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Episode 180: Coping with Rheumatoid Arthritis, PCOS and Scleritis: Chelsea’s Story

3 months ago
43 min read
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Summary:

Getting diagnosed with an autoimmune disease in your 20s can feel like your whole life just got flipped upside down. At just 24, Chelsea was hit with the triple challenge of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), painful scleritis (autoimmune eye inflammation), and PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome). What followed? Years of navigating scary symptoms, multiple eye surgeries, and a whole lot of uncertainty.

In this honest and inspiring episode, Cheryl and Chelsea talk about the emotional toll of chronic illness, the power of having a solid support system, and how Chelsea went from feeling isolated to becoming a voice for others. Chelsea opens up about how sharing her story online, especially as a Hispanic woman, helped her find connection, purpose, and strength.

If you’re newly diagnosed and feeling overwhelmed, Chelsea’s story is the reminder you need: you’re not alone, and your voice matters. Tune in for talk on therapy, faith, coping tools, and how advocacy can become part of your healing.

Episode at a glance:

  • Chelsea’s Diagnosis Journey: Chelsea shares her experience being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, scleritis, and PCOS all in her early 20s.
  • Emotional Rollercoaster: The mental toll of chronic illness and how it impacted Chelsea’s daily life.
  • The Power of Support: Why having a strong support system made all the difference in Chelsea’s chronic illness journey.
  • From Isolation to Advocacy: How sharing her journey online helped Chelsea find connection and purpose—especially as a Hispanic woman navigating the healthcare system.
  • Your Voice Matters: Encouragement for those newly diagnosed—you are not alone, and your story is powerful.
  • Coping Tools: Therapy, faith, and mindset shifts that helped Chelsea regain control.
  • Advocacy as Healing: How turning her pain into purpose became part of Chelsea’s recovery.

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:

Chelsea Flores 

My name is Chelsea but I go by @thefloresgrowhere on instagram. I was diagnosed with RA in 2019, Scleritis in 2021, and recently I was diagnosed with PCOS. Along the way, I decided to use my social media to share my autoimmune journey and connect with others facing similar battles. I enjoy using my content to show that even on the darkest days, life can still move forward, regardless of a diagnosis.

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:

[00:00:05] Cheryl Crow: I am so excited today to have Chelsea Flores to share her journey with rheumatoid arthritis, scleritis, and more. So, Chelsea, can you let us know where do you live and what is your relationship to arthritis?

[00:00:24] Chelsea Flores: Yes. Hello. I’m happy to be here. So I am in Texas in the DFW area, and I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in July of 2019, at the age of 24.

[00:00:38] Chelsea Flores: So. 

[00:00:39] Cheryl Crow: All right. And we’re gonna go right into your diagnosis journey or diagnosis saga for both rheumatoid arthritis, scleritis and PCOS ’cause like many people, you have not just one condition, but you’re juggling multiple. So how, how did that diagnosis journey go? [00:01:00] And whatever you wanna share about that.

[00:01:02] Chelsea Flores: Yes. So. Actually, I recently was diagnosed with PCOS, so that is fairly new. Honestly, since my teen years, I have always been told that it was a possibility, but I never researched or looked into it until currently. So I’m still learning things about that. But as far as my RA diagnosis, I received that diagnosis fairly quickly, which can be kind of unusual. I know now in the autoimmune world. But I had actually gone in to see my PCP when I was very active at the time. I was weightlifting consistently, and I remember waking up one day and I had a pain in my left shoulder, which now I know is a flare. But at the time I didn’t know what had [00:02:00] happened.

[00:02:00] Chelsea Flores: I thought I had injured myself in the gym. So I went to my doctor ’cause I honestly assumed it was, it could have been tinnitus due to injury and I was explaining my symptoms to her. At the time I just told her about my shoulder, but she quickly mentioned that she wanted to do an ANA panel and she said that I was actually showing other signs that could potentially be lupus related.

[00:02:30] Chelsea Flores: And for example, like I had gone in and I had a flushed face. Again, didn’t know that was a sign. It was summertime in Texas, so I just assumed from the heat. But no, she, she educated me and told me that that could be a possibility. Also, I’ve always struggled with fatigue and getting random fevers, so either way I was showing signs and she requested I [00:03:00] take the panel and then come back to see what the results are. And when I returned back to the p to my PCP, she notified me that I had RA factor or I had tested positive for RA. 

[00:03:18] Cheryl Crow: Right. 

[00:03:19] Cheryl Crow: I may have to 

[00:03:19] Cheryl Crow: Rheumatoid factor, I think. 

[00:03:21] Cheryl Crow: Yeah. 

[00:03:21] Chelsea Flores: Yes, yes. Thank you. And honestly, it was very quick. The appointment was in and out and she gave me a pamphlet about RA and she gave me a number to a rheumatologist and sent me out the door.

[00:03:40] Chelsea Flores: So. I didn’t know how to feel in that moment. I was confused, but also because she was very nonchalant about the diagnosis and just in the discussion, I assumed that it [00:04:00] wasn’t that big of a deal. I didn’t think that it could lead to change life altering, like just, I don’t know. I just didn’t realize that it was gonna affect my life as much as it has and so looking back at that now, knowing what these past six years have looked like, I do feel for that version of myself because.

[00:04:28] Chelsea Flores: I, I think about her and I think I’m like, oh my gosh. She was so naive and innocent at, in that moment, and I know it wasn’t my fault. And I know I just didn’t know what I didn’t know back then. But I just wanna go back and hug her because now knowing how life-changing a diagnosis can be. I realized that my PCP could have handled that conversation differently.

[00:04:58] Chelsea Flores: I know for her it was [00:05:00] kind of just nothing new in her mind, but yeah. So I feel like emotionally I didn’t have a response in the moment, but over time I started to realize wow, like that should have looked differently. 

[00:05:16] Cheryl Crow: Yeah, I, I think I just wanna pause to acknowledge that that’s really similar to mine and that I, well, in my case, I have felt a lot of relief ’cause I didn’t know what was wrong, but clearly something was wrong on my body, so.

[00:05:28] Cheryl Crow: The doctor was giving me. A path forward to relieving that pain. So I was like, okay, well let’s go, gimme the treatments. I was very, like you said, I was in retrospect, naive and optimistic about it, and I think mm-hmm. It’s a little hard these days because the, for the doctors, there’s, it is true that the majority of patients go into remission.

[00:05:48] Cheryl Crow: And, but there’s this group of patients that have difficult to treat disease and are so, they don’t wanna like almost scare people off in the beginning. ’cause most [00:06:00] likely it’s gonna be more straightforward. But, but if it’s not, then you end up wishing that you had been told. So anyway, I don’t have a coherent thought on the other then, then I, then I feel similar to you in that the emotionality, my emo, I didn’t feel emotional other than relief and about my diagnosis until

[00:06:18] Cheryl Crow: five years later when my first medication started wearing off, and then I actually realized what this disease could do to my body and what it really meant. So you’re not alone. That’s short story long. You’re not alone in that. 

[00:06:29] Cheryl Crow: Well, 

[00:06:29] Chelsea Flores: thank you. That makes me feel better because I honestly think about that and I feel oh my gosh, I should have known, I should have done X, Y, Z differently.

[00:06:39] Chelsea Flores: And just now I kind of felt the same way of I felt relief. Oh, I’ll take some meds, it’ll get fixed and I’ll move on.

[00:06:49] Chelsea Flores: And that just wasn’t the case. And it didn’t really sit in until my second rheumatologist that I met with that I realized, oh my gosh, [00:07:00] this is something that I’m going to have to deal with for the rest of my life.

[00:07:03] Chelsea Flores: And that’s kind of when I started understanding the severity of things. And I mean, shortly after, I would say maybe a year after my RA diagnosis, I began having eye inflammation and I would say that the timeline is a little fuzzy because the inflammation started around 2020, 21 after I had a severe case of COVID.

[00:07:36] Chelsea Flores: And so obviously that, it was a, a whole learning curve in itself just because we had no information on COVID and what it could do to our bodies. And so I wasn’t aware that my eye inflammation was related to my autoimmune. I really didn’t know what was [00:08:00] taking place, and so I scheduled an appointment with an ophthalmologist and he, just kind of said that it could have been allergies, it could be from seasonal, like allergies or I’m allergic to something or he, he really didn’t know. He didn’t have any idea why I was experiencing the pain and the redness other than just an infection, possibly or allergic reaction.

[00:08:28] Chelsea Flores: So he had just given me some eye drops and kind of sent me out the door and then when I went back to him and told him, you know, the pain is still very consistent and very severe. It was to the point where I was very sick. I was vomiting. I was lightheaded. I had major migraines, tension in my jaw. It was, I was miserable. I couldn’t go outside.

[00:08:58] Chelsea Flores: Thus the light [00:09:00] was affecting my vision. And so I decided to get a second opinion from a different doctor, and as soon as I met with that second ophthalmologist, he immediately said, you need to see a cornea specialist. And sent me to a cornea specialist. I met with her and she said, you know, this is actually autoimmune related.

[00:09:24] Chelsea Flores: She said, however, my diagnosis is rare and different because typically people in their early twenties and early teens will have eye inflammation and infections and go to the ophthalmologist, and that’s when they would receive autoimmune diagnosis. . So she said that it was unusual, that it was backwards for me, but she’s said, you know, it’s actually a good thing ’cause now we know what exactly is taking place and we can go from there and find treatment [00:10:00] faster.

[00:10:00] Chelsea Flores: So I was seeing her. I would say at this time, it was around 2022 when I met with her. I was seeing her at least twice a week for six months just because the pressure in my eye was increasing and she was afraid that it could cause a retina detachment. And when the prognosis, when it was wasn’t getting any better, it was kind of stable, but there wasn’t any change. She decided to send me to a retina specialist that she works with sometimes and had him to look at it because this is when I learned that there are quite a bit of different ophthalmologist for your eye and they look at different parts of the eye.

[00:10:51] Chelsea Flores: And it honestly amazed me because it’s so small of an organ, but they’re able to go in and [00:11:00] look at each different thing. They just specialize in each little part which I’m grateful for in the long run. And he either way, my rheumatologist, he sorry, my retina specialist, he looked at my eye and immediately said, you, you have to have surgery because you are getting floaters stuck and that is what’s causing the pressure and the eye and causing the pain around on top of the eye.

[00:11:30] Chelsea Flores: Inflammation from my autoimmune. So. He immediately got me into surgery and I was very nervous. That was my very first surgery. So everything kind of happened quickly and once I had that I think it’s called a vitrectomy, he said everything looked great and I could then get cataract surgery because during this time, my eye my [00:12:00] my vision had decreased during this time and caused a cataract from everything taking place. So had that done, then had my cataract surgery, and then in 2024 is when they finally said that I was in remission for my eyes. So that was, on top of my RA, everything just kind of snowballed to where I didn’t have time to even process.

[00:12:29] Chelsea Flores: I kind of honestly was in survival mode for the past six years, and I think now is when I’m finally able to think about everything and kind of heal mentally and physically from the past years of. 

[00:12:46] Cheryl Crow: Yeah. Well, I’m just so sorry you went through all that and it really is not something that you would think, I’m diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.

[00:12:55] Chelsea Flores: Mm-hmm. 

[00:12:55] Cheryl Crow: And the biggest problem in the next few years is gonna be my eyes. Like it’s just not something that you [00:13:00] would logically. I didn’t even know, like until I had been to the ophthalmologist and my issues are way, way more, less extreme than yours. It’s just really bad dryness. I shouldn’t say just, but you know, it’s, it’s me.

[00:13:13] Cheryl Crow: I’ve never been to any sort of eye specialist other than just the ophthalmologist and so I have dryness and it was only like it, he just mentioned it casually at one of the appointments well, ’cause you have RA, it’s harder to treat. And I was like. What? What do you mean? RA’s in my joints, dude, like where did you go to med school?

[00:13:27] Cheryl Crow: And then I realized, oh. It’s systemic. It’s again, you could say those words to someone like it’s systemic. It’s seems so like vague, but when you’re like, it’s literally attacking your eyeballs, you’re like, oh, okay. I guess it’s systemic, like 

[00:13:41] Chelsea Flores: Yes, exactly. And that kind of was my thought process too, was, well, how can it affect my eyes if it’s my joints?

[00:13:50] Chelsea Flores: I don’t understand. They broke it down to me and I was like, oh wow. Like I. Now I’m cautious of everything that’s going on [00:14:00] versus just my joints because a lot of people, that’s just the assumption and mine too. So 

[00:14:07] Cheryl Crow: Well, and some people’s, it is straightforward. I always have to remind myself, some people do just have one condition and it’s rheumatoid arthritis and it’s mild, and the medications work and they, the first medication they tried is a home run, and they just take that the rest of their life. And that is some people’s stories. Others like ours are more winding. Yes. And, and I’m, I’m really glad that, before we started recording you shared with me that you really want to spread awareness about the fact that RA rheumatoid arthritis can affect your eyes, because yes, you wouldn’t.

[00:14:39] Cheryl Crow: Again, as we just said, people don’t necessarily know that, and sometimes when you’re in pain in one part of your body, at least for me, I kind of ignore other parts ’cause I’m just like, I don’t wanna deal with anything more. And it’s like really important with your eyes in particular ’cause they’re so important for your everyday function to take the best care of them.

[00:14:57] Cheryl Crow: Yeah. 

[00:14:57] Chelsea Flores: Yes, exactly. So [00:15:00] that is one thing that I, well, like you mentioned, that I am passionate about because I would never want someone else to go through that pain and fear the way that I did because it really was a journey and it, I felt like my life had kind of was on pause during that timeframe just because, I mean, I need my vision to drive and to read, to do all of these things, and it really kind of just put my life on pause.

[00:15:34] Chelsea Flores: But I am grateful for my cornea and retina specialist. I kind of joke and say that I like see them more than I see like friends. Yeah. I’ve gotten to know everyone there at the, at both clinics and everyone has been so kind. And it’s just even today I still have at least, I would say every three to four months I’ll still see them.

[00:15:59] Chelsea Flores: And when I [00:16:00] go in to like Chelsea, oh my gosh we’re so happy that it’s been a long time that we’ve seen you. So I feel like this journey has just been so interesting, but I dunno it. Yeah, that’s just kind of the deal with autoimmune. You never know what life’s gonna look like. So. 

[00:16:20] Cheryl Crow: Yeah. And I think, that’s something that my rheumatologist even said, one of the reasons she became a rheumatologist, I know you’re talking about retinal specialist and stuff, but is that she wanted to be able to get to know her patients over long periods of time and like really become, deeply connected to them. And that’s not like people specialize in different areas because they, because of those elements in addition to the actual job. Right. And I think that, yes. Yeah. I mean, I think that that, that a lot of times people share, and I’ve shared bad stories, of people who didn’t treat me well or anything.

[00:16:53] Cheryl Crow: But there also are these other stories that exist alongside that of, providers that become like part of your family. And you [00:17:00] mentioned reading, and I just wanna make pause for a second. Can you let everyone know what you do for a living? 

[00:17:06] Chelsea Flores: Yes. So I work part-time at my public library. 

[00:17:11] Cheryl Crow: Mm-hmm.

[00:17:11] Chelsea Flores: And I am a customer service representative. So basically I am at the front. I’m the one that gets to greet the patrons that come in and I shelf books and get to order items for the library. I do kind of the fun stuff there. So yeah, I love it very, I love it a lot. So. 

[00:17:32] Cheryl Crow: Well, I know you love reading, by the way, when she said, you said DDF W’s Dallas-Fort Worth, right?

[00:17:38] Cheryl Crow: Yes. Okay. Just, just for people who don’t know the acronyms but that, you’re, you love reading and that can be really hard. I mean, obviously if you became blind for whatever reason, you would learn the, accommodations like and, and stuff like that. There are alternate ways, right? Like audio books and braille and stuff, but it’s just not what you had planned for your life, 

[00:17:59] Cheryl Crow: right?

[00:17:59] Chelsea Flores: [00:18:00] Exactly. Yes, exactly. So I, during this time period, I wasn’t working anywhere. I during COVID and my diagnosis that had taken place, the job I was at prior, they, did not wanna accommo, make accommodations for me. And so I had to make the tough decision to quit and put my health first. And so it kind of worked out because that’s when COVID hit and I was able to stay home anyway.

[00:18:32] Chelsea Flores: But then the flares happened and all these things, so. I had spent a, I would say about three or four years not working. And so this is my first job since being out of the workforce. And I really love it. I love my team and my manager is very accommodating and it’s just been a pleasant experience given my history with working so, or working with an [00:19:00] autoimmune.

[00:19:00] Chelsea Flores: So, 

[00:19:01] Cheryl Crow: yeah. Well, that’s, that’s a great. A great story of, that there can be workplaces out there that accommodate. And I think working part-time is for me has been really good for energy conservation. Right. For fatigue. Yes. You mentioned fatigue is one of your symptoms. Yeah. 

[00:19:19] Chelsea Flores: Yes. And I made sure when I was very nervous to even apply to jobs, ’cause I didn’t know what things were gonna look like or what accommodations I need, so I decided to just try part time and see how my body responds. And honestly, I feel like it’s the perfect balance to where I can still be out in the community and see people and then have days where I can rest. So I am very grateful and I know isn’t, I know it’s not the case for everybody. And getting to be on both sides, I feel like I can appreciate my job more. So it [00:20:00] just yeah, I don’t know. It’s just been such a journey. It’s just been, yeah. I feel like I’ve lived multiple lives since, so 

[00:20:08] Cheryl Crow: yeah, you’re probably like, I was so young at 24, but like it does feel like it ages you to go through what you’ve been through it.

[00:20:16] Cheryl Crow: Yeah, it really does. And we kind, you’ve painted a picture of like the treatments for the scleritis. I’m curious about the RA. Have you had what have been some of the highlights or low lights of your RA treatments? Have any of them had to be like, put on hold while you dealt with the eye issues?

[00:20:35] Cheryl Crow: Or have you, how did, how did you manage all that? 

[00:20:38] Chelsea Flores: So, I did put my RA treatment on hold at the beginning when I didn’t know what was taking place. But as soon as I met with my cornea specialist, she was like, no, you need to be seen a rheumatologist you need, because we’re, we need to work together to find the correct [00:21:00] medication and she was the one that was like, when you find the right biologic, it is gonna help with your with systemically. So she’s we need to find a medication. So she really pushed me to be consistent, which I’m grateful for because before that I was trying multiple different medications and, during that time period, I was only on prednisone and I had been on that for two plus years, which obviously was a lot on my body to, to handle. And so she is I wanna get you off the pred and I want to get you on a biologic. So I really owe it to my cornea specialist ’cause she’s very direct and obviously cares about my health.

[00:21:46] Chelsea Flores: And she was able to connect me with rheumatologists that she’s worked with in the past. So they were able to all work together, which I’m very grateful for. So, yeah, it, it, it was a journey, but [00:22:00] now that I’m on Humira, it really has helped not only my joints, but my, my eye health as well. 

[00:22:07] Cheryl Crow: And, and that’s such a crucial point, like a little educational point to highlight that like the medications work a on, when they work, they, they suppress the disease, so it prevents all these systemic issues from happening in the first place. It’s not just about, you might feel the biggest difference in your joint pain, but actually it’s also preventing damage to your heart or your lungs, or your eyes. And so I think that your story is a, is a testament, to that, and, and it can take trial and error, as you mentioned.

[00:22:42] Cheryl Crow: But I’m, I’m glad that you’re, and it’s like amazing that your corneal specialist worked with your rheumatologist. That’s ideal when the providers talk to each other. 

[00:22:50] Chelsea Flores: Yes. 

[00:22:50] Cheryl Crow: But it’s, they don’t always have time or their schedules don’t always align, so, exactly. 

[00:22:55] Chelsea Flores: No, I am very grateful that my medical team [00:23:00] worked out the way it did because when I was researching before everything started happening and I had got my diagnosis, I was nervous because I heard so many different stories of taking time to find the right doctors and the right medications. And I was kind of preparing myself for what that was going to look like, especially being a very non-confrontational person. 

[00:23:25] Cheryl Crow: Yeah. 

[00:23:26] Chelsea Flores: I knew like the number one advice is, advocate for yourself, speak up for yourself in the doctor’s office.

[00:23:33] Chelsea Flores: And it, it’s easier said than done. 

[00:23:35] Cheryl Crow: Yes. 

[00:23:36] Chelsea Flores: But yeah, thankfully, now that it’s been about six years, I have been able to learn those, the importance of everything working together because it is very true. Like it, I didn’t think about biologics during that time. I was just thinking, I need my, my eye to stop hurting.

[00:23:57] Chelsea Flores: I mean, yes, to stop [00:24:00] feeling sick all the time. And she, I was like, that’s the only way is to get on a biologic, so it was, it was a learning curve for sure. 

[00:24:10] Cheryl Crow: Yeah. Well, and I think what’s really you mentioned being like a people, I, I’m gonna read into this because I, I know you a little bit, but, be a little bit a people pleaser and not wanting to complain, wanting, that that is something a lot of people struggle with and, and it’s also that can tie in to the next topic we’re gonna talk about, which is sharing your story publicly. Sometimes what prevents people from sharing publicly is that they don’t want people to criticize them or they don’t want people to say you didn’t do a good job, or you’re, something like that.

[00:24:41] Cheryl Crow: That’s kind of something, and of it’s always valid, first of all to not share your story if you just don’t feel like it, you don’t want to, you don’t value it. 

[00:24:49] Chelsea Flores: Mm-hmm. 

[00:24:49] Cheryl Crow: But I’m, I’m curious, what inspired you to start sharing your story more publicly? 

[00:24:57] Chelsea Flores: So I would say [00:25:00] that my journey with sharing my story online has been, it’s had, its ups and downs. I have definitely, well, I’ll say at first I did not wanna share my journey at the beginning. I was very scared that I would receive negative feedback or that people would have opinions on my treatment or on how I’m feeling that day, like if I shared a vulnerable post.

[00:25:35] Chelsea Flores: And I think a lot of my hesitancy to post was due to the negative feedback I received from people in my life. I think just with my experience with my prior job and how people responded there and just others past [00:26:00] friendships, et cetera it kind of caused me to, to, I just keep it bottled in, not share it, kind of be a people pleaser.

[00:26:11] Chelsea Flores: I’m fine. Kinda like we mentioned, but when I started speaking with a therapist, she really encouraged me to post my story on social media and she said, it is important to share about your diagnosis and to find people, that can relate to your story because again, this is COVID time. I didn’t have anybody.

[00:26:34] Chelsea Flores: I was on my own and she said I think it would be very therapeutic to, to just see what happens. And she’s you can have boundaries. You don’t have to make videos if you don’t wanna make videos. You don’t have to share your face if you don’t wanna share your face. But as long as you’re able to meet other people living similar journeys as you, I think it could be helpful.

[00:26:59] Chelsea Flores: [00:27:00] So, she encouraged me to create a page and I didn’t post on it for the longest time. It was the first step, just make the page. And I remember I followed two people, which was you, Cheryl, and it was another day with RA Allie. Oh yeah. Yes, those were the only two people I followed. And then I finally, eventually worked up the courage to start posting and I was able to meet people within the community.

[00:27:28] Chelsea Flores: And Jen, Gracefully Jen, she was very encouraging and she would, just answer any questions I had and just would make sure I was included in the group. And it was just so great to find people that related with me. It was honestly game changing for me when I felt like, oh wow, I’m not isolated. I’m not the only person that’s living this life. It, it made me feel validated for sure. So that’s what encouraged me and inspired [00:28:00] me to continue posting my story and just the way I’ve seen you guys handle, like sharing y’all’s testimony and sharing your what you’ve learned and how you’ve included our community it made me want to create a safe place as well.

[00:28:20] Chelsea Flores: And so that’s what I did. I wanted to spread awareness and just be a place where people could come to, to ask questions or vent or just share life updates or anything like that. So yeah. 

[00:28:35] Cheryl Crow: That’s, that’s wonderful. And it’s, it’s really is a community. Like I love that your therapist encouraged you.

[00:28:42] Cheryl Crow: ‘Cause I actually, I more often hear people’s therapists saying. Not to go on social media ’cause they’re worried about the patient being scared or feel worse after going on social media, which obviously is a risk. The benefit is the community and the encouragement and support. It truly is. [00:29:00] I, I wouldn’t have thought so deep a connections could be forged virtually until I experienced it, 

[00:29:07] Chelsea Flores: yeah, for sure. And I will say, circling back to my therapist, she definitely gave me boundaries and a list of things. She’s we’re gonna make it, but we’re not gonna look up symptoms. We’re not gonna look up X, Y, Z. We’re gonna make sure that, sorry, it’s so, she definitely gave me some rules before starting my page, which I appreciate because I definitely think if I hadn’t had those, I would be checking and seeing, well, what does this person’s diagnosis look like or what if this happens? ‘Cause anxiety surrounding health is very real and I’ve definitely, I definitely have experienced it. [00:30:00] So I am grateful for that. And also we would do check-ins as well. She would check in with me, how are things going? What are the conversations looking like? So I’m grateful she was hands-on through the whole process at the beginning while I learned how to navigate what my social media would look like.

[00:30:21] Chelsea Flores: But, overall, I’m, I am very grateful to have this community ’cause you are correct. It, it is just, I don’t know, it, just having virtual connections with people is such a unique experience that we get to have in 2025. And I just, I just love it. So I didn’t think this would be a thing back when I was in high school or anything like this.

[00:30:52] Chelsea Flores: Yeah. So it’s it’s pretty neat. Yeah. 

[00:30:55] Cheryl Crow: It’s a whole corner of the internet people don’t understand till they get it. 

[00:30:58] Chelsea Flores: Mm-hmm. Exactly. 

[00:30:59] Cheryl Crow: [00:31:00] Yeah. And we know, we talked a little about therapy and community. What, what other things have helped you cope on your journey? Whether it’s family or friends, or spouse, anything you wanna share that’s helped you? 

[00:31:13] Chelsea Flores: Yeah, so I definitely believe that my family and my husband and my family have been my biggest supporters, that my parents have always been patient and understanding when it comes to this. I, it was a learning curve for them as well. But I know that I could always count on them.

[00:31:34] Chelsea Flores: There were times when I was working at my old job that when my husband was at work, my dad would, would come and pick me up and drop me off at work just to help me. So I think those three people, my mom and dad and my husband, Angel, they were the three that really saw the dark parts of my autoimmune journey.

[00:31:58] Chelsea Flores: And I am very grateful [00:32:00] for them and they really have helped me cope in more ways than I could even think of, I didn’t even know were possible. But just by my mom cooking or bringing me dinner or bringing me medications or my husband taking over the household responsibilities, like those things are huge for people with autoimmune disorders.

[00:32:25] Chelsea Flores: Also, I do think that my relationship with my faith also helped me cope. I am Christian and I won’t lie. I will say that my faith really was challenged throughout this journey and can often, sometimes be challenging, just depending on the day is hard. But having something to believe and hope in has also helped me cope through this time in my life.

[00:32:57] Chelsea Flores: And I would say [00:33:00] lastly, having fun. Hobbies really have helped. So things that I can do, even on days that I can’t get off the couch, I have found different crafts or things I can do that are accommodating to me during my time. So example, I learned how to crochet and I know that it is a hit or miss for people with RA or arthritis.

[00:33:29] Chelsea Flores: And I’m thankful that I am able to do the craft and I have found tools that have helped me to crochet and even when I have joint pain. But that is something I can do whenever my hands are doing great and something else is going on. I also enjoy reading and if I can’t read, I love audio books.

[00:33:55] Chelsea Flores: So just finding different things that I can do on the couch to [00:34:00] feel productive because before my diagnosis, I was a busy body. I was nonstop going, and I loved it. I loved having plans made all the time and working and just doing things. I just loved feeling productive. So whenever my diagnosis took place and all those things stopped, that honestly could have been the hardest part for me is not feeling like I was doing enough. Which is it such a hard thing to wrap your mind around of, well, I can’t go to the park, I can’t go meet my friends for brunch. I can’t do these things, so I made it my mission to find things that made me feel productive and but also I respected my limits, if that makes sense. 

[00:34:55] Cheryl Crow: Oh, that’s huge. That is completely makes sense. And I really do [00:35:00] feel it’s a cruel irony that these, that RA seems to happen to a lot of people that love using their hands, that love doing, knitting, crocheting cross stitch like are musicians or so many meaningful activities and hobbies use our hands, and those can be sore if you don’t, if you’re not on a treatment plan that’s working well. So, for me, swing dancing is very heavy on the hands as well. So I love that you can still crochet. And, and I think you have ways to feel productive, however that is defined to you, you know?

[00:35:32] Cheryl Crow: And feeling like you are. Like, I, I have a similar, I like to, I, my parents were like, ever since you were little, you always wanna have a little project. Like I would make collages, I would make cards and like stationary, make little pictures for people, and it’s just fun.

[00:35:45] Chelsea Flores: But yes, I agree. I definitely have always loved creating things and making gifts, and it is my love language. I love like gift giving and acts of service [00:36:00] are my number two or top two love languages. So when those were taken away, I felt,

[00:36:08] Chelsea Flores: well, what is my purpose? What am I supposed to be doing? And the second that I was able to find things that I enjoyed and made me feel purposeful again, it really helped my mental health during the dark, dark days, for sure. 

[00:36:23] Cheryl Crow: That’s, that’s so beautiful. And I was thinking back to when you were talking about sharing your story more publicly.

[00:36:30] Cheryl Crow: This just came to me and I did not prepare you for this question, so if you don’t wanna talk about it, it’s okay. But I saw this one this post a while ago, and it was about representation of different like cultural and ethnic backgrounds in the chronic illness community. And it was basically saying, it said something like, not every person with a chronic illness is a wealthy white woman.

[00:36:53] Cheryl Crow: And it was like a African American man saying that in, in the post. I wish I could find it. If I find it, I’ll put it in the show [00:37:00] notes. But that’s something that people have brought up to me who are like, I am Caucasian. And and I do feel that my story is represented a lot in the community.

[00:37:08] Cheryl Crow: There’s a lot of other white women sharing our stories. And I’m curious if that’s, have people responded to you? ’cause of your own cultural background, or do you ever get or do you feel like that was like a motivation for you in sharing your story at all, or it’s okay if it’s not. 

[00:37:23] Chelsea Flores: No. Yes. Honestly, it, it was, I will say the Hispanic community does, how do I say this?

[00:37:35] Cheryl Crow: It’s hard to talk about. Yeah. 

[00:37:36] Chelsea Flores: It’s, but, but a lot of Hispanic people deal with chronic pain, deal with arthritis, diabetes health issues, but because a lot of, well, I don’t wanna generalize, but some people don’t have the knowledge on what it looks like, [00:38:00] especially for our people. For example, I have a lot of aunts and uncles that deal with chronic pain and they either A, don’t wanna go and get a diagnosis or treatment or B, don’t understand what it because we don’t have a lot of I guess people educating us in that this is a, an issue for our people and I wanna take it back to when we went to the rheum champion the investigators meeting, there was a rheumatologist that is doing a a research project surrounding the Hispanic community, and I appreciated that because I feel like hispanic people deserve to have this kind of knowledge to be able to improve our health, and I do wanna be a part of that. I wanna be a [00:39:00] part of that voice and to bring awareness for other Hispanic people that may not know where to start. I mean, my story included, I had no idea what what to think or do.

[00:39:14] Chelsea Flores: And looking back now, even having conversations with my mom and my dad, they’re like, oh yeah, like your grandma and grandpa had arthritis for sure. And I’m like, okay, this would’ve been great to know because this does affect me. And they’re like, well, we didn’t know. We didn’t understand until you started gaining knowledge about arthritis. Now we’re aware that, oh, a lot of people in our family, so it is genetics. And so, yeah, I just wanna be that person and help other people like me to be able to then help their families. So, it was important. It was a part of my, one of the reasons why I chose to start sharing.

[00:39:57] Chelsea Flores: And I have [00:40:00] met, maybe I wanna say two or three other Hispanic women that share their stories. I’m sure there are more out there. I just, those are the only three that I am aware of and that I’m friends with on social media, which has been great because we can relate to certain things like just childhood background, culture, foods, different things like that. But I think it is important for all communities to understand that it can affect everybody differently. 

[00:40:28] Cheryl Crow: Yeah. Thank, thank you so much for sharing. And I’m sorry to put you on the spot. But I do, I did wanna highlight that just to say yeah, that we need more representation of people outside the, the, the, category that I fall into, like a white, white woman. So, so I appreciate you, sharing about that. And I want to always give a platform to, anyone else listening who wants to share their story. Shoot me a DM as well. But of course, thank you.

[00:40:56] Cheryl Crow: Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I’m really, I’m really grateful t for taking the time and [00:41:00] unfortunately we have to go onto the rapid fire questions now, just, and we, we could talk for hours. I know. But what is your best words of wisdom for somebody who’s newly diagnosed with either rheumatoid arthritis or scleritis, or both I guess? 

[00:41:14] Chelsea Flores: I would say my fast words of wisdom is to give yourself grace just because it’s so easy to feel guilt or shame surrounding a diagnosis. But I just wanna encourage you to just be patient and take each day one step at a time. Don’t get caught up in trying to have all the answers at once.

[00:41:35] Chelsea Flores: Take your time to learn your need this new version of yourself and allow yourself to grieve when needed. I definitely wish I had that advice when I first got diagnosed. 

[00:41:47] Cheryl Crow: That’s, that’s beautiful. I resonate with all of that. And do you have a favorite quote or inspirational saying for tough days?

[00:41:56] Chelsea Flores: Yes. So, like I mentioned, I am Christian, [00:42:00] so there are two scriptures that every time I’m having a hard day or when I’m anxious in a doctor’s office, they just come to my mind. And the first one is Joshua one, nine. Be strong and courageous. And the second one is Romans eight 18. The pain you’re feeling can’t compare to the joy that is coming.

[00:42:21] Chelsea Flores: And honestly, those have really just kind of in my mantras and on really hard days it just keeps me going for sure. 

[00:42:30] Cheryl Crow: I love that. On a totally different note, do you have a favorite arthritis gadget or tool in your toolbox? 

[00:42:36] Chelsea Flores: Yes. I have to say my finger and hand massage roller. It sounds weird, but I love it.

[00:42:44] Chelsea Flores: The thing, it saved my life. And then the other one would be my cooling eye mask for eye flares. That was game changer as well, so. 

[00:42:54] Cheryl Crow: Oh, love that. Yeah. You really don’t know how many nerve endings are on your eye until your eye [00:43:00] starts hurting and then you’re like, what? Yes, yes. Sorry. I really feel for you because my eyes hurt just from dry eyes. So anyway. Now this is one I know we could talk about for hours, but is there any of a book or a movie or show you’ve watched or read recently that you’d wanna share? 

[00:43:15] Chelsea Flores: So I actually just finished Atmosphere by Taylor Re Jenkins, or sorry, Taylor Jenkins Reed. I always flip her last name, but it was a five star read for me.

[00:43:27] Chelsea Flores: I really loved it. I highly recommend. It’s the first book she’s written since I believe 2022, and her books are great. 

[00:43:35] Cheryl Crow: Okay. I will check that one out. Yes. And then last one, this is literally what is the meaning of life, but what does it mean to you to live a good life and thrive with rheumatoid arthritis?

[00:43:47] Chelsea Flores: So I, hmm. It’s a hard.

[00:43:56] Chelsea Flores: I am trying to think of the right way to say it. 

[00:43:59] Cheryl Crow: Well, and I’ll say [00:44:00] you’ve answered it in different ways throughout, like in a way, the whole conversation kind of answers that in the sense of like you talked about engaging in things that are valuable to you and still being part of a community, but I’ll let you, I’ll let you put in your words.

[00:44:13] Chelsea Flores: Yes. I would say even though it has been challenging to live with RA and it has come with many setbacks it has also allowed me the opportunity to learn about my health on a deeper level. I have learned more about myself physically and mentally these past six years that I don’t think I would have if I hadn’t received a diagnosis.

[00:44:41] Chelsea Flores: Which seems counterintuitive, but I truly didn’t understand my body or think about my health until I received a diagnosis. But it also has allowed me to get outside of my comfort zone, [00:45:00] and I’ve been given amazing opportunities to meet others in the rheumatology world and be able to advocate for a community, and I think it’s just given me a stronger voice, and I am weirdly grateful for it.

[00:45:16] Chelsea Flores: Does that make sense? I, it’s such like a, a weird feeling, but I don’t know. 

[00:45:25] Cheryl Crow: It’s kind of like making lemonade from lemons, like you had to, and it’s I relate to what we talked about, about you take your body for granted, especially as a young person. And so it’s changed, yeah changed your relationship to your body and probably got, you, brought you some gratitude for the things like sometimes I just think Wow. There’s a lot of areas in my body that are actually functioning right now. Don’t get me wrong, there’s areas that are not functioning, but I’m more grateful for the ones that are, because some of them aren’t. 

[00:45:50] Chelsea Flores: Yeah, exactly, especially since my eyes have been doing so much better since December, I’ve just [00:46:00] been appreciative.

[00:46:00] Chelsea Flores: When I wake up, I’m like, I can see, I have no headaches. It’s just you. Don’t take the little things for granted once you get a diagnosis. 

[00:46:09] Cheryl Crow: Really, really relate. That’s beautiful. Well, last question where can people find you online? And I want you to feel free to plug your online store as well. 

[00:46:19] Chelsea Flores: Yes.

[00:46:20] Chelsea Flores: So, you can find me on Instagram and TikTok @thefloresgrowhere. That’s where I share just daily life on living with RA and I do have a small business with my mom, and it’s called at Juniper and Wildflower. You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, and we just share some of our crafts that we’ve made.

[00:46:44] Cheryl Crow: I think that’s beautiful. How fun. Well, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you in person at the you mentioned the investigators meeting. That’s from the Rheumatology Research Foundation, and they have a volunteer program where you can become what’s called like a rheum champion, where you learn [00:47:00] about what’s going on at with the research foundation and help amplify their work.

[00:47:04] Cheryl Crow: So I’ll also put a link in the show notes, which are always on my website for people to apply. It’s like a five minute form to become a rheum champion too. So if you do that, you get accepted, you might be able to meet in person at one of these fun events. So thank you so much for sharing your story today.

[00:47:23] Chelsea Flores: Thank you for having me. 

[00:47:23] Cheryl Crow: Yeah, it was wonderful chatting with you. I’ll talk to you later. Bye. Bye. 

[00:47:26] Chelsea Flores: Bye.

[00:47:27] 

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