Arthritis Life

“The Art of Reframing:” Cheryl Koehn on Learning to Love Herself & Life with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Episode Summary

Cheryl Koehn tells her story of going from athletic and active, to having over 30 swollen joints and getting diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. She shares how her journey over three decades led her to become a patient advocate and form Arthritis Consumer Experts.

Episode Notes

Cheryl C. and Cheryl K. share key tools for thriving with arthritis, like finding ways to ask for help, developing health literacy, practicing self-compassion, and getting support. They also discuss the safety of modern medicine and how to balance it with complementary therapies to create an individualized plan for managing rheumatoid arthritis. 

 Additionally, they delve into the mental health techniques that have helped them cope, including: reframing exercises, and working past bias. Cheryl K. shared how she used her experiences to form Arthritis Consumer Experts, a patient-led and science-based organization with the goal of providing better education to people with arthritis.

Episode at a glance:

• Navigating chronic illness when the internet was just starting: Cheryl Koehn had an athletic background, but when symptoms struck she went to the library to do her own research and advocated for herself despite medical gaslighting.
• Trialing treatment options: Cheryl K. initially denied Western Medicine before she ended up with 36 active swollen joints within a year and progressively worsening quality of life. Following this, she received gold injections and other conventional DMARDs initially, adding in Methotrexate and later transitioning to newer medications like biologics as they became available.
• Coping with peer pressure: People trying to convince her that “natural is better” and to avoid medications, however natural isn’t inherently better at controlling disease and newer medications are backed by research. Cheryl C. and Cheryl K. discuss how a balance of complementary therapies and medication help people safely manage their conditions. Koen practices reframing exercises, works on explicit and implicit bias, and considers “what can I learn from this person today” with an open mind.
• Wisdom for newly diagnosed patients: Find ways to ask for help! Develop health literacy as a tool for advocating for yourself and to guide decision making.
• What does it mean to thrive with rheumatic disease: Practice self-love and self-compassion, love what you do, and give yourself room to breathe.
• Arthritis Consumer Experts (ACE): Cheryl K. used her experiences of running her own consulting firm, volunteering, and being on the board at the Arthritis Society to form this organization. Her goal is to provide better education to people with arthritis, and to not be the only person with arthritis with a say in arthritis organizations.

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!

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Go to the Arthritis Life website