Instagram story viewer> @thecathychester> Posts
Cathy Chester - Patient Leader(@thecathychester)'s profile avatar HD Profile

Cathy Chester - Patient Leader

@thecathychester

3.5K
followers
4261
following
Navigating 40 years of living with MS ✴️Seasoned Certified Health Advocate✴️
Speaker/Consultant✴️ Collabs👍
LifeAchievementAward, @socialhealthnetwork
POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED
The topic of medical gaslighting is a hot one in the patient community so I was thrilled to win @ilana_jacqueline's book about it!!! 🔥🔥 . I bet most of us have experienced medical gaslighting at one time or another. I once walked out of a doctor's office after he cut me off and was dismissive of my list of MS symptoms. He never looked up from his computer to glance my way. SEE ME! HEAR ME! BELIEVE ME! 😡😡 . This kind of behavior from a medical professional should NEVER be tolerated. That's why I look forward to reading "this practical, realistic handbook...to help women get the care they need - and deserve." YES!! ⚕️⚕️("Medical gaslighting is when a healthcare professional dismisses or invalidates a patient's concerns or symptoms without proper evaluation."---Google)⚕️⚕️ Many thanks to Ilana and also to the @socialhealthnetwork for sponsoring this giveaway! ❤️🧡😘 . #gaslighting #healthcare #medicalgaslighting #fightforwhatyouneed ##useyourvoice #speakup #multiplesclerosis #msadvocate #disabilityadvocates✊✊ #disabilitycommunity #patientcare #patientsdeservebetter #patientexperience #weallmatter by @thecathychester
18
2 years ago
Download
A short post after a chaotic news and health week. . I'm searching for kindness, humanity, compassion, and tolerance wherever it can be found. . Ask the Universe and sometimes it responds. . Google reminded me how blessed I was to interview the inimitable Valerie Harper in 2014, published in The Huffington Post. She was all you'd want her to be. Sweet, funny, generous, kind, and so lovely. . This reminder, on the occasion of what would be her 87th birthday, made me happy. . Wherever you are Valerie, thank you for still lighting up the world with YOUR smile! 👒🎉❤️ . Angels among us... . #valerieharper #turntheworldonwithasmile #themarytylermooreshow #rhodamorgenstern #multiplesclerosis by @thecathychester
6
2 months ago
Download
Nine years have passed, Dad. I will always love and miss you. You are my hero. . "When he shall die, Take him and cut him out in little stars, And he will make the face of heaven so fine, That all the world will be in love with night, And pay no worship to the garish sun." -William Shakespeare . #fathersanddaughters #missingyousomuch❤️ #multiplesclerosis #thankyoudad by @thecathychester
7
2 months ago
Download
. I turn to nature to... Be healed To breathe in beauty To find wonder To learn To observe To find peace To let go of the past To find myself again and again. . "I go to nature to be soothed and healed." — John Burroughs . . . #multiplesclerosis #natureishealing #healthyvibes #findyourpeace #grounding taken in Raleigh, North Carolina by @thecathychester
1
3 months ago
Download
It's Disability Pride Month, marking an important month of disability awareness. . I started a new DMT infusion (disease modifying therapy) this month,Tsyabri. I hope it will do battle with the active secondary progressive MS (SPMS) I now face. I've been steadily declining and I need some help. . There's a big emotional component to starting any new drug. You hope for the best but your brain lists all the possible side effects, then anxiety slowly creeps in. We already deal with the physical battles of this unpredictable disease. The emotional battles may look silent to others but they're very real and nerve-wracking. . In 1986 I prayed for an MS medication. Seven years later my prayers were answered with drugs for relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS). Forty years later I'm counting on Tysabri. . Down the road I hope BTKs and other clinical trials for MS medicines will be approved and available in the U.S and around the world. . This Disability Pride Month I find gratitude in the number of drug options available to us, and thrilled about the focus on more progressive forms of the disease. Keep that needle moving forward! . (PHOTOS) At the infusion center getting my first dose of Tsyabri, and my care partner for the past 40 years, my husband, always at my side. . #multiplesclerosis #DisabilityPrideMonth #progressivems #diseasemodifyingtherapy #sciencematters taken in Raleigh, North Carolina by @thecathychester
41
3 months ago
Download
A very, very, very dear friend sent me this shirt after participating in Walk MS, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's annual fundraising event for MS research. . The logo says it all. "A cure is on the line." . Because it is. . I first volunteered for WalkMS in 1987 with my parents and boyfriend (now husband.) We handed water bottles to walkers and runners as they passed by. I was in my twenties and hoped for a cure. . I'm still hoping, only now, at 67, I doubt a cure will happen in my lifetime. If it happens for the next generation, I'm thrilled with that. . But no one knows what tomorrow will bring. So keep walking, running, riding, or wheeling forward. Whatever you can do within your abilities is enough. And while you do, keep HOPE in your heart. . #findacure #acureisontheline #multiplesclerosis #hope #friendship by @thecathychester
9
4 months ago
Download
Today is my sweet, loving mother's 95th birthday. I love her so dearly and owe her so much. I wish we lived closer so I could hug and kiss her in person on her special day. We speak every night and always end our chats with "I love you." I'll treasure that forever. . Mothers and daughters. What a special, unbreakable bond. . #mothersanddaughters❤️ #happybirthday❤️ #missingyousomuch❤️ #multiplesclerosis by @thecathychester
17
4 months ago
Download
A classic MS symptom is being TIRED all day but unable to sleep at night. 🌺 Turning off the news and social media is helpful. But my mind still wanders to disturbing headlines of the day. 🌺 So I often rely on thinking about the perfect beauty in nature to lull me to sleep. Last night I thought about our cats who are all on Rainbow Bridge. Memories of them relaxes me. 🌺 All four were deeply loved and are always with me. 🌺 Turn to nature when your emotions are raw. Take walks in the park, hike in the mountains, take a swim in the ocean, sit on a bench and feel the beauty that surrounds you, read a book outdoors, watch a sunset, or spend time with a pet. 🌺 It will lower your stress, reduce anxiety, and rejuvenate your soul. There's plenty of studies to back me up on this. 🌺 It works wonders for me. I promise it will do the same for you. 🌺 We're living in extraordinarily challenging times. Please take time to care for your physical and emotional health. You certainly deserve it. 🌺 . #multiplesclerosis #breathwork #natureishealing #sleepproblems #yourthoughtsarepowerful by @thecathychester
2
4 months ago
Download
I want to extend a sincere thank you to The Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC), particularly Tina Palardy Trott and Kathy Costello, for inviting me and my husband Gary to be part of an ongoing Progressive MS Consensus committee (!!!) that was presented at last week's CMSC annual meeting in Charlotte. . Along with Chairs Dr. Benjamin Greenberg and Dr. Sarah Morrow, and moderator Kathy Costello, we held a discussion on what the group's been working on so far and what our goals are. The bottom line? . Proposing the BEST practices and guidelines for managing progressive MS, and devising optimal strategies for improving patient outcomes and quality of life. . AND putting the patient front and center in every way. How fabulous. . I am deeply grateful for the commitment to excellence from Ben, Sarah, Kathy, Tina, and the entire extended group, and for giving Gary and me, as patient and care partner, important seats at this table. . #multiplesclerosis #patientcenteredcare #msprogression #inclusion #patientvoice taken in Charlotte Convention Center by @thecathychester
4
4 months ago
Download
I just felt like posting a photo of me and Mom. I love her so. . She's always loved me unconditionally, tells me she's proud of me, and at 67 still thinks of me as her little girl. There's nothing like a mother, you know? . Oh, and she loves Ella. . I'm one grateful daughter. . #mothersanddaughters❤️ #momsanddaughters #loveisforever #grateful #multiplesclerosis by @thecathychester
12
5 months ago
Download
Today is World MS Day, an opportunity.... *To share our stories *To create awareness about MS *To illustrate the importance of more research and clinical trials *To show how easily mental health is affected by this unpredictable disease *To emphasize the importance of relying on a trusted medical team (including various therapists and helpful holistic therapies) and MS organizations *To always hold on to HOPE *To pray for a cure . I hope someday people can ask, What WAS MS?" Indeed. . (With gratitude to my first and forever care partners, my parents and my husband. With love ❤️🧡) . #worldmsday #multiplesclerosis #research #clinicaltrials #findacure by @thecathychester
2
5 months ago
Download
Honoring my mother and grandmother. I love them so dearly. . Hug your family, or the family you create, today. Tell them how much they mean to you. Because tomorrow is never promised. . "For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love." — Carl Sagan . #mothersday❤️ #mothersanddaughters❤️ #tellthemyoulovethem #multiplesclerosis #sisterhood taken in Jersey City, New Jersey by @thecathychester
3
5 months ago
Download

Download All

Save the photos and videos currently loaded on this page.

0Photos
0Videos
Ready to download 0 / 0

Keep this tab open until your download is ready.
back to up