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Turning Pain into Purpose, with RA Warrior Cristina Schaefer

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Summary:

On this episode, Cheryl talks with Cristina Schaefer, who’s been living with rheumatoid arthritis for nearly 20 years. Christina shares what it was like to be diagnosed as a young adult, face a tough postpartum flare, and learn to advocate for herself in a complex healthcare system.

Cristina and Cheryl reflect on how RA has shaped their lives, and the deep sense of purpose they’ve found in supporting others on a similar path. They highlight the power of self-advocacy, the comfort of community, and the resilience it takes to live well with RA.

 If you’re feeling overwhelmed or alone in your diagnosis, this honest and empowering conversation will remind you: you’re not in this alone—and your voice matters.

Episode at a glance:

  • Christina’s Journey with Rheumatoid Arthritis: Early symptoms and the relief of finally getting a diagnosis, coping with depression, chronic pain, and postpartum flare-ups,  and navigating treatment options and finding the right doctor
  • The Power of Self-Advocacy and Community: How this helped Cristina feel more empowered and supported while managing chronic illness
  • Volunteer Work and Advocacy: How Cristina’s journey with RA has led to her work with the Arthritis Foundation 
  • Turning pain into purpose: How RA has led both Cheryl and Cristina to have a passion for helping others and raising awareness

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, an online course and support program Cheryl created to help people with rheumatic disease go from overwhelmed, confused and alone to confident, supported and connected. See all the details and join the program or waitlist now! 

Speaker Bios:

Cristina Schaefer

Cristina has been living with rheumatoid arthritis for twenty years. She is an active volunteer for the Arthritis Foundation, on both the local and national level. In addition to her work on the Patient Perspectives Panel, she served as the National Chair for the Walk to Cure Arthritis and is the Chair of her local leadership board in Houston, TX. She was recently awarded the prestigious Champion Award at the Arthritis Foundation’s National Pathways Conference, for her advocacy, fundraising, and volunteer efforts. Cristina works full-time as the Director of Social Media and as an on-camera personality for the Houston Association of Realtors. She hosts an award-winning weekly livestream show called “Member Focus Monday” and co-hosts the HAR On The Move podcast. Cristina also teaches classes and gives keynote presentations on technology and social media marketing to REALTORS® all over the state of Texas. Cristina lives in Houston with her “rocks”, her husband William, daughter Cadence, and new baby boy Liam.

Cheryl Crow

Cheryl is an occupational therapist who has lived with rheumatoid arthritis for over twenty 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:

Full Episode Transcript:

[00:00:00] Cheryl Crow: Okay. I am so excited today to be joined by Christina Schaeffer. Welcome, Christina. 

[00:00:16] Cristina Shaefer: Hi, Cheryl. Thanks for having me. 

[00:00:18] Cheryl Crow: Thank you so much for coming on. And can you just let the audience know as a quick intro, where do you live and what is your relationship to arthritis? 

[00:00:27] Cristina Shaefer: I live in League City, Texas, which is a suburb of Houston, Texas.

[00:00:32] Cristina Shaefer: I live about 30 minutes outside of Houston and I’ve, I have a long-term relationship with rheumatoid arthritis. I’ve been diagnosed with RA for about 20 years. 

[00:00:43] Cheryl Crow: Nice. Yeah. And, and I, just a little background. We first met each other ’cause you were co-hosting an episode or you were hosting an episode of the Arthritis Foundations Live Yes.

[00:00:53] Cheryl Crow: Arthritis podcast. And it was funny how many similarities we had. Yeah. ’cause yeah, I also, I now, this year, 2025. It’s my 22 year anniversary of having rheumatoid arthritis. Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:01:04] Cristina Shaefer: We, we have very similar stories. It’s, it’s kind of funny how that happens. 

[00:01:09] Cheryl Crow: Yeah. Well, and that’s, yeah, we’re gonna talk a lot more about that, what happens when you start doing advocacy and volunteer work and making connections and how important that is on this episode.

[00:01:18] Cheryl Crow: Mm-hmm. But I wanted to first share or start with your personal story because so many people feel, alone or lost when they first get diagnosed. And it’s nice. It’s important to share our stories, as you know. So you know, when and how did you get diagnosed and what was your initial response to the diagnosis?

[00:01:39] Cristina Shaefer: So, at the time that I was diagnosed, again, it was about 20 years ago, I was going to school full time and working full time and, you know, just living a, a normal young adult life. But I started experiencing massive swelling in my hands and wrists to the point where it looked almost like my fingers might pop if you touch them too, too, too hard.

[00:02:03] Cristina Shaefer: So, they, so massive swelling, but then also my knees and elbows were locking up. I would’ve kind of experienced the T-Rex arms that some people tend to tend to have sometimes, or when I was sitting for a prolonged period of time and I would go to sleep, stand, my knees were, they couldn’t straighten out.

[00:02:19] Cristina Shaefer: I couldn’t straighten my legs. My knees were so stiff. So this went on for a little while and I finally went to go see my primary care physician. And he I, I kind of, I tell people I kind of lucked out because sometimes people, they go through months, years, different doctors trying to get a diagnosis.

[00:02:37] Cristina Shaefer: But my primary care physician at the time, his daughter had just been diagnosed with lupus. So he was very familiar with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, and he said, I think you might have something called rheumatoid arthritis. He, he was like, why don’t you take these the anti-inflammatory medicine for a little while and see if it helps at all?

[00:02:58] Cristina Shaefer: And if not, I’m gonna refer you to a rheumatologist. And it really didn’t help very much because it was so severe at the time. And so he ended up referring me to a rheumatologist who very promptly diagnosed me with RA. So that, that’s a little bit about the, the diagnosis process and, and just kind of what happened there.

[00:03:18] Cheryl Crow: Yeah, I mean, I’m so glad that you had that primary care doc that was so on top of it. And because, you know, I’m, I’m sure some of you listening know that the earlier you get diagnosed and treated, the better your long-term prognosis, especially if it gets severe really quickly. Like in your case, it sounded like it was in multiple joints, both sides of the body really.

[00:03:42] Cheryl Crow: Big amount of swelling. And I, I know it’s funny that, that, I like that description of the T-Rex arms. I actually hadn’t heard that before, but I’ve totally felt that especially with the knees sometimes when waking up. Yeah. So what were you studying at the time? Just outta curiosity. 

[00:03:59] Cristina Shaefer: I was going to college and I was studying communications at the time.

[00:04:03] Cristina Shaefer: Yeah. So, but I was, I was doing that full time and working full time, so just putting so much stress on my body 

[00:04:09] both: mm-hmm. 

[00:04:09] Cristina Shaefer: And, you know, and my mind, and it was just, it, it, you know, really came out in the diagnosis, I think just the, all the stress that I was under. 

[00:04:19] Cheryl Crow: Yeah. And, you know, oftentimes when people get diagnosed or people ask me, what was your diagnosis like?

[00:04:25] Cheryl Crow: They’re expecting me to say I was really upset or sad about it in my case because I didn’t know why I was suffering before. When I got that diagnosis and they told me that it had a name and there was a treatment for it, and there was hope for relief, I actually felt relieved personally. I’m curious, in your case, how did it feel when that rheumatologist gave you that confirmation that you do have this condition?

[00:04:49] Cristina Shaefer: Yeah. You know, when my, I, I don’t know why, looking back on it, I don’t know why when my primary care physician mentioned it. I didn’t, you know, I di I guess I didn’t take it quite seriously. I thought, what is he, I’ve never even heard of what he just mentioned. What is he talking about? I’m fine.

[00:05:04] Cristina Shaefer: You know, I was an invincible young adult at the time, and so I, I didn’t, there was, there was no acceptance with my primary care, but once I saw my rheumatologists and he explained what it was, he was an older man and I was his youngest patient. And so he really kind of, he, he was very careful in how he treated me.

[00:05:29] Cristina Shaefer: He was so kind, but also kind of did a little scared straight with me. You know, he let me know the facts and as you said, the the disease was attacking my joints and my body so quickly and so aggressively he told me, you know, if you don’t follow this treatment plan that I’m giving you, you’re gonna be in a wheelchair in, in just a few years.

[00:05:50] Cristina Shaefer: Just because of how bad I was I was doing after just a few months since the initial symptoms started. So, you know, but thankfully I look back on it, I’m so thankful that he was strict with me because he really kind of woke me up and opened my eyes to it and made me realize I needed to kind of stop what I was doing and pay attention to my body. And, you know, he really, again, helped me understand the severity of, of my disease. But yeah, you know, as far as the emotional response though I, you know, I dealt with some, some pretty severe depression. At the time, I was acting out, you know, again, I was a young adult, so I think a lot of people in my life just thought, you know, she’s just learning and growing and figuring out life.

[00:06:33] Cristina Shaefer: But I knew internally that a lot of that depression and anger that I had at the time had to do with RA because I kind of felt that my life was just stopping and I was so young to have to just stop for this diagnosis. So, yeah, it was, it was a tough one for me. I, I, and again, I, I know I’m lucky that I got the answer so easily and quickly from my doctor, but it was also just wait, what?

[00:06:58] Cristina Shaefer: This just happened. All of a sudden my hands hurt and now I have this diagnosis of this disease that has no cure. So it was, it was very scary and, and really took a lot out of me for quite some time. 

[00:07:11] Cheryl Crow: Well, that’s completely understandable, I think. And, you know, one thing I’ve learned through talking to so many people with arthritis is that there, there’s, everyone’s story is different.

[00:07:19] Cheryl Crow: You know, even if, let’s say both of us, you know, got diagnosed around the same age. Unless you were like a child prodigy. No. You’re like at 12. No. Sorry. I’m such do, but . But it’s you know, it’s the, the response is gonna be completely just depending. Yeah. I, I think I was. I think in retrospect I was blindly optimistic ’cause the doctor did say it’s very serious and they, they actually use that same line on my mom cause I wasn’t really getting it. And my, my mom wasn’t getting it either. The seriousness of it. ’cause she said, well, I only had one more left in year, left in school. I was in my junior year or I was in between my junior and senior year. So they were like. Oh, you have to go into this medicine that’s like thousands of dollars, like Enbrel at that time, and you have to refrigerate it.

[00:07:59] Cheryl Crow: Like why can’t, can’t she just start in a year? And they told, and is there something you can put her on until then? And they’re like, if you don’t do this now, she could be in a wheelchair in a year. And that’s when it really hit my mom. And and then I just kind of trusted her in the doctor.

[00:08:11] Cheryl Crow: I was like, okay, let’s, let’s do this. And I, but I was very blindly optimistic in a way. Sorry, this is like already going on tangent, but I feel like sometimes optimism is a form of denial. ’cause I was like, okay, well. Yes, it’s a lifelong condition, but I’m just gonna beat it. I’m just gonna, yeah. I’m gonna be the one that like is victorious against it.

[00:08:31] Cheryl Crow: And that’s like a form of not accepting it, right? Because you’re like, I’m actually not gonna make it. Not a big deal, you know? . So I think both ways. Long story short, both ways of responding. Yours and mine are completely valid and both have their own positives and negatives. You might look at my big, she was optimistic.

[00:08:48] Cheryl Crow: Yay. That’s great. And Christina was depressed. Boo, that’s wrong. But then it’s actually no, because my blind optimism made me not even accept what was happening at all. . So maybe you were actually, sorry this is gonna be going on a tangent, but you were actually like, really process 

[00:09:06] Cristina Shaefer: I was all in it.

[00:09:07] Cristina Shaefer: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was processing every detail of it. Yeah. 

[00:09:10] Cheryl Crow: Yeah. And you mentioned this is, you do not have to share anything you don’t wanna share, but you mentioned acting out. I’m curious what that what did that look like or, 

[00:09:18] Cristina Shaefer: Really just, you know, I was, I was angry with people in my life, you know, family.

[00:09:23] Cristina Shaefer: I, you know, again, I was going to school full-time and working full-time, and I started just kind of slacking off, not caring as much. I wasn’t, you know, doing poorly. I didn’t end up failing or getting fired or doing anything like that, but I was just, you know, I was just angry and I took it out on the people around me a lot.

[00:09:43] Cheryl Crow: Yeah, no, that’s what, in a weird way, I imagine that sometimes it’s like there’s this thing that’s out of your control that happened to you. 

[00:09:52] Cristina Shaefer: Mm-hmm. 

[00:09:52] Cheryl Crow: And it’s so frustrating that you’re like, well, why should I even try at anything? You know, and because I took, I had this thing of I took care of my body and it still revolted against me, so why didn’t I just do drugs?

[00:10:05] Cheryl Crow: You know what I mean? Yeah. I was gonna get sick anyway. I didn’t even, I didn’t even do drugs. Yeah, that’s, sorry. That’s much. I could 

[00:10:12] Cristina Shaefer: have been so much worse. 

[00:10:13] Cheryl Crow: Yes. Yeah. 

[00:10:14] Cheryl Crow: Yeah. If I was gonna get sick anyway, I didn’t need to be an an athlete and anyway. But that’s right. Yeah, that’s totally different.

[00:10:21] Cheryl Crow: But you know, I, I appreciate again, you sharing this ’cause I think. A lot of times people like you and I who are in maybe more public or leadership positions, like in the chronic illness community, sometimes it’s you. You kind of wanna be like that quote unquote, like the model patient or tell everyone I was perfect and then you just need to be like me, but it’s so important to be real.

[00:10:40] Cheryl Crow: Right? 

[00:10:40] Cristina Shaefer: Yeah. I mean, the reality was that I was diagnosed with an incurable illness that I’d never heard of. And it completely, you know, was, it was a jolt in my life and it completely changed the entire course of my life and the things that I was passionate, that I am passionate about, and the, the things that you know, were, it became important to me and the things that were no longer of any importance to me, you know, it really just, it, it changed everything because it had to change everything.

[00:11:11] Cristina Shaefer: I had to change. You know, my focus and pay more attention to my health. I had to now worry about insurance At the time, you know, I could be under my parents’ insurance only until 22. Now the law has changed and it’s, it’s up to 26. But, you know, I was getting right to the age where I was no longer going to be covered, and I had to figure out where am I gonna get insurance?

[00:11:33] Cristina Shaefer: Right? I, I have it through my job. Is it good enough? Is it going to work for the medication that I need? Right. So, because like you said. Those medications are thousands and thousands of dollars and I was needing it every six weeks at the time. So what, you know, how am I going to afford that if I, if I don’t have proper insurance?

[00:11:51] Cristina Shaefer: So my life had to change and my focus has had to change. And yeah, I, well, my rheumatologist may not agree. I think I’m a model patient today. Yeah. But at the time, you know, I, I was just as confused and lost as the next person who’s newly diagnosed with something that. You know, they never expected to be diagnosed with 

[00:12:11] Cheryl Crow: a a hundred percent.

[00:12:12] Cheryl Crow: I think I really relate to what you’re saying about insurance. I really, I, I stressed a lot about that, and that’s something that not a lot of people talk about is that in the United States, like your health insurance is tied to either employment or marriage, right? You got, if you’re, most people who are 21, 22 are not ha maybe married and don’t have a full-time job that would 

[00:12:36] Cristina Shaefer: mm-hmm.

[00:12:37] Cheryl Crow: Give you good benefits. So, so you mentioned, you alluded to the treatment journey. We are gonna talk mostly about other stuff, but I think it is, it is important to, to share, you know, what are some of the highlights and low lights of your. Whatever you wanna share about your, your treatments. Like in terms of, you know, what, what you’ve tried, what’s worked, what hasn’t worked.

[00:12:58] Cristina Shaefer: Yeah. So lemme pause for just a second. Do you want me to name specific? Okay.

[00:13:05] Cristina Shaefer: So as far as my treatment journey, again, that initial diagnosis, I was in terrible pain. I couldn’t move, and my doctor just started kind of giving me everything. So just like most patients, I immediately got put on methotrexate. I immediately got put on steroids and then we started Remicade treatments, which most people are probably familiar with Remicade treatments.

[00:13:28] Cristina Shaefer: And we started, you know, doing them in different intervals. First it was four weeks, then it was six weeks, and then we were able to pull back on steroids and pull back on methotrexate. So after a few years though we found the right dosage and right length of time that kinda that perfect cocktail as some people say.

[00:13:47] Cristina Shaefer: That worked for me and got me moving and I was able to really kind of, it was, you know, I guess about three years into my diagnosis and I was able to really live life. Without having to, you know, think about my RA all day every day because the medication had me in a controlled state. So that was wonderful.

[00:14:09] Cristina Shaefer: And that’s around the time, and I know we’ll talk about it later, but that was around the time that I think I, I got over that initial hump and now I feel better. And then I started volunteering. I kind of found the Arthritis Foundation after that, but. So that was probably the first high point, was kind of reaching that controlled state.

[00:14:27] Cristina Shaefer: Now probably the lowest low aside from the initial diagnosis was 10 days after one of the highest highs of my life, after my beautiful baby girl was born. 10 days after she was born, I woke up that morning and I went to feed her, and I experienced the most severe pain I’d ever felt in my life.

[00:14:47] Cristina Shaefer: I, I, my foot touched the ground and it was like I felt a radiating pain from my toes all the way up my, my ankle, my knee, my hip. Just my entire body. I just felt it all all over. It was like I woke up and I had just been hit with a ton of bricks and so that started what would be the worst flare of my life.

[00:15:09] Cristina Shaefer: And so I immediately, you know, had to get back into my rheumatologist. And at that point I was 10 days postpartum. I wasn’t on any medication at the time. There were things that I could be on , you know, during pregnancy, but I chose not to do that, so I was completely untreated. So had to get in and this time it took even longer.

[00:15:28] Cristina Shaefer: It was almost five years before we found a medication that was able to help. And kind of going through that process, I don’t think people realize how long that process of finding the right treatment plan takes, because it’s not only just, alright, we’re gonna try this medication. We have to wait x amount of time, usually about three months to see.

[00:15:51] Cristina Shaefer: Did this actually help? And also will the insurance now cover something else? So usually, you know, it’s about three months before you can even determine if something’s working and if you can even move on to a different medication. So, you know, kind of going down the list of. So many, I don’t, I honestly lost count of how many medications that we tried before we finally found something that was starting to work along that journey.

[00:16:15] Cristina Shaefer: And, you know, again it’s a degenerative disease. So in that time, I’m getting worse. I’m feeling worse. I’m not able to show up at work and at home and in my personal life the way I want to. I was losing my hair. You know, there’s just so many things that you’re going through during that time.

[00:16:33] Cristina Shaefer: So definitely a low low. But once I kind of, again, found a medication that worked for me I started feeling good again. I. 

[00:16:42] Cheryl Crow: Yeah, I really wish I had known you at that time. ’cause again, so similar. So I know you have an currently an 8-year-old and a five month old spoiler alert.

[00:16:51] Cheryl Crow: And I have an 11-year-old and I had such a similar, it was like within two weeks after he was born, I had been in unmedicated remission during the latter half of the pregnancy. And then was hoping to continue the unmedicated remission throughout breastfeeding and stuff like that. But so anyway, point, and then I had to completely change all of my plans.

[00:17:12] Cheryl Crow: Plans, yeah. Plans. Plans. That could be the title of the episode. Plans dot LOL, yeah. Laughing out loud. Plans and how they fail you. No. . But even just knowing that, I think, again, my, my blind optimism made me not even consider. Like the worst case is scenarios. . Where, you know, what, what would I do?

[00:17:36] Cheryl Crow: How would I get help if I, things were so hard postpartum, so I, I’m glad you’re bringing awareness to it. You can have a postpartum flare that does happen. 

[00:17:44] Cristina Shaefer: Mm-hmm. 

[00:17:45] Cheryl Crow: And whether you’re postpartum or not, that taking, finding that right cocktail, that cocktail medications and maybe the combination of medications and lifestyle variables.

[00:17:55] Cheryl Crow: Lifestyle interventions can take time and it can be a, a moving target. So sometimes I’m like, you know, I, my first TNF inhibitor worked super great, put me into remission for six years, and then outta the blue, it felt like my body created antibodies to it, which I didn’t even know could happen. . So, so, you know, I’m just, I’m, but I’m so sorry.

[00:18:13] Cheryl Crow: Under case that rollercoaster where you had the best day of your life when the baby was born, and then 10 days later 

[00:18:19] Cristina Shaefer: Yeah. 

[00:18:20] Cheryl Crow: It’s just, I think in learning how to be a mom and learning how to, . You are like, I don’t know if you were like this, but I was constantly like, well, is this just, am I fatigued?

[00:18:28] Cheryl Crow: ’cause I’m just, I’m sleep deprived from being a mom. Or, you know, having a, having a young child. Or is it my RA related fatigue? You know, is this hard? Yeah. ’cause of my joint pain? Or is it just hard? ’cause it’s hard, 

[00:18:40] Cristina Shaefer: Mm-hmm. Oh yeah, there’s, I, I kind of stopped trying to figure out where’s the line and just said, you know what?

[00:18:46] Cristina Shaefer: I’m tired and you know what? I need to lay down. I, I don’t know if it’s if it’s it’s mom, you know, or even just like brain fog. I was like, I don’t know where the line is between mom brain and RA brain fog, so I’m just gonna call it brain fog. 

[00:18:59] Cheryl Crow: Yeah. Just call it my brain today. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Just go through, that actually comes up a lot in the support groups I run or the educational programs where it’s like.

[00:19:08] Cheryl Crow: People are like, well, I have RA and I have OA. Like I have osteoarthritis in certain, in a certain joints too. Or in my case I do where other people are like, you know, I have fibromyalgia and RA or, or long COVID or pots. And it sometimes it is helpful to distinguish, right? Because you’re like, well, if I know that I have X tool in my toolbox that works for this condition, I want to use it.

[00:19:28] Cheryl Crow: But other times it’s like you can just go in circles all day and it doesn’t really matter what’s causing what sometimes. So, I’m sure people listening are gonna wanna know more about, you know, your journey with being, being a parent and your tips and tricks. Maybe we’ll have to do like a separate episode on that, because I wanna also get to how you started.

[00:19:47] Cheryl Crow: Yeah. You mentioned, you know, you started volunteering with the Arthritis Foundation. Mm-hmm. Around what time did you start doing that and what, well, I know ’cause you already told me, but for the audience and what have been some of your. You know, how did you get started and what have been some of like your highlights?

[00:20:02] Cristina Shaefer: Yeah, so like I said, it, it was a couple years into my diagnosis really once I started kind of feeling good again or better I guess I should say. I started doing some Googling and found the Arthritis Foundation. And it just so happened that around the time that I was Googling, it must have been about February or March and the Walk to Cure arthritis was coming up.

[00:20:23] Cristina Shaefer: It was just, you know, maybe two months away at the time. And so I was like, oh, this looks interesting and it’s free to sign up and, and attend it, so why not? So I created a team. I got, I roped in my, my family and a few of my close friends and said, all right guys, on. On this day, we’re gonna go out here and we’re gonna go to the Walk to Cure arthritis.

[00:20:44] Cristina Shaefer: And, and they were like, okay, I don’t know what we’re doing. We fundraised, we raised, I think, I think over a thousand dollars that first year just starting off and asking a few people for money. I didn’t quite know what we were fundraising for. I just was like, okay, this seems like fun. Right? So we went and that day.

[00:21:03] Cristina Shaefer: I tell people all the time, I didn’t just find your arthritis foundation that day. I found community. I, when I, again, I was a couple years into my diagnosis, but I had no idea how many people. Arthritis affected, specifically rheumatoid arthritis? I had no idea. I had no idea that kids could be affected by arthritis, which, going back, looking back makes sense.

[00:21:23] Cristina Shaefer: My rheumatologist had told me he thought that I’d been living with RA for a long time. It had just been undiagnosed as JRA so that made sense looking back, but I had no idea, you know? And I got to see the honorees go up on stage and tell their stories and it was just so inspiring and so uplifting.

[00:21:44] Cristina Shaefer: And again, I found community that day. You know, I found my people. So I went up to the staff person that was in charge and I introduced myself and I said, sign me up, whatever you need help with. I’m here, I wanna be involved. And that was it. That was when she, she of course, immediately said, yes, what’s your name?

[00:22:01] Cristina Shaefer: What’s your number? Let’s talk. Yeah. Now that 

[00:22:04] Cheryl Crow: you’re in the behind the scenes, you know Right. Those people where you’re like, oh, they’re enthusiastic, we gotta get them involved. Yeah, 

[00:22:10] exactly. It’s like, let’s sign you up right now. Yeah. So it, you know, I got involved that day and I joined the walkthrough arthritis committee and started doing that every year.

[00:22:20] And progressively just. Over the years got more and more involved. You know, I, I really just. Love the community that I found. I loved meeting other people, hearing their stories, the similarities like I have with you or even the differences how some medication may work perfectly well for one person and.

[00:22:38] Just not at all for the next, you know, it’s really interesting the how our bodies work and how our medication, you know, the medications work and how our bodies respond to it. So I just got really, you know, invested in it and, and loved what I, the community I found. And so then I started volunteering at other events.

[00:22:53] The Bone Bash that we have here in Houston, the Jingle Bell runs that we do in December. And then I start, I got the call to start getting involved at the national level and serving on different committees like the DEI committee that I currently serve on. I just finished completed serving at, on the national walk.

[00:23:12] Committee, you know, just being involved in different areas and meeting other people and being, you know, being able to kind of be a, as we say, a champion of Yes. And, and somebody that’s, that’s up there, able to tell their story, but also able to give a patient perspective to the arthritis Foundation, which I think is really, important. They’re, like I said, I didn’t know what I was fundraising for. Now I know. But having that patient perspective for organizations like the Arthritis Foundation is so important because that’s how they know what they’re supposed to be focused on and what resources their people need.

[00:23:46] Right. So, yeah, that’s, that’s kind of the, the shortest story I think I can of how I got involved with the Arthritis Foundation and some of the work that we’ve done. 

[00:23:54] Cheryl Crow: No, I think, I think that’s great. I, I felt I, you know, had a similar experience in terms of not really knowing, like the Walk for Arthritis or Jingle Ball Run.

[00:24:03] Cheryl Crow: I thought they were really cute and fun ideas, but I didn’t understand until I started volunteering behind the scenes. Just for anyone listening, you know, if you’ve never been involved in a nonprofit before, you might wonder, well wait. They have nonprofits, they’re like, they’re run like a, their business in many ways.

[00:24:18] Cheryl Crow: Right? But all the profit, instead of going to like the CEO or the employees, they, the profit is reinvested into the organization and into the mission. Obviously. Usually nonprofits are mission driven . usually for good. And so in, in this case, you might think, well, wait, don’t, don’t they get all these don huge donations from large corporations and stuff, and don’t they have staff?

[00:24:39] Cheryl Crow: Yes, but almost every nonprofit. Every nonprofit that I’ve ever been part of, whether it was a, my very, one of my first jobs outta college was a, a three person, tiny nonprofit organization in Seattle. And then there’s huge ones like the, or not even Arthritis Foundation isn’t even, as big as some other ones, but they, they all need help.

[00:24:59] Cheryl Crow: Long story short, i’m like the most long winded way of saying this, yes, they have donations. Yes, they have staff, but they utilize volunteers because there’s always more work to be done, like it’s 2025. We’ve put people on the moon and the majority of Americans still don’t understand that arthritis can happen to kids and that, you know that.

[00:25:19] Cheryl Crow: It’s inflammatory arthritis is a full syste, you know, full body condition. And so, you know, one of the things when people ask me, ’cause I, I actually got started in terms of deep involvement with the local camps. Like the, we have a family camp here in Washington state for the whole family of chi children with juvenile rheumatic diseases, whether that’s juvenile, idiopathic arthritis, or other similar conditions.

[00:25:41] Cheryl Crow: And it’s start with what I usually just say, start with what you’re just interested in. Right. Are you interested in walks and runs or cycling, or are you in, there’s events for those, or are you interested in, you know, support groups or are you interested in like large galas, galas, you know, like the Bone Bash?

[00:26:00] Cheryl Crow: Yeah, you don’t have to do everything at once. Are you interested in legislative advocacy? You know, that’s what I would say, but what, what would you say to somebody who maybe doesn’t even know where to start? 

[00:26:11] Cristina Shaefer: I, I mean, I, I agree with you. Find something that kind of resonates with you that you would like to get involved with.

[00:26:17] Cristina Shaefer: You know, for some people they, I, I know some people who are like, I will create a team and I will fundraise and I will donate, but I am not gonna be in charge of an event or, or be, you know. So for some people it’s really just being an advocate and, and a spokesperson. You know, the advocacy that you just mentioned, that’s another one that’s so important that is not super time consuming.

[00:26:41] Cristina Shaefer: I, I don’t think people realize it’s not super time consuming, but it’s so important because those are the people that are sharing their stories with legislators that are making real impact on things like. You know, insurance and approvals and things like we’ve kind of discussed a little bit you know, the STEP act for example.

[00:26:59] Cristina Shaefer: If you have not heard of that, please go Google it. It’s legal in many states in the United States and it impacts people. Every single day because they’re not able to get access to the medication they need. So, you know, like you said, finding something that you’re passionate about, whether it be advocacy, whether it be fun events or galas or golf tournaments or cycling.

[00:27:18] Cristina Shaefer: There’s kind of something for everybody. Really, you know, just kind of see where you fit in. 

[00:27:24] Cheryl Crow: Yeah. I love, I love that. And I’m going to for sure put links in the show notes so that people can click on them and find, you know, find events in your area. And you made a good point talking about you started local, with your local, like Texas, you know, area groups or Texas area like initiatives.

[00:27:42] Cheryl Crow: I know Texas is really big compared to Washington State. We just have we have two walks, walk to care arthritis and one jingle bell run. I guess probably across Texas there’s probably multiples, but there’s also the national, there’s also a national level as well. But you know, usually, usually more.

[00:27:59] Cheryl Crow: What did you call it? It’s usually easy to get started at the local level. And you, you know, I have friends I’ve made through through the camps, starting with the kids camps. And then, you know, first meeting people there and then meeting people through the walks and the Jingle Bell run that now, you know, one of them, for example, Sarah Bellingham, she’s been on the podcast, she created her own compression glove company. And it’s, and it’s been amazing to see you know, I met her 10 years ago at a jingle Bell Run and now she’s running a company that’s helping people with compression make, she wanted to make visually appealing compression gloves in like pretty colors and pretty comfortable, you know, comfortable styles because she, on the ones that were on off the shelf, just not you know, cute enough to wear with her outfits. Not that that was you. It’s been amazing to see you just meet people who are doing such interesting things and you can Yeah. Make room, what do you call ’em? Roommates like my friend made this like thing R-H-E-U-M aids or immuno buddies. Yeah. Has there been anything that has surprised you when you’ve become involved or in, in a good way or a bad way?

[00:29:06] Cheryl Crow: I guess it’s kind of like an open-ended, 

[00:29:09] Cristina Shaefer: yeah. I’m trying to think sorry. Things that have surprised me. 

[00:29:12] Cheryl Crow: That was just off the top of my, that was just off the top of my head. 

[00:29:15] Cristina Shaefer: Yeah. I, I mean, I honestly, I, again, going back to it, one of the biggest surprises was just how many people it affects, you know?

[00:29:22] Cristina Shaefer: And being able to see and, and hear other people’s stories and just how it impacts their life. But another big surprise something that. Thankfully, knock on wood doesn’t affect me yet. Or now. Are some of the comorbidities in the, in the other diseases that that can affect you? You know, I know for me, we, we test for lupus all the time just to make sure that I don’t have a secondary diagnosis, but that’s something that, you know, it’s, it’s more common than I think people realize.

[00:29:53] Cristina Shaefer: Something else about my disease, I guess that is surprising to a lot of people and something that I didn’t even really know that much about or hadn’t experienced, I guess was just as you said, it, it can affect the whole body. And for me, again, I talked about my early diagnosis and the joints and areas of the body that it was affecting well over the last few years.

[00:30:15] Cristina Shaefer: When I flare, it’s now my eyes and my lungs that are flaring as opposed to, you know, my hands and wrists or knees. So, you know, again, just the effects that this disease can have on your body. It’s, it’s shocking to hear if you’ve never heard that before, but also experiencing it and realizing, oh my goodness, this is my RA.

[00:30:38] Cristina Shaefer: I, the first time that I had the, a lung inflammation, I, I didn’t know if I was having a heart attack. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. Yeah. And you know, I, I went to the ER on the recommendation of a rheumatologist. It was probably three or four times, just to be sure. And every time they checked everything and, and nothing came back positive. Everything was fine and it was lung inflammation. I was gonna say just lung inflammation, but it was lung inflammation. 

[00:31:03] Cheryl Crow: No, it’s not. 

[00:31:03] Cristina Shaefer: Yeah, that was causing it. 

[00:31:04] Cheryl Crow: That’s not good. 

[00:31:05] Cristina Shaefer: Yeah, no, there’s no, just about it. It was awful. Yeah. 

[00:31:07] Cristina Shaefer: They’re lungs 

[00:31:08] Cheryl Crow: are very important, but no, it’s.

[00:31:10] Cheryl Crow: So true. I mean, I don’t even think that was in my textbook in occupational therapy school. Like it was all about the joints and everything, but . I mean, I know it’s in the textbooks for physicians. Yeah. Like doctors to make sure that you look at the lung, you know, lungs and the heart, and that’s why the life expectancy of people with rheumatoid arthritis, if it’s not controlled, that’s a huge caveat because it is controlled in the majority of people now with the current medications. But if it’s not controlled, our life expectancy is reduced compared to people without RA. That’s why you know, because of that inflammation that can reach the lungs and heart and cause other issues there.

[00:31:45] Cheryl Crow: So it’s so, you’re so right. It’s important to, you know, it’s, it’s such an irony that a lot of people think it’s quote unquote just arthritis or just right joint pain when it’s so much, so much more. So, it similar with Sjogren’s. I know Sjogren’s disease has a similar, I think everyone thinks it’s just dry eyes and dry mouth, but it’s a systemic disease as well.

[00:32:05] Cheryl Crow: So yeah, I’ve been learning a lot about that lately. I wanna ask really quickly before we get to the rapid fire questions. You know, what are some of the things you mentioned? We both kind of, you mentioned mental health earlier, and then I went on a little bit of a ramble about my mental health journey as well with like wayward optimism, which then came crashing down when I actually realized that this is an up and down disease and not just mm-hmm. I’m just gonna be on one medicine the rest of my life and one treatment plan. That’s, that’s what I didn’t say is that I kind of crashed at that point and then actually then accepted it. But, you know, what are some of the things that have helped you cope with these ups and downs? Whether that’s, you know, it doesn’t have to be like something super specific. Like it could be a book or something that’s, or a therapy or fam or it could be friends, family, distractions, whatever, whatever helps you cope. That would be awesome to hear. 

[00:32:55] Yeah. I think the the number one thing has, has been my family and my friends.

[00:33:00] My you know, my tribe, my rocks, you know, all the different ways that I can refer to them. But they really have been, you know, from, from day one. Again, I was a young adult, so I was an adult, but I was like, you, like you were in, in college and still young and didn’t understand or know everything. So, you know, my parents would go with me to those doctor’s appointments, you know, when we, when I first was diagnosed and then the medication would kind of take me out to the point where I couldn’t. Really drive. So they would just drive me, you know, it was like I had Ja I guess you could say no, similar. Yeah, super similar. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, my friends and family were a big, a big part of it.

[00:33:40] But then, like I said, with you know, once I found the Arthritis Foundation too, I really attribute that to being, you know, I, I was already feeling better. And, you know, mentally was in a better place when I found the Arthritis Foundation. But I think it really just improved, you know, tenfold after I, after I found the Arthritis Foundation because having that community, you know, that, that other tribe, I guess you could say of, of people you know, people that you can just, you can be in a room, you can have a conversation and you don’t have to explain why you’re in pain or you don’t have to overexplain, you know, medications or treatments or different things. Everybody just kind of understands. Oh yeah, methotrexate. Oh yeah. You know, Remicade, they revo, whatever, you know, they know the terms, they know the words they understand what a flare is, you know, so just being in, in that in a community of people that know exactly what you’re going through and are just there to listen and offer support, that’s.

[00:34:38] One thing that I, I really think made a difference for me as well. 

[00:34:43] Cheryl Crow: Yeah, a hundred percent. It’s so isolating, especially in your, I feel like. There used to be this kind of donut hole where there’s a lot of services for people that are kids, you know? And understandably so. ’cause it’s really a devastating disease on a growing body.

[00:34:58] Cheryl Crow: And then there’s a lot of services for people on like the elderly end of the spectrum, but like kind of young adults and adults who are a little bit missed. And now I think that there’s a lot more, you know, there’s Arthritis Foundation has like. You know, not only they have the adult connecting, you know, or, or groups.

[00:35:15] Cheryl Crow: And also the why am I forgetting the word? The conference of the, the, there’s a juvenile race national conference every year, and then there’s also like adult oriented events, like the Pathways conference, that was the word I was looking for, and I was like, what’s the word for the thing I we did one month ago?

[00:35:31] Cheryl Crow: Brain fog and and yeah, I, I think, you know, there’s no substitute for somebody who just gets it without having to explain. So I, yeah, I love that. I’m glad, I’m glad to hear you’ve had such good support. You know, you have your arthritis family and then you have your family, you know, your maybe biological family or your, you know, your current family that with your, you know, your kids and everything like that, so. I think that’s, that’s awesome. And so for the, you know, to move into the rapid fire, I joke, rapid fire, but these could be a whole episode. Each one of these could be a whole episode, which is, you know, what are some of your best words of wisdom?

[00:36:07] Cheryl Crow: You’ve already shared so much, but for somebody who’s listening, who’s brand new, diagnosed in that kind of deer in the headlight stage, what would you say to them? 

[00:36:16] Cristina Shaefer: You called this rapid fire, and I could say so much to them. Yeah. But I, I, I narrowed it down to two things. Number one, find a good doctor.

[00:36:22] Cristina Shaefer: If you’re not happy with the answers that you’re getting or the treatment you’re receiving, you have to advocate for yourself and you cannot be afraid to get a second opinion. It might feel awkward, it might be uncomfortable. It, trust me, the doctors, it doesn’t matter to them as, as much as we build it up in our heads.

[00:36:41] Cristina Shaefer: Get that second opinion. Ask the right questions if you, if you wanna stay with that doctor, you know, make sure that you’re heard and advocate for yourself. Number two is find a community. Again, I mentioned, I talked about my community. The Arthritis Foundation does have in-person and virtual support groups in all over the country. There’s also Facebook groups out there that you can join. Just go, go to Facebook and just search for, you know, your disease and you’re gonna find groups. And then, you know, if, if you don’t wanna do one of those things, lean on family and friends. You’ve, you’ve gotta find a community because you cannot, you know, go through this alone.

[00:37:16] Cristina Shaefer: It’s, it’s too hard. It’s, it’s, and it’s just not necessary. There’s, there’s things out there that you can have for support. 

[00:37:24] Cheryl Crow: A hundred, a hundred percent. And I know on social media, I’m very active on social media and it can be so easy to feel like everyone else has it figured out. And everyone’s like an arthritis influencer.

[00:37:35] Cheryl Crow: And they’re all, and the know that no one’s life with this is perfect. And it’s so validating to meet other people. And you find that sometimes one part of your life is going really well. Yeah. But one part of your life isn’t going well and vice versa. And so it’s just you just cannot have perspective unless in my, in my experience, unless you are actually interacting with other people. Absolutely. ’cause too often Absolutely. Your brain just gets a distorted filter, you know? Yeah. So, do you have a favorite quote or maybe more than one quote or inspirational saying for tough days? 

[00:38:09] Cristina Shaefer: Yeah. I, it’s actually a lyric from or lyrics I should say, from John Mayer song.

[00:38:15] Cristina Shaefer: He has a song called Emoji of a Wave. And the song or the lyrics are, it’s just a wave and I know that when it comes, I’ll just hold on until it’s gone. This came out in this album, came out in 2017, which was the year after my daughter was born, when I was at my peak pain, you know, in probably the worst condition I’ve ever been in.

[00:38:36] Cristina Shaefer: But and it’s about a relationship, but to me it was, you know, again, a wave when you think of a flare it, you know, flares come. It’s awful. You hold on, you deal with it, and then it’s gone. Right? So it’s just a reminder that, you know, this too shall pass, and I’m just gonna be strong and get through this until it’s over.

[00:38:57] Cheryl Crow: I love that. That’s often, I haven’t heard that lyric because I, by law, as a Taylor Swift fan, I cannot listen to John Mayer. No, I’m just kidding. 

[00:39:05] Cheryl Crow: I love everyone. 

[00:39:06] Cristina Shaefer: I know. I’m, I’m also a swifty. Yeah. And when people find out that I’m also a John Mayer fan, they’re like, how could you? I’m like, I’m so sorry. 

[00:39:12] Cheryl Crow: No.

[00:39:12] Cheryl Crow: You know, she did say during the hes tour when she sang a song that’s allegedly about him, she was like, we’re all adults now. This was in the past. We need to move on. Forgiveness is it good to give yourself like, yes. 

[00:39:26] Cristina Shaefer: John Mayer didn’t get a 10 minute version, so I think we’re okay. 

[00:39:29] Cheryl Crow: Yeah, he’s okay.

[00:39:30] Cheryl Crow: He’s okay. And, and I, so on a more serious note, I do, when I learned acceptance and commitment therapy, which has been the most helpful approach for me and what I teach a lot in my support program. It’s the analogy they often use for intense or uncomfortable emotions is like a wave. And it’s such a great, it’s a great analogy for many things, but one of the things is they say is you know, I used to feel like I would try to beat back the waves that were uncomfortable and I would just try to, I, I just wanna, I don’t want this wave, I want the happy wave.

[00:40:01] Cheryl Crow: Like i’m, I don’t, I’m gonna fight it. And then realize no matter how much you fight it, it’s just still gonna crest and just go. And if you just hold on. Like you’re saying, hold on. Until it’s gone, you’re, you’re able to they call it emotion surfing. In, in act maybe they call it something else in different forms of therapy, but I always think, I, I think that like when I go to the ocean, ’cause I live on, on the Pacific Northwest, so, I like to look at those little, look at the waves and kind of imagine yeah, there’s just, those are like the waves of the waves, the good waves and the, and the bad ones.

[00:40:32] Cheryl Crow: So yeah. I love it. And it’s. 

[00:40:33] Cristina Shaefer: It’s kind of become a thing for me. I, I have a, I have the lyric tattooed on my foot because, oh my god. You know, like sometimes when I would sit in bed, like that was just as much as I could do. I would sit kind of, you know, crisscross applesauce and, and I would, and so it was kind of, I would see my tattoo there on my foot and I’m like, you know what?

[00:40:49] Cristina Shaefer: It’s just a wave. We have art in our home that’s. Waves and pictures of actual beaches with actual waves that we’ve taken when we traveled. So it’s really become a thing, but it’s and I think it’s, again, no matter what you’re going through, whether it’s a flare, whether it’s some sort of depression or you are mourning the loss of something or someone you know, I, it’s.

[00:41:10] Cristina Shaefer: It’s all, it comes in waves and like you’re saying, so, I, that one’s one that definitely sticks with me and forever because I got it ached on my, on my foot. So 

[00:41:19] Cheryl Crow: I love it. I love, I I love that. Yeah. I. I try to embrace the idea of being one of those really relaxed, this is, I’m laughing ’cause it’s, I’m so not there, but it’s okay.

[00:41:32] Cheryl Crow: Those sea turtles in Hawaii, , and if you watch, they, they like to be, they like to be closer to the shore. That’s where, so it’s easier for them to get the food, but they don’t, they don’t tend, tend to go on the wave like the big, huge waves. But if you watch for a while, they’ll kind of like, sometimes they’ll just be in a wave and they’re just.

[00:41:49] Cheryl Crow: Just kinda you know, so I was always thinking if I was gonna get a tattoo, I’d get like a little of one of the little turtles in the wave too. So anyway. You’re, you’re inspiring me, but I don’t know if I can commit to a tattoo. I’m too I don’t know. I’m too indecisive ’cause I think I decide I didn’t like it.

[00:42:04] Cheryl Crow: But yeah, that’s my, that’s me. Do you have a favorite arthritis gadget or tool in your toolbox? 

[00:42:09] Cristina Shaefer: Oh, well, I, I love cooking for my family. I always, I always feel like such a. I don’t know. It’s so silly, but I feel like such a productive mom when I actually get a meal on the table at dinner time and we’re not eating leftovers or ordering or something like that.

[00:42:26] Cristina Shaefer: So anything for the kitchen jar openers. I, I have so many arthritis foundation jar openers all over the, the kitchen different. Yeah, different tools that just make all of the kitchen, you know, the cooking stuff more simple. You know, knives, like I, I try to get really light knives that aren’t so heavy.

[00:42:44] Cristina Shaefer: My husband, he, he’s always like, you’re not using the proper knife. I’m like, but this is the knife I can control. You know, so, so using the right, you know, using knives or even like different utensils for stirring or whisking or stuff like that. The ones that are really light and easier to hold onto, you know, stuff like that and, and pots and pans that aren’t too heavy.

[00:43:04] Cristina Shaefer: Anything kitchen related, I’m always looking for the next best thing. 

[00:43:09] Cheryl Crow: A hundred. Oh my gosh, a hundred percent. My husband’s do, are we a store of arthritis goods? Like I thought, when does it become, when does it a collection and when is it an obsession? Who knows? Yeah. Yeah. So I, I, I support you in that.

[00:43:25] Cheryl Crow: I will enable all of your purchases. Thank you. Oh, yay. What is this is totally just one of my favorite questions to talk about. It has nothing to do with arthritis. Would you have a favorite book or movie or show you’ve been consuming recently? 

[00:43:38] Cristina Shaefer: So I just started the book called, and you might be interested in it because of your son, the Anxious Generation.

[00:43:44] Cristina Shaefer: My daughter’s been begging for a, for a cell phone for a while now and I, I’ve been holding strong and not getting her one, but I’ve heard this book will reinforce me in my stance of not letting her have a smartphone yet. So I’ve, I started, just started reading that. But also I’ve, I’ve read just good things about you know, from the parent side, but also how it might help me. So I’m reading that. 

[00:44:08] Cheryl Crow: Yeah. 

[00:44:09] Cheryl Crow: But also, I just watched the last season of you that just came out on Netflix. I’m a fan of true crime, and they have this twist at the end that I think was just like a nod to true crime fanatics. I’m not gonna give any spoilers away, but yeah. But so the last season of you on, on Netflix, I just watched that, it, it actually just came out and I finished it in two days.

[00:44:31] Cheryl Crow: Wow. That’s amazing. That’s, I can’t do anything that’s actually gory, but I’m watching the residents right now, which is very much kind of like a kinda like an only murders in the building type show. . Where it’s really not, it’s yes, it’s about a murder mystery, but it’s just mostly about all the funny characters around it.

[00:44:48] Cheryl Crow: It’s more 

[00:44:48] Cristina Shaefer: silly. 

[00:44:49] Cheryl Crow: Yeah. Yeah. It’s silly. Yeah. Yeah. Uhhuh. So that’s, but I know that I, the actor was it Penn Badley? He, Penn Badley. He’s a, he’s a cutie on you, I’ve seen all the little promo for it, and I’m like, yeah. I might wanna just just watch his face. I’ll just watch. Yeah. I love it.

[00:45:06] Cheryl Crow: Thank you for those wrecks. And then, oh, just a little philosophical question. Yeah. Back to arthritis. What does it mean to you to live a good life and thrive with rheumatoid arthritis? 

[00:45:19] Cristina Shaefer: Well, I would love to live in a world where arthritis, you know, people with arthritis could live a life without limits.

[00:45:26] Cristina Shaefer: But until then, just living a life that, you know, I’m proud of. I, I recently heard a beautiful quote from a, a fellow arthritis warrior. She said, arthritis may have shaped my body, but it will not shape my spirit. And I just felt that. So deeply and she’s so right. You know, just living a life that, that I’m proud of doing the things that I wanna do and not letting this disease, while it may have shaped my body, not letting it hold me back you know, mentally and, and with I, with what I want to do in my life and in the world.

[00:46:00] Cheryl Crow: That’s, that’s beautiful. I wanna know who said that so I can give them credit for it. ’cause I’m gonna, I’m gonna add that to my, my mo list of inspirational saying Yeah. You know her? 

[00:46:11] Cristina Shaefer: Yeah. Who is it? I can tell her name is Jasmine Singh and she actually served, oh, she was our. Honoree here locally for the Houston Walk to Cure Arthritis.

[00:46:20] Cristina Shaefer: And she said that during her speech, she actually wrote a, a great book too. She’s a, she’s an author and she wrote a book about, yeah I, I, I would need to look up the name for it, but she wrote a book about Saved by Depeche Mode, saved by Depeche Mode. That’s it. 

[00:46:34] Cheryl Crow: Yeah. I just found, sorry. That’s why I always have my computer queued up while I’m doing these, so stuff and put it in the show notes. I’ll definitely put her in the show notes. Yeah, I love that. And I, you know, I, on a similar note I was listening to a podcast right before we started recording today, actually. It was an interview between Tig Nataro, who is a comedian. . And Monica Lewinsky. You know who she is. 

[00:46:56] Cristina Shaefer: Um mm-hmm. 

[00:46:57] Cheryl Crow: And I’ve been really. Following her, Monica Lewinsky’s new podcast and really loving it. And it’s called Reclaiming. and you know, in her case it’s, it’s, you know, she’s reclaiming her identity as somebody whose name was completely, you know, dragged through the mud.

[00:47:12] Cheryl Crow: And we don’t need to rehash all that, but what I really loved is t is somebody who in the has survived a whole bunch of tough things happening to her at once, including like breast cancer and like a severe case of c diff and then her mom died and her girlfriend broke up with her, like all in the course of two weeks or something.

[00:47:30] Cheryl Crow: . Really wild. And she the point of this relating to this, it might have shaped my body, but well not shaped my spirit. She was talking in the podcast in a very, not like a toxic, positivity way, but she was talking about how. These things all happening to her. In her case it was 2012, it, it basically it shook her out of the life in autopilot and forced her to say what is important to me?

[00:47:54] Cheryl Crow: Wait, I am mortal, like I might. I’m not, might, we’re all gonna die someday. Right. And I think, and, and that was the greatest gift it gave her. She was saying in this podcast episode, which I will link to the show notes and I feel like that really resonated with me for, I don’t know if you feel the same with RA, that it’s not as immediately life threatening, right as breast cancer. But it did I don’t think I would’ve had as great a sense in my twenties of I am mortal, like my body is not and you used the word invincible earlier. I’m not invincible. Yeah. Maybe blindly optimistic, but it was starting to sink in. Like after the diagnosis, some part of me was like, okay, I am actually not invincible in that kind of, yeah gives you perspective, right? 

[00:48:38] Cristina Shaefer: It does. It does. And, and you know, I I recently gave, you were at the same convention. I was at the same conference I was at, and, and in there I talked about turning my pain into purpose. And that is really, that’s, I mean, truly how I feel about Mary a diagnosis is, you know, something was just thrown in my lap that I’d never heard of, would never have expected, and and was told that this is going to be my life forever.

[00:49:05] Cristina Shaefer: You know? And so there’s, I guess in my mind there was two options. I can just. Be angry for the rest of my life, or I could try to do something about it and try and make a difference. And, you know, for myself, for my family, and for others, for people you know, who I don’t know. And one of the things that I truly, you know am so proud of in the time that I’ve been involved with the Arthritis Foundation the one thing that I am, I feel like the most proud of is just.

[00:49:35] Cristina Shaefer: Talking, not even, you know, in a formal setting, but just talking to people that are newly diagnosed and listening to them and hearing, you know, what they’re dealing with and just offering some perspective from, you know, the 20 years down the road version of what they’re dealing with. And that it is okay and that it, it can be okay and, you know, just you just finding the right thing for you and, and what’s gonna make a difference for you. But for me, that truly turning my pain into purpose really just made a difference for me. 

[00:50:08] Cheryl Crow: Yeah, I lo I love that. I resonate with that so much and I think I’m imagining you studying for your communications degree as a college student.

[00:50:17] Cheryl Crow: You know, little did you know at that time pre-diagnosis that your communication skills. Are, we’re gonna be used right on such a big platform. I mean, you are a very, in my opinion, I have no authority to say this other than just my brain, but I think you’re a really skilled communicator and a great storyteller.

[00:50:38] Cheryl Crow: So I really appreciate you know, I, I, I met you in person at that Pathways conference, and I saw you get the, this very. Huge award from the Arthritis Foundation to recognize all of your amazing volunteer work. So I’m, I’m so grateful of you of you. I’m grateful for you. Speaking of communication, I can speak for taking the time to share your story today, and I’m sure others are going to want to maybe connect with you.

[00:51:02] Cheryl Crow: Where can people find you online? 

[00:51:05] So I’m, I’m everywhere, but I do have a hard to spell first name and last name, so be sure to look at how Cheryl spelled it, I guess, in the show notes. But I’m on any social media platforms, LinkedIn, Facebook Instagram you can look me up and, and find me there.

[00:51:20] And I’m always happy to connect, like I said, with, with people that are kind of in the same boat and just, you know, if, even if they just need somebody to vent to or, or to get an opinion from? You know, I’m no, I’m no doctor. I’m not, I’m not giving any sort of formal advice or anything like that. But you know, just from one warrior to another, I’m always happy to help as much as I can.

[00:51:42] Cheryl Crow: You know, and there is a saying that I first learned at the Rheumatology conference for providers, but it’s that patients are the experts in their own care. 

[00:51:49] both: You know, and you 

[00:51:50] Cheryl Crow: really are, especially with a chronic condition that you are the expert in, in the lifelong detective work of discovering what does work and what doesn’t work in your body.

[00:52:02] Cheryl Crow: And, you know, it’s, and you’re a team with your health providers, but you’re an important member of that team. And so, I appreciate all the work that, that you do. I think newly diagnosed patients are also my my passion, really helping people in that. In that early stage, feel like they are not alone.

[00:52:19] Cheryl Crow: And so I just, yeah, I resonate with everything you said though. I hope you guys all find who are listening. Find Christina with no H-C-R-I-S-T-I-N-A and then S-C-H-A-E-F-E-R if you’re just like typing on your computer, like I wanna find her right now. And yeah, make sure to go to the show notes if you’re listening to this on audio.

[00:52:36] Cheryl Crow: I, I always like to remind people now that, you know, I, I guess a lot of podcasts are going to video. I’ve been posting videos for a while of the conversations since I’m like, I’m recording video anyway, so they’re on the arthritis like YouTube channel. And then and you can also go to the show notes page to get a transcript.

[00:52:51] Cheryl Crow: I want this to be accessible, so I know for some people either who can’t watch the video or can’t hear the audio, you can get the access to the transcript that way. So thanks so much. And we’ll definitely I want to, if you have time, I really appreciate you with a five month old. I think I was not coherent enough to do a podcast at that point, but I would love to do a different one about kind of the parenting tips and especially with small babies, it’s such a physical job with the fingers and the hands and so 

[00:53:18] Cristina Shaefer: Oh yeah.

[00:53:19] Cristina Shaefer: There’s a lot to it and definitely I, I’ll love to have that conversation with you. Yay. 

[00:53:23] Cheryl Crow: Alright, well, bye-bye for now. Thanks again. Bye. 

[00:53:26] Cristina Shaefer: Thank you.

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