Sheryl Chan's guest appearances

Sheryl Chan

This is Not What I Ordered: a podcast on full-hearted living with chronic illness + health challenges

Uninvisible Pod with Lauren Freedman

The DISabled to ENabled podcast for people with chronic illnesses

NITIKA CHOPRA

Jameisha Prescod

Damian Washington

Sneha Dave

Lee Phillips

Matt LaFleur

Allison Puryear

Bob Stahl

Parijat Deshpande

Mercedes Yvette

Scott Mills

Brendon Lundberg

Emily Garnett

Joanna Zeiger

Chris Armstrong

OwlTail

Sheryl Chan is the writer behind A Chronic Voice, a blog that aims to articulate lifelong illnesses through various perspectives. She herself lives with multiple diagnoses, which include autoimmune disorder antiphospholipid syndrome, Sjögren's syndrome, epilepsy, lupus (SLE) and more. Beginning with a mini stroke at the age of 14, Sheryl’s experience was followed by multiple blood clots in the lungs and legs, a gore-tex band for a heart valve (she then developed PSVT — paroxysmal supra ventricular tachycardia — after this mitral valve repair in 2011), seizures, scars from various surgeries, and ongoing chronic pain associated with lupus. She’s been in out and out of hospital rooms for so long, she knows what it’s like to face mortality and to battle the mental health after-effects of such critical situations. One thing Sheryl truly works to destigmatize is mental health — from depression to anxiety and everything in between, she hopes that by sharing her experiences, she can share that it’s OK…to not be OK. As she says, “Let us simply get through it together one day at a time…and if need be, one second at a time. I can, I can, I can. That’s three seconds down.” Tune in as Sheryl shares:  that she had a mild stroke at 14, at which point blood clotting disorder antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) was diagnosed that she has to take blood thinners daily in order to prevent clotting that APS is usually diagnosed in late-stage pregnancy, as it can cause miscarriage — so Sheryl was unusual in that her case was diagnosed sooner that at 17, she had her first brush with death when she suffered a massive blood clot in her lung — and a doctor didn’t take her seriously at first that because the episode with APS at 17 was so severe, it likely triggered the genes for lupus, Sjögren’s, and more that her second brush with death came at 25, when one of her heart valves prolapsed that she raised funds ($100K USD) to have her prolapsed valve repaired at the Cleveland Clinic with minimally-invasive techniques that because of her experiences, she is no longer afraid of death how she is constantly balancing her mental health and chronic pain how she’s become her own advocate, and become skilled at firing doctors who aren’t working with her that her medications cost $1-2K/month, despite a chronic illness payment scheme that pain is often not the worst part of chronic illness: isolation and fatigue can be just as difficult to deal with that mental health issues come along with all chronic illnesses at some point — and need to be taken care of from diagnosis. Sheryl recommends adding a therapist to your medical team ASAP why it’s important for all your doctors to work with you, and be open to communicating as a team why it’s important to trust yourself and your own knowledge of our body why it’s important to ask for help and seek community  This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit uninvisiblepod.substack.com/subscribe

Sheryl Chan is the writer behind A Chronic Voice, a blog that aims to articulate lifelong illnesses through various perspectives. She herself lives with multiple diagnoses, which include autoimmune disorder antiphospholipid syndrome, Sjögren's syndrome, epilepsy, lupus (SLE) and more. Beginning with a mini stroke at the age of 14, Sheryl’s experience was followed by multiple blood clots in the lungs and legs, a gore-tex band for a heart valve (she then developed PSVT — paroxysmal supra ventricular tachycardia — after this mitral valve repair in 2011), seizures, scars from various surgeries, and ongoing chronic pain associated with lupus. She’s been in out and out of hospital rooms for so long, she knows what it’s like to face mortality and to battle the mental health after-effects of such critical situations. One thing Sheryl truly works to destigmatize is mental health — from depression to anxiety and everything in between, she hopes that by sharing her experiences, she can share that it’s OK…to not be OK. As she says, “Let us simply get through it together one day at a time…and if need be, one second at a time. I can, I can, I can. That’s three seconds down.” Tune in as Sheryl shares: <ul> <li>that she had a mild stroke at 14, at which point blood clotting disorder antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) was diagnosed</li> <li>that she has to take blood thinners daily in order to prevent clotting</li> <li>that APS is usually diagnosed in late-stage pregnancy, as it can cause miscarriage — so Sheryl was unusual in that her case was diagnosed sooner</li> <li>that at 17, she had her first brush with death when she suffered a massive blood clot in her lung — and a doctor didn’t take her seriously at first</li> <li>that because the episode with APS at 17 was so severe, it likely triggered the genes for lupus, Sjögren’s, and more</li> <li>that her second brush with death came at 25, when one of her heart valves prolapsed</li> <li>that she raised funds ($100K USD) to have her prolapsed valve repaired at the Cleveland Clinic with minimally-invasive techniques</li> <li>that because of her experiences, she is no longer afraid of death</li> <li>how she is constantly balancing her mental health and chronic pain</li> <li>how she’s become her own advocate, and become skilled at firing doctors who aren’t working with her</li> <li>that her medications cost $1-2K/month, despite a chronic illness payment scheme</li> <li>that pain is often not the worst part of chronic illness: isolation and fatigue can be just as difficult to deal with</li> <li>that mental health issues come along with all chronic illnesses at some point — and need to be taken care of from diagnosis. Sheryl recommends adding a therapist to your medical team ASAP</li> <li>why it’s important for all your doctors to work with you, and be open to communicating as a team</li> <li>why it’s important to trust yourself and your own knowledge of our body</li> <li>why it’s important to ask for help and seek community</li> </ul> This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://uninvisiblepod.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=CTA_2" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">uninvisiblepod.substack.com/subscribe</a>

080: A Chronic Voice’s Sheryl Chan on Facing Mental Health & Mortality w/ Multiple Diagnoses

In this episode of This Is Not What I Ordered, I’m joined by Sheryl Chan — a web developer, writer, and travel enthusiast living with multiple chronic illnesses. Suffering from a mild stroke at the age of 14, Sheryl was diagnosed with a rare blood clotting syndrome that set off a chain reaction of other autoimmune disorders including lupus, epilepsy, Sjögren’s syndrome, and a heart rhythm disorder. In the midst of her health challenges, Sheryl embraced her love of writing and started using blogs as a cathartic outlet. This eventually led to the creation of A Chronic Voice, where she’s able to raise awareness of silent disabilities and give other people with chronic illness a space to share their perspectives.By accepting her health challenges and freely sharing them with the world, Sheryl has taken the power away from her illness and reclaimed it as her own. She reminds us that acceptance doesn’t mean you’re giving up — it can be a powerful opportunity for transformation and inner growth.During our time together, Sheryl offers up her thoughts on why it’s so important to normalize chronic illness and gain different perspectives. She also opens up about the identity struggles that accompany chronic illness, how it taught her to respect her body, and how having a sense of wonder about the body has helped her cope.

In this episode of This Is Not What I Ordered, I’m joined by Sheryl Chan — a web developer, writer, and travel enthusiast living with multiple chronic illnesses. Suffering from a mild stroke at the age of 14, Sheryl was diagnosed with a rare blood clotting syndrome that set off a chain reaction of other autoimmune disorders including lupus, epilepsy, Sjögren’s syndrome, and a heart rhythm disorder. In the midst of her health challenges, Sheryl embraced her love of writing and started using blogs as a cathartic outlet. This eventually led to the creation of A Chronic Voice, where she’s able to raise awareness of silent disabilities and give other people with chronic illness a space to share their <a href="http://perspectives.By" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">perspectives.By</a> accepting her health challenges and freely sharing them with the world, Sheryl has taken the power away from her illness and reclaimed it as her own. She reminds us that acceptance doesn’t mean you’re giving up — it can be a powerful opportunity for transformation and inner growth.During our time together, Sheryl offers up her thoughts on why it’s so important to normalize chronic illness and gain different perspectives. She also opens up about the identity struggles that accompany chronic illness, how it taught her to respect her body, and how having a sense of wonder about the body has helped her cope.

47: Acceptance is Power with Sheryl Chan

After suffering a mini stroke at just 14 years old, life hasn’t quite been the same since for blogger Sheryl Chan. Now living with 5 chronic conditions everyday is a different mix of symptoms. Who knows what she’ll wake up with tomorrow? That however, doesn’t stop her from writing her awesome and inspiring blog, ‘ Chronic Voice’ where she talks about everyday life with so many challenges, how she overcomes them and how she inspires others to live with their own chronic conditions. Sheryl Shows us that anything is possible if you set your mind to it.  Listen to her crucial life advice for people with chronic illnesses - particularly if you live in Singapore. She once had a taxi driver tell her a quote she’s never forgotten: ‘You can die in Singapore, but you can’t get sick - it’s too expensive’. We discuss the crazy laws around health and disability in Singapore and how she manages it with all of her life saving medications. What emotional impact does that have on a chronically ill person? Listen to her interview to find out.  Connect with Sheryl Chan:Blog site: https://www.achronicvoice.com/Twitter: https://twitter.com/AChVoiceInsta: https://www.instagram.com/achronicvoice/Thanks to Audible for sponsoring this episodeGet a free audio copy of the book mentioned in this podcast episode by clicking here: http://bit.ly/enabledwarrior Join the tribe of warriors:Search Facebook: ENabled Warriors Or Insta: Enabled_Warriors Want a shout out on the podcast? Click here to pledge $5 and get perks! &gt; http://bit.ly/enabledsupport or leave a rating and review :)Stay #ENabled

After suffering a mini stroke at just 14 years old, life hasn’t quite been the same since for blogger Sheryl Chan. Now living with 5 chronic conditions everyday is a different mix of symptoms. Who knows what she’ll wake up with tomorrow? That however, doesn’t stop her from writing her awesome and inspiring blog, ‘ Chronic Voice’ where she talks about everyday life with so many challenges, how she overcomes them and how she inspires others to live with their own chronic conditions. Sheryl Shows us that anything is possible if you set your mind to it.  Listen to her crucial life advice for people with chronic illnesses - particularly if you live in Singapore. She once had a taxi driver tell her a quote she’s never forgotten: ‘You can die in Singapore, but you can’t get sick - it’s too expensive’. We discuss the crazy laws around health and disability in Singapore and how she manages it with all of her life saving medications. What emotional impact does that have on a chronically ill person? Listen to her interview to find out.  Connect with Sheryl Chan:Blog site: <a href="https://www.achronicvoice.com/Twitter:" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.achronicvoice.com/Twitter:</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/AChVoiceInsta:" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/AChVoiceInsta:</a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/achronicvoice/Thanks" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/achronicvoice/Thanks</a> to Audible for sponsoring this episodeGet a free audio copy of the book mentioned in this podcast episode by clicking here: <a href="http://bit.ly/enabledwarrior" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/enabledwarrior</a> Join the tribe of warriors:Search Facebook: ENabled Warriors Or Insta: Enabled_Warriors Want a shout out on the podcast? Click here to pledge $5 and get perks! &gt; <a href="http://bit.ly/enabledsupport" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/enabledsupport</a> or leave a rating and review :)Stay #ENabled

16. Sheryl Chan | You can die in Singapore but you can’t get sick - it’s too expensive! A Chronic Voice Blogger