Uninvisible Pod with Lauren Freedman
161 episodes - English - Latest episode: 10 months ago - ★★★★★ - 96 ratingsAn award-winning podcast about invisible conditions and chronic invisible illness, featuring interviews with survivors, their loved ones, advocates, and experts in varied healing modalities, from medical to holistic. Hosted by Lauren Freedman, a health coach and patient advocate, who lives with Hashimoto’s disease and sleep disorders, Uninvisible uncovers real stories of survival and humanity – complete with laughter. In truth and with candor, we offer solutions – and challenge the world to change.
uninvisiblepod.substack.com
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Last FREE Ep: The Thyroid Pharmacist!
June 29, 2023 20:44 - 46 minutes - 42.6 MBIzabella Wentz, PharmD, FASCP, is an internationally acclaimed thyroid specialist and a licensed pharmacist who has dedicated her career to addressing the root causes of autoimmune thyroid disease after being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis in 2009. She is the author of three books on Hashimoto’s: Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis Lifestyle Interventions for Finding and Treating the Root Cause, Hashimoto’s Food Pharmacology, and Hashimoto’s Protocol, which became a #1 New York Times bestseller....
Episode 149: BACK FROM HIBERNATION: NEW EPISODE
June 23, 2023 23:26 - 1 hour - 48.9 MBChris Armstrong, PhD was first introduced to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) through research into metabolomics at the University of Melbourne, Australia. As he delved deeper into his work, he discovered its connection to ME/CFS patients, and empathized so much with their plight – and the lack of resources, funding, and research available to both patients and clinicians – that he made it his mission to continue research in this field in the hope of finding a cure....
148: Getting Sexy with Andrew Gurza
April 27, 2022 10:00 - 1 hour - 45.7 MBAndrew Gurza is an award winning Disability Awareness Consultant and the Chief Disability Officer and Co-founder of Bump’n, a sex toy company for and by disabled people. Andrew uses they/he pronouns and identifies proudly as disabled. Their work has been featured on BBC, CBC, Daily Xtra, Gay Times UK, Huffington Post, The Advocate, Everyday Feminism, Mashable, Out.com, and several anthologies. He was the subject of an award-winning National Film Board of Canada Documentary, Picture This. And...
147: Bipolar Señorita Dailyn Santana
March 02, 2022 11:00 - 1 hour - 41.3 MBDailyn Santana is a first-generation Cuban-American actress, keynote speaker, spoken word poet, and mental health advocate. Her work focuses on eradicating mental health stigma and her personal experience of living with bipolar 1 disorder, depression, and anxiety. Her mission is to be an example that those living with mental illness CAN live a happy, fulfilling life. She believes that living in your truth is the most powerful tool you can have, and performs her spoken word poetry at events a...
146: SIBO Sisters and Hashi Posse Unite — It’s Phoebe Lapine!
February 16, 2022 11:00 - 57 minutes - 26.4 MBPhoebe Lapine is a food and health writer, gluten-free chef, culinary instructor, recipe developer, wellness blogger, Hashimoto's advocate and speaker, and the voice behind the award-winning blog Feed Me Phoebe. Named by Women’s Health Magazine as the top nutrition read of 2017, Phoebe’s debut memoir, The Wellness Project, chronicles her journey with the autoimmune disease, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. She is the host of the SIBO Made Simple podcast and author of the new book by the same name wh...
145: Crafted to Thrive: Mindset Business Coach & Spoonie Nikita Williams
February 02, 2022 11:00 - 1 hour - 36.7 MBNikita Williams is a mindset business coach and the host of the podcast, She’s Crafted to Thrive. She was diagnosed with endometriosis in 2009 and fibromyalgia in 2010. These diagnoses inspired her to use the training she received from previous jobs to jump-start her career as a business coach. Nikita learned that having a chronic illness did not limit her potential. In fact, it helped her to see the possibilities for herself and for her clients. Her aim is to help all creative women — espec...
144: Endometriosis & Autism Advocate Kendall Rayburn
January 19, 2022 11:00 - 1 hour - 57.1 MBOriginally launched as a means of sharing her craft projects, Kendall Rayburn’s namesake blog has since evolved into her passionate full-time occupation: a place to pour her heart into content across the lifestyle spectrum (see: plus-size fashion, family-friendly travel and activities, home decor, recipes, and more). It has also become a powerful vehicle for sharing her struggles with endometriosis — all with the token contagious positivity that’s garnered her a devoted following. Add to tha...
143: Dr. Akilah Cadet, DEIB Specialist Living with Rare Heart Disease & hEDS
January 05, 2022 11:00 - 1 hour - 28.5 MBDr. Akilah Cadet is the Founder and CEO of Change Cadet consulting firm, which offers a broad array of anti-racism and diversity services including strategic planning, crisis rebuilding, advising, executive coaching, and facilitation. Cadet (her last name) is a French term that means soldier. As it's often an uphill battle for BIPOC, women, and historically excluded communities to achieve success and equity in the workplace, Change Cadet prepares soldiers of change to overcome these continuo...
142: Racism Is A Public Health Crisis with Dr. Faith Crittenden
December 22, 2021 11:00 - 40 minutes - 27.5 MBFaith Crittenden, MD MPH is a recently-graduated pediatric resident with her Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. While a student, she was an active member of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) and the American Medical Association (AMA). In 2016, she was appointed as the national liaison for SNMA to AMA — Medical Student Section. She has helped the progression of organized medicine in many ways — most recently is a co-author on several his...
141: What We Really Mean When We Talk About OCD — With Pooja C. Danay
December 08, 2021 11:00 - 1 hour - 33.8 MBPooja C. Danay is a South Asian mental health advocate who lives with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). An actor, entrepreneur, and dancer who specializes in Bollywood dancing (been doing it since she was 5 years old!), she loves traveling and spending time with family and friends. Born and raised in New Jersey and currently living in NYC with her husband, she attended Pace University and the Lubin School of Business. She is proud of her culture: where her family comes from (India) and it...
140: Rare Diseases Lesotho Founder Nthabeleng Ramoeli
November 24, 2021 11:00 - 1 hour - 52.2 MBNthabeleng Ramoeli was born in the small southern African country of Lesotho. At the age of 12, she began to experience chronic pain and subluxation of her joints, in addition to extreme skin elasticity, GI and lung issues, and anapyhlaxis. These symptoms persisted through her admittance to university, where test after test came back inconclusive. So, she began her own research…and stumbled upon Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS). While her diagnosis was eventually confirmed, none of the practitio...
139: The Boys of Bolus Maximus on Life with T1D
November 10, 2021 11:00 - 1 hour - 46.4 MBThe idea behind non-profit community support organization Bolus Maximus began in late 2017 when Matt Tarro and Brandon A. Denson started having weekly discussions about their lives with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Coming from completely different backgrounds, the two actually had a lot in common — and recognized they both wanted to change the narrative around men’s freedom to express their emotions. Brandon has taken the helm of this movement in an effort to address the sheer lack of Black faces ...
138: Morgan Greene — Is, Was, Will Be with MG
October 27, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 50.4 MBMorgan Greene is a chronic illness and holistic wellness blogger and content creator at Is Was Will Be blog. After being diagnosed with rare chronic illness Myasthenia Gravis (MG), Morgan started writing to process her experience — “serving as both therapy and accountability” for her, as she so aptly puts it. As her journey progressed, she found solace in putting into words what many of her fellow Spoonies were experiencing. What started as a hobby has turned into a passion, as Morgan contin...
137: Lyfebulb Founder Dr. Karin Hehenberger
October 13, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 46.8 MBDr. Karin Hehenberger has close to 20 years of experience in the life sciences sector. She served as an executive at Eyetech Pharmaceuticals and Coronado BioSciences, and had strategic management roles at Johnson & Johnson (Vice President, Metabolic Strategy), JDRF (Senior Vice President, Strategic Alliances), and McKinsey; as well as senior partnership roles at public (Brummer & Partners) and private (Scandinavian Life Science Ventures) multibillion-dollar investment funds. She received her...
136: When It Hurts to Hear — Hyperacusis Awareness Founder Jemma-Tiffany
September 29, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 43.2 MBJemma-Tiffany is a 17-year-old writer, passionate patient advocate, and founder of Hyperacusis Awareness. Having grown up with severe hyperacusis (a rare and poorly-understood disorder that causes her to experience physical pain from everyday sounds) has motivated her to raise awareness of others with similar conditions. Through her various efforts, Jemma has gained experience in patient advocacy and legislative change campaigning, and has been able to participate in numerous awareness-raisi...
135: Defining Heroism: A 9/11 First Responder’s Story
September 15, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 48.6 MB* * * TW / CW : mortality, and graphic discussion of the events during and in the aftermath of 9/11, 2001 * * * Twenty years after 9/11, some first responders are still struggling with long-term health complications brought on by the historic event. For Tom Frey, a former NYC detective, the consequences started with a diagnosis of Hodgkin’s lymphoma — the treatment for which then caused pulmonary fibrosis (PF) — a life-threatening, incurable lung disease. His illness can be linked back to ...
134: Sara Naveed is Fabulous & Fatigued
September 01, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 55.5 MBSara Naveed is a Canadian writer, chronic illness advocate, and founder of the blog Fabulous and Fatigued. 14 years ago, she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia following a hit-and-run. Inspired by her experience, she started the blog with the aim of creating awareness and ending the stigma of life with chronic illnesses. Her work has been published in various media outlets and platforms including Yahoo, MSN, The Mighty, The Tired Girl Society and DPC Education Center. Tune in as Sara shares: ...
133: This Thing They Call Recovery’s Jenny McGibbon on The Nuanced Experience of Living with a Disability
August 18, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 52.3 MBJenny McGibbon is a disabled graphic designer from Scotland, predominantly living with ME/CFS. She was born with a birth defect known as gastroschisis, and as a result she also lives with short bowel syndrome, chronic internal bleeding, and iron deficiency anemia. At the age of 16, she found herself in and out of hospital almost weekly — something that would continue on for some years. She couldn't relate to her peers anymore, and felt alienated in the new medical space she suddenly found he...
132: Lupus Advocate Cass Rush
August 04, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 51.5 MBCassandra Rush is a lupus advocate born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. In 2012, after a two-year battle with an undiagnosed illness due to being uninsured, she was finally diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (lupus SLE). Two years later she was diagnosed with lupus nephritis. An “accidental advocate”, she speaks out about the broken US healthcare system, with a particularly detailed lens on medical racism and systemic bias. She was recently selected as a subject in the documentary se...
131: Faith Ashenden of That Healing Feeling
July 21, 2021 10:00 - 57 minutes - 133 MBFaith Ashenden is the founder and CEO of That Healing Feeling. She is a global patient empowerment mentor, master mindset coach, and biohacking expert who helps women hack the system and get their health back holistically, using 1-1 coaching, online courses, a podcast, and social media accounts with over 40k+ followers. Faith empowers people to ask the right questions, bust through limiting beliefs, detox their environments and bodies, and start using food as medicine. She’s also overcome Gr...
131: Faith Ashenden of That Healing Feeling
July 21, 2021 10:00 - 57 minutes - 39.8 MBFaith Ashenden is the founder and CEO of That Healing Feeling. She is a global patient empowerment mentor, master mindset coach, and biohacking expert who helps women hack the system and get their health back holistically, using 1-1 coaching, online courses, a podcast, and social media accounts with over 40k+ followers. Faith empowers people to ask the right questions, bust through limiting beliefs, detox their environments and bodies, and start using food as medicine. She’s also overcome Gr...
130: Actor & MS Advocate Damian Washington
July 07, 2021 10:00 - 54 minutes - 37.7 MBDamian Washington is an actor who’s done 30+ commercials for brands like Fruit of the Loom, Realtor.com, and the NFL. Originally hailing from NYC, he attended the prestigious LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts (Fame, anyone?!). A few years ago, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS)…and soon discovered that developing an MS community is the best way to share his light with the world. Damian’s weekly YouTube channel has several thousand engaged subscribers; he sits on Genent...
129: ADHD Advocate Dani Donovan, Illustrator & Creator of #NeuroDiverseSquad
June 23, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 52.2 MBDani Donovan is a purpose-driven designer who creates cathartic ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) illustrations and a community of validation and solidarity for adults living with ADHD. Her first infographic, “ADHD Storytelling,” went viral within hours and amassed over 100 million views. Her work has been reposted by celebrities like Mindy Kaling and featured in publications like the BBC. In a few short months, Dani’s relatable comics and her #NeurodiverseSquad hashtag helpe...
128: Diversability Founder Tiffany Yu
June 09, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 54.2 MBTiffany Yu is the CEO & Founder of Diversability, an award-winning social enterprise to amplify disabled voices; the Founder of the Awesome Foundation Disability Chapter, a monthly micro-grant that has awarded $49.5k to 50 disability projects in 8 countries; and the host of TIFFANY & YU, the podcast. She serves on the San Francisco Mayor’s Disability Council and was a 2020 Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum Sustainable Development Impact Summit. At the age of 9, Tiffany became disabled as ...
127: Spoonie Artist & Activist Mimi Butlin of @CantGoOut_ImSick
May 26, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 48 MBIn 2012, while studying at university, Mimi Butlin contracted viral meningitis — from which she never fully recovered. Since then she has been diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, fibromyalgia, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, and ME/CFS (as Mimi wryly notes, “a really lovely bunch!”). For years, she felt completely alone and that convinced she was responsible for her pain. In 2018, she started the Instagram account @CantGoOut_ImSick, a platform where she posted drawings of what ...
126: The Mata Sisters, Founders of Looms for Lupus
May 12, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 57 MBIn 2009, Juana Mata was diagnosed with lupus. One of three very close sisters, nobody in her family had heard of this illness prior to her diagnosis — or knew how to handle her support and treatment. As the family began to research education, resources, and the history of the disease, they began to discover that it was largely misunderstood, and that it needed awareness-raising to fund research for a cure. The sisters began gathering in therapeutic loom knitting circles as they processed the...
125: Fight Like A Warrior Founder Alexa Chronister
April 07, 2021 10:00 - 41 minutes - 28.5 MBAlexa Chronister is the founder and president of Fight Like A Warrior (FLAW). She created FLAW after creating the Cards For Warriors program (sending handmade cards of encouragement to chronic illness warriors across the globe, reminding them they are not alone) in 2016. With the goal of creating a community of empowerment and improving the lives of those with chronic health conditions, she developed FLAW as a way to cope with her own health challenges, while giving back to others (and won a...
124: Julian Gavino, @TheDisabledHippie
March 31, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 42.7 MBJulian Gavino (he/him) is a trans-masculine model, writer, coach, and sex-positive disability influencer living with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and comorbidities. An outspoken advocate for both the trans and disability communities, Julian grew up never seeing people in media who “looked like” him…and his work has become a direct response to that experience. Many may know Julian through his Instagram account @TheDisabledHippie, which he started during a health crisis while in college for neuropsy...
123: Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover: Shayla Swint on Life with EDS
March 24, 2021 10:00 - 47 minutes - 32.5 MBShayla Swint is a 25-year-old college grad from Houston, Texas. Like the old adage, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” Shayla is so much more than what we can see…she lives with connective tissue disorder Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), hypermobile type. She’s survived over 15 surgeries thus far, and lives in an almost-constant state of pain and anxiety due to the condition. When she says that “her body’s trying not to fall apart,” it almost seems an understatement. And yet…she manages to keep...
122: Rhisa Parera: A WOC VS The System — And Lyme
March 17, 2021 10:00 - 1 hour - 59.2 MBIn the last in our 2021 series on Lyme disease, we are joined by the first WOC to discuss the subject: Rhisa Marie Parera. Though she began experiencing symptoms from a young age, Rhisa grew up as an active young woman in Staten Island, NY, and got heavily involved in the salsa dancing scene and modeling from her late teens into her early twenties. At the age of 19, her health took a serious downward turn; and ten years later, aged 29, she had deteriorated to the point at which she was no lo...
121: Functional Medicine Health Coach Sharon Leggio Falchuk VS Lyme
March 10, 2021 11:05 - 1 hour - 43.4 MBSharon Leggio Falchuk, FMCHC found herself bedridden by a serious illness in 2011, and when the mainstream medical system had no answers or help for her she took matters into her own hands. She spent every moment she could doing research, changing her diet and lifestyle, and assembling a functional medicine and alternative care team to help her forge a path to healing. Her inextinguishable will to be well meant she was willing to try almost anything, and one of the life-changing discoveries ...
120: Lyme & Thyroid Specialist Lisa Hunt, D.O.
March 10, 2021 11:00 - 32 minutes - 22.3 MBLisa Hunt, D.O., D.O.H. is a practitioner at Holtorf Medical Group in El Segundo, CA. She specializes in anti-aging treatment, natural thyroid replacement, menopause/andropause therapy (including bioidentical hormone replacement), chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, strengthening the immune system, neurotransmitter analysis/replacement, and nutritional support guidance. Dr. Hunt is a graduate of Western University of Health Sciences and completed her residency at the San Joaquin General ...
119: Buenqamino, Lyme & Co.
March 03, 2021 11:00 - 1 hour - 42.2 MBChristina Kantzavelos (@buenqamino // @beginwithintoday) is a Lyme warrior, award-winning freelance writer/content creator, chronic illness advocate, and licensed psychotherapist. She was diagnosed with Lyme disease and co-infections in October of 2018. However, she struggled with debilitating symptoms and various autoimmune diseases for years prior. Her treatment has included a mixture of Eastern and Western modalities, nutritional changes, a switch to non-toxic living, clean beauty, DNRS (...
118: LLMD Dr. Casey Kelley
February 24, 2021 11:05 - 50 minutes - 34.4 MBCasey Kelley, MD, ABoIM is the founder and medical director of Case Integrative Health. Dr. Kelley is relentless about getting to the root cause of chronic disease and transforming health through Functional Medicine. On faculty at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine, she is Board Certified in Family Medicine and was also among the first physicians to become Board Certified in Integrative Medicine. She has studied the causes, effects, and treatments of disease extensively, and lectures...
117: Alex Moresco, Lyme Advocate & Co-Founder of Advocacy Express
February 24, 2021 11:00 - 1 hour - 43.1 MBWhether it’s hiding the likes of Pamela Anderson from paparazzi or helping NeNe Leakes pretend to sell furniture…Alex Moresco has a story about it. A PR executive from Chicago, four years ago her life was turned upside-down by undiagnosed illness. It took her two years and eight specialists (a shorter time than most, she admits) to find a doctor that would eventually crack the case: tick-borne illness. She quickly realized what mattered in life: philanthropy, advocacy, and lobbying for more ...
116: Lyme Survivor & Life Sherpa Gena Chieco
February 17, 2021 11:00 - 38 minutes - 26.3 MBGena Chieco is a coach, adventurer, and connector who loves inspiring clients to step into their best lives by providing tools to help them tap into their inner wisdom and dreams. She grew up in a rural suburb of New York City running around barefoot in the summer, obsessed with nature, with dreams of becoming a zoologist. After earning a BA with Honors in Psychology from Northwestern University and a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law, she had the privilege of working for the ...
115: Integrative Rheumatologist Dr. Micah Yu
February 10, 2021 11:00 - 50 minutes - 34.6 MBDr. Micah Yu is an integrative rheumatologist who incorporates complementary medicine with traditional rheumatology. He is double board-certified in internal medicine and lifestyle medicine. He obtained his MD from Chicago Medical School, and holds a Masters in Healthcare Administration and Biomedical sciences. He completed his internal medicine residency and rheumatology fellowship at Loma Linda University in Southern California. He is currently in his 2nd fellowship at the Andrew Weil Inte...
114: Black Disabled Artist Rana 2.0
February 03, 2021 11:00 - 53 minutes - 36.9 MBArtist Rana Awadallah grew up surrounded by poverty, abuse, and trauma. Diagnosed with major depression and extreme anxiety at the age of 18, she always felt there was something “wrong” with her body. Then, at the age of 24 — after having dealt with chronic pain for a decade — she was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in both of her knees. Shortly after, she was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, PCOS, and possible endometriosis. Having not been taken seriously by loved ones or doctors for years, thes...
113: Myositis Thriver Michole J
January 27, 2021 11:00 - 58 minutes - 40.4 MBMichole J lives with rare muscle disease polymyositis (PM), which falls under the umbrella of muscular dystrophy. PM is an uncommon inflammatory disease that affects the entire body — and while Michole began to exhibit symptoms in her late 20s, she was diagnosed at age 30 with the rarest form. Living with the condition create mobility challenges, from climbing stairs, lifting objects, raising her arms, and even becoming rapidly exhausted from any kind of movement, to breathing issues due to ...
113: Myositis Thriver Michole J
January 27, 2021 11:00 - 58 minutes - 53.9 MBMichole J lives with rare muscle disease polymyositis (PM), which falls under the umbrella of muscular dystrophy. PM is an uncommon inflammatory disease that affects the entire body — and while Michole began to exhibit symptoms in her late 20s, she was diagnosed at age 30 with the rarest form. Living with the condition create mobility challenges, from climbing stairs, lifting objects, raising her arms, and even becoming rapidly exhausted from any kind of movement, to breathing issues due to ...
112: Somatic & Spoonie Therapist Rachel Otis Lives with Crohn’s Disease
January 20, 2021 11:00 - 1 hour - 61.7 MBRachel Otis (she/they) is a somatic therapist, yoga teacher, abolitionist, writer, and pleasure activist who works directly, compassionately and non-judgmentally with the mind-body connection, infusing sessions, groups, retreats, and articles with radical self-love, exploration, and expression. She provides healing pathways of somatically-oriented coping tools and resources including yoga, art, supportive self-touch, guided meditation, joyful movement, vocalizations, exploring imaginational ...
111: P4AD’s Samantha Reid on Patient Advocacy & Life with Crohn’s Disease
January 13, 2021 11:00 - 1 hour - 58.1 MBSamantha Reid is the Digital Director for Patients for Affordable Drugs. Growing up in Illinois, she suffered from a “bad stomach” and weakened immune system, having caught pneumonia nine times by the age of nine. But it wasn’t until she was in her late teens that she sought answers. A diagnosis of Crohn’s disease eventually led her into patient advocacy, where her passion for improving patient quality of life helped her find her way to P4AD. Now an active member of the Spoonie community, sh...
110: P4AD’s David Mitchell on Drug Pricing and Living with Incurable Cancer
January 06, 2021 11:00 - 1 hour - 45.6 MBDavid Mitchell has an incurable blood cancer called multiple myeloma. The price of his current drugs is more than $875,000 per year. Like millions of Americans, David needs innovation and new drugs to survive, but he believes drugs don’t work if people can’t afford them. After more than 30 years at a D.C. policy and communications firm, he retired in December 2016 to devote his full energy to helping change policy to lower prescription drug prices. Patients For Affordable Drugs mobilizes pat...
109: Breath, Movement, and Chronic Pain with TN Advocate Kayla Harley
December 30, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 46.8 MBKayla Harley is a certified GYROKINESISⓇ instructor, Optimal Life Breath Pathologist, doula, and energy healer helping dancers, athletes and everyday movers alike improve their quality of movement: for breath integration and to prevent injury. She is an International Practitioner and among the forerunners in the International Association for Blacks in Dance. She believes firmly that the body has the power to heal itself through active listening and diligent response, and knows this first-han...
108: New Series! Innovators — Part 1
December 23, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 51.7 MBJoin us as we launch a brand new series on Uninvisible Pod — INNOVATORS! In this series, we will periodically release episodes including short-form interviews with founders whose work is creating waves of change in chronic and invisible illness and disability. First up, as we dive in to the end of the year and look forward into 2021: Yale graduate Celine Tien, founder and CEO of Flowly, a mobile platform for chronic pain and anxiety management; Yael Elish, formerly co-founder and head of pro...
107: The Point of Pain with Chronicon Founder Nitika Chopra
December 16, 2020 11:00 - 51 minutes - 35.5 MBAt the age of 10, Nitika Chopra was diagnosed with a debilitating case of psoriasis. By 19, her joints were entirely inflamed and she was further diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. From the tips of her toes to the crown of her head, her body was covered in unsightly sores…and for the first five years of her second diagnosis, she was unable to move without severe pain. While she’s come a long way since then, the first 15 years of diagnosis and life with chronic illness left Nitika overwhelme...
106: That Chronic Pain Life with The Migraine Diva Jaime Sanders
December 09, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 44 MBJaime Sanders’ journey with migraine has been life-long. From a toddler with abdominal migraine to a wife and mother with chronic intractable migraine, Jaime has learned to turn her pain into empowerment. She also manages her daily life with depression and anxiety, surviving two suicide attempts, along with fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel syndrome, spinal stenosis and chronic back pain. Despite these conditions and their limitations, she strives to do her best to find her optimal health. Advocat...
105: Naturalist Brittany Sumner on Living with Rare Disease Paramyotonia Congenita
December 02, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 43 MBBorn and raised in South Carolina, 27-year-old Brittany Sumner always felt like she was different than her peers — both physically and mentally. At an early age, she began falling over without explanation, finding herself unable to climb stairs, going cross-eyed, experiencing slurred speech, choking on food, and feeling almost constant fatigue. It took some time to find a specialist who truly saw her symptoms as something more, and was finally able to diagnose her with a rare condition calle...
104: Special Needs Siblings Founder Jeniece Dortch
November 25, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 47.3 MBJeniece Dortch is a mom of six, her children ranging in age from 4-16 years. She has a passion for the special needs community that was born when her second-eldest son, Christian Garcia, was diagnosed with autism and epilepsy. She not only saw the need to advocate for these communities, but for the entire family unit (even those who are able-bodied) as inclusive members of the special needs community. With this idea in mind, she formed Special Needs Siblings, Inc. — a nonprofit committed to ...
103: Advocating Like A Mother: Kelly Cervantes on Life After Epilepsy
November 18, 2020 11:05 - 52 minutes - 36.1 MBIn May 2016, Kelly Cervantes and her family received two life-changing pieces of news: her husband, Miguel, had landed the starring role of Alexander Hamilton in Hamilton: An American Musical in Chicago; and their then-7-months-old baby girl, Adelaide, was diagnosed with epilepsy — and eventually, infantile spasms — a severe form of childhood epilepsy. She transitioned from being the family’s primary bread-winner to a stay-at-home mom and full-time caregiver. Eventually, she found her voice ...