve. I do not believe that you, if you have health conditions, that the only solution is natural, natural, natural. We all hope that it would be. But it’s not always the case. I take Humira, okay. That’s, that’s, you know, I take Humira. But I also utilize many other natural things. But please, please seek the appropriate health care and treatment that you need from the appropriate professionals and understand where a coach is supposed to assist and what their scope of care should be. But I do agree with you. You are not bashing, you’re telling the truth. And I believe in the truth.
Cheryl:
Yeah, no. And thank you. Yeah, you summarized that better than I was. And, you know, I, yeah, I think that everyone’s just looking for, you know, looking to get the best quality of life they can possibly get. And, you know, I’m very open with the fact that I’ve been on biologics for 19 years, you know. I’ve had a couple of different ones and, you know, the end. So, I do share people’s stories, who, you know, and I have also integrated some lifestyle interventions, of course, and I teach them in my Rheum to THRIVE program and my Rheumatoid Arthritis Roadmap course. But yeah, I think that, yeah, and a one-or-the-other approach is not really the most helpful for most people. It’s not Natural versus Western. It’s, which one of both of these can help me the most, you know, and trial and error. So, gosh, I want to talk about so many more things. But unfortunately, I have a time constraint. And our listeners also don’t have endless time. So, sadly, is there anything else that you’d like to share that I didn’t already ask about, or any advice you have for newly diagnosed patients? Those are always the questions I like to end on.
Catina:
Yes. You know, the truth is what we just talked about basically sums up what a new person needs to understand. Most, you know, we live in a time where natural is the hope for everyone. And when you’re diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, or autoimmune, any chronic illnesses, it can be a challenge to know where to get the best source of truth and what’s going to work for you. But the truth is, it’s a journey. It is a journey, but it does not have to be a journey in which you struggle consistently. It can be a journey in which you grow, and you understand things, and you see that in many cases, it will come down to mindset. Having the mindset to be able to understand that I’m going through challenges, but you know what? I can get through this. But not a mindset that’s going to lead to delusions, like you said. Bow, we’re not saying positive mindset is all that there is. But that positive mindset is a stepping stone to you seeking the treatment that you need from the appropriate professionals, and also combining in those natural holistic methods that can assist you. It took me some time to find the ones that worked well for me. I’m a person who went from taking 10 different medications to now only taking one, which is my biologic. And that is something that can be possible. But for others, if — but just as I mentioned, I’m taking a medicine, but combining it with natural and holistic methods.
So, consider all of the array of options that you have. Don’t limit yourself to just one thing, and don’t get disappointed because one thing doesn’t work. Try more. Try all of the things that you’re comfortable with, and know that your journey can be one in which you thrive, and which you still see yourself reaching your health goals. And that you can have success despite your chronic illnesses. I’m proof for you. I’m a person who lives for over 25 years with multiple chronic illnesses. But I’ve still been able to maintain, find ways to work from home. And that’s worked for me. And also, to start becoming an entrepreneur, something I never thought as a nurse that I would be able to do. And then, to be able to have the opportunity to share my journey with wonderful people like Cheryl, who is doing so much within the community. This is what my goal was, was to connect with a community that uplifts, inspires, educates, and motivates. And I want you, all of my newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis warriors, to connect with this community and find the joy, you know, and you will experience the joy that comes from really not just learning from each other, but inspiring one another. So, that’s all I have to share on that. And I hope that it has touched you all. But thank you, Cheryl. I tell you, it was so nice to meet you, I’ll tell you.
Cheryl:
Me too! Seriously, I really want to come down to Florida and visit you.
Catina:
It is right in Tampa, come on down. I mean, the sun is shining out there right now, you can see it coming through the window just a bit. But definitely, come on down. And I look forward to more discussions because it felt like we had so much more to talk about.
Cheryl:
I know. Yeah, we need to have another follow up for sure. But yeah, thank you so, so much. And people can find you at Nurse Loves Essentials, right. And that’s, you have a website plus Instagram, Twitter, everything else. So, I’ll put all those links in the show notes.
Catina:
Thank you so much for that. And also, if I could mention too, I’ll mention that MindFlight journal. If you’re interested in it, you can use my coupon code, all capital letters, NURSELOVE for a 15% discount, and you can check out their website as well to learn more about it. Or on my page, I bring information about as well. So, that’s one thing that the audience can have, is that nice coupon code that will assist them in starting that journey of journaling, and that healing through mindset techniques.
Cheryl:
Oh, that’s wonderful. Thank you. And thank you for everything you’ve done. I’m really, really impressed by what you’ve been able to accomplish in, what is it, seven months or eight months; it’s incredible. It really is. Like, you’ve taken all your different personal experiences and professional skills and kind of combined them into a wonderful set of resources and inspiration. Like you said, it was really, it was really — what’s the word — eloquent? It was like you said, inspire, uplift motivate, and educate. Is that what you said? Yeah, that’s perfect. I resonate with that. My memory works. Yay! Yay, I conquered brain fog. No, thank you so much. I look forward to talking again.
Catina:
Thank you. You have a wonderful day.
Cheryl:
You too. Bye-bye.
[Ending music]
I am retired. But I remember what it was like being a Psych RN & having RA & Sjogren’s.