In my blog, I’ll share with you my experiences as a chronically ill and invisibly disabled advocate and journalist.

Two people in a physical therapy office standing next to each other. A woman with short brown hair and a white shirt and pink skirt smiles brightly. Next to her stands a man with a blue shirt and a stethoscope around his neck who also smiles brightly.
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Where physical therapy ends and magic begins: Healy Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine

“He helped my daughter get from being bedridden to going back to college,” says Michele Pestana when I meet her at Healy Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine in Providence, Rhode Island, on a hot summer day in July 2022. Pestana is…
A woman with long brown hair hanging over her left shoulder sits on a chair with her right arm under her chin. She wears a brown sweater and sits in a bright white room.

Meghan O’Rourke and The Invisible Kingdom

As part of our monthly Chronic Pain Partners Post Newsletter, I had the pleasure of speaking with Megan O’Rourke, a fellow Zebra, but more importantly, journalist and author who recently published the bestselling book “The Invisible…
A photo of Dr. Chopra, a man with short brown hair and glasses. Next to him is an image of Karina, a woman with short brown hair and leaf-shaped dangling earrings. Next to her is the EDS Awareness Logo with text: Interview, Dr. Chopra & Karina Sturm, Psychological aspects of EDS - Dr. Chopra’s Statement explained.

Interview with Dr. Pradeep Chopra regarding the psychological and psychiatric aspects of the Ehlers-Danlos syndromes and hypermobility spectrum disorders

Introduction EDS expert and pain specialist Dr. Pradeep Chopra contacted Chronic Pain Partners to speak about a recently published review on the psychological and psychiatric aspects of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Dr. Chopra has been…
An illustration of a black DNA with a blue circle in the middle and text: Norris Lab.

Interview with Dr. Norris on finding the genetic cause(s) for hypermobile EDS and much more

For Chronic Pain Partners, I had the honor to speak with Dr. Russell “Chip” Norris from the Norris Lab at MUSC, a research laboratory dedicated to finding the genetic cause(s) for the hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Sturm speaks…
A person with rainbow colored hair that are shaved on the sides. The person wears a black tank top and holds a fluffy white dog.

Jules Machias about their EDS journey and new middle-grade book Fight + Flight

For our Chronic Pain Partner Post newsletter, the Chronic Pain Partner media team is excited to introduce the EDS community to the new middle-grade* fiction book “Fight + Flight,” which features a character with EDS! I had the…
A woman with long brown hair bound to a ponytail sits in her garden on a chair with giraffe pattern. She smiles, wears a black shirt and sunglasses on top of her head.

Interview with EDS advocate Donna Sullivan, TCAPP, about wrongful child abuse allegations and medically complex children

For our Chronic Pain Partners Post newsletter, I spoke with Donna Sullivan, board member of The Coalition Against Pediatric Pain (TCAPP). Sullivan lives with EDS and has several affected children as well. In this interview, she shares…
A comic-like illustration of a Zebra with a golden microphone in front and text: EDS & Aging, New Project

EDS & Aging

The EDS & Aging Project Funny Bone Newsletter - March 2022 presented by EDS Awareness This is a community-centered project with people older than 45 who want to share their experiences about aging as a person with EDS.…
A woman with shoulder-long blonde hair sits on a blue exercise mat. She wears black pants and a black tank top and lifts her left arm up to her side. Text: The Zebra Club.

Jeannie Di Bon’s Zebra Club App – A Review

“Wow,” was the first word that came to my mind when I started to exercise with Jeannie Di Bon’s new program: The Zebra Club. My feelings regarding Jeannie’s new app were very similar to when I read Diana Jovin’s book Disjointed, which…
Three red gift boxes. Text: Gift Ideas

Gift ideas for chronically ill people

The holidays are around the corner, and soon, we all will be ordering presents for our healthy or chronically ill friends and family. I don’t know how you feel about this, but I always have a hard time finding the right gift. Luckily, there…
Karina, a woman with short brown hair leans against a wall on a balcony during sunset. She wears a white hoodie and holds a glass of wine in her hand. In the background you can see an old church and many older houses.

Cheers, to a new New Year’s Eve tradition: Gratitude

Can you believe that the year is almost over? Again? I feel like since the pandemic started, time has flown but also stood still at the same time. Unlike 2020 - we can all agree that 2020 should just be canceled entirely, right? - I have mixed…
Karina, a woman with short brown hair and a white shirt. She wears large silver hoop earrings and a white dolphin necklace.

Not losing yourself as a chronically ill person

My back hurts, sitting in an uncomfortable grey metal chair with red and white tape next to me, so nobody can sit down right beside me. I stare at the white wall that features a giraffe and a leopard - at least I think it’s a leopard, but…
A colorful butterfly and the words let's talk about coping with EDS

Chronic Illness, the bad days & coping

“Wow, I feel like my condition has stabilized a bit. Finally, I can take part in regular life again!” I thought a few weeks ago. Life has been challenging throughout 2020. Actually, challenging isn’t even the right word. It has been a…