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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but what does awareness mean for those living with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer? In Episode 19 of Chronically Able, host Elisa welcomes back Carrie, a metastatic breast cancer advocate, mother, and co-founder of RISE, for an honest conversation about life beyond the pink ribbon. Together, they explore the realities of living with an incurable cancer diagnosis, navigating uncertainty, coping with the emotional impact of chronic illness, and finding purpose and community along the way. This episode also brings attention to the importance of metastatic breast cancer research, access to treatment, and why advocacy must continue long after October ends. Through her experiences and her work with RISE, Carrie reminds us that people living with cancer are so much more than their diagnosis. 💗 Awareness matters. Research matters. And so do the lives being lived in between. 🎧 Listen, share, and help amplify the voices of those living with metastatic breast cancer. Learn more and get involved: www.risereimagined.org

Kyrzia Parker joins Chronically Able to share what it has looked like to build a full life with disability, even when she did not always have examples of what that future could look like. As a lifelong wheelchair user with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, Kyrzia opens up about growing up disabled, motherhood, partnership, leadership, internalized ableism, accessibility, and becoming the representation she once needed. We also talk about moving away from the pressure to prove people wrong, learning to build from self-love instead, and what it means to live with hope, heart, and humor. This is a conversation about disability, identity, representation, and giving yourself permission to dream out loud. Follow Kyrzia on Instagram: @kyrziaparker

After years of living with a severe gastrointestinal motility disorder, medical dismissal, and being told she was “too young,” registered nurse Sara made the decision to undergo ileostomy surgery and choose her quality of life. Sara joins Chronically Able to talk about life with a stoma, ostomy body image, chronic illness, relationships, patient advocacy, and what it took to finally be believed. She also shares why she now speaks openly about her ileostomy to help break the stigma surrounding young people living with ostomies. A powerful conversation about medical advocacy, bodily autonomy, and choosing a life beyond simply surviving. You can follow Sara on TikTok and Instagram: @susuissam

What happens when the person you keep trying to become… is a version of yourself that no longer exists? In this episode of Chronically Able, we’re talking about the grief that can come with chronic illness, disability, and changing capacity, from “but I used to be able to…” to waiting to live your life until you’re “better.” We unpack identity, invisible grief, adaptation, and why doing things differently isn’t giving up. Maybe moving forward isn’t about getting back to who you were. Maybe it’s about making room for who you are now.

What happens when you’re ambitious, driven, and disabled, and you’ve spent your life trying to prove what you’re capable of? In this episode of Chronically Able, we unpack the complicated relationship between disability, ambition, hustle culture, and the pressure to prove people wrong. From doctors placing limitations on our futures to feeling guilty for resting or needing accommodations, we ask: Am I chasing my dreams, or am I still trying to prove that I can? Because being disabled doesn’t mean dreaming smaller. Maybe it means finally defining success for ourselves.

Disability Pride Month is more than a celebration, it is a reminder of the rights disabled people fought for, the barriers that still exist, and the future we are responsible for building. In this episode of Chronically Able, Elisa explores the disability rights movement, the activists who helped shape history, and the laws designed to protect disabled people in employment, education, housing, healthcare, travel, and public life. We break down real-life situations, surprising “Did You Know?” facts, the hidden financial cost of disability, invisible disabilities, subminimum wages, benefit limits, inaccessible healthcare, and what is truly at stake right now. This episode is educational for disabled and nondisabled listeners alike, and ends with a practical access audit to help turn awareness into action. Disability is part of the human experience. Accessibility is not a favor. And progress requires all of us. 🎧 Listen, reflect, share, and ask yourself: Are we building a world that merely accommodates disabled people after exclusion—or one that expects us from the beginning?

After a short break from the podcast, I'm back with a personal check-in episode to reconnect with the Chronically Able community. In this episode, I share where I've been, what life has looked like lately while navigating chronic illness, graduate school, career transitions, and the realities of balancing it all as a one-person team. We talk about the pressure to always be productive, the guilt that can come with slowing down, and what I've been learning about worth, identity, and showing up imperfectly. I also introduce a new segment, Chronically Capable Moment, where we celebrate the victories, big and small, that often go unseen. Whether you've been here since the beginning or are joining for the first time, this episode is a reminder that progress isn't always linear, rest is productive, and you don't have to start over, you can simply start again. I'd love to hear from you: ✨ What's your Chronically Capable Moment this week?✨ What topics would you like to hear on future episodes? Connect with me on social media or send me a message to continue the conversation.

What happens when your body is screaming for help… but nobody believes you? In this deeply raw episode of Chronically Able, Rylee opens up about growing up feeling dismissed, being told her symptoms were “all in her head,” and navigating the emotional trauma of medical gaslighting while living with invisible illness. After COVID worsened her condition, everyday life became a battle from losing independence to constantly having to prove her pain in a world that often misunderstands chronic illness. This conversation explores survival, grief, resilience, and the exhausting reality of being “able” while silently paying the price afterward. If you’ve ever felt unseen, unheard, or exhausted from fighting to be believed… this episode is for you 🤍

In this episode of Chronically Able, Elisa sits down with Tori—a mom living with multiple complex chronic illnesses who has undergone over 60 surgeries while also raising two children with disabilities and chronic illnesses of their own. From being dismissed by doctors for years, labeled “lazy,” and constantly gaslit about her symptoms… to finally receiving life-changing diagnoses including Cystic Fibrosis, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Tori shares what it’s really like living in a body that people refused to understand. But this conversation goes beyond diagnoses. Together, Elisa and Tori discuss: medical gaslightinparenting medically complex childrenfighting schools and healthcare systems for accommodationschronic pain and disabilityaccessibility and travel fearsrelationships while chronically illand the difference between toxic positivity and “realistic hope"This episode is raw, emotional, validating, and deeply important for anyone navigating chronic illness, disability, caregiving, or the fight to be believed. 🧡 Because hope doesn’t have to look perfect to still exist.

This week’s episode of Chronically Able is a little different. Sometimes when you live with chronic illness, your body changes the plan. Deadlines, expectations, and schedules don’t always align with the realities of autoimmune disease, fatigue, or flare-ups. In this short episode, I talk honestly about what it means to live in a world that keeps moving while your body asks you to slow down. I also want to thank everyone who has submitted the Chronically Able guest form. Your stories matter deeply to this community. If you haven’t heard from me yet, please know I see you and truly appreciate your patience as I work through each submission. Rare doesn’t mean invisible. And adapting doesn’t mean giving up.

It’s Rare Disease Awareness Month, and most people don’t even know it. In this deeply personal episode of Chronically Able, Elisa records from a flare, laying in the dark, and shares what living with multiple rare autoimmune diseases actually looks like. She goes beyond just naming her diagnoses and explains what they do: •What Myasthenia Gravis is and how it affects muscle communication •How Systemic Lupus Erythematosus creates systemic inflammation and unpredictable flares •Why Sjögren’s Syndrome is more than “dry eyes” and how it impacts dental health and finances With clear percentages and real-life examples, Elisa sheds light on how rare these conditions truly are, and what it means to live in a statistically small, often misunderstood space. This episode also covers: • What autoimmune flares feel like • Why rare disease diagnosis can take years • How to advocate for testing and referrals • The invisible financial burden of chronic illness • Why visibility and education start with us If you’re living with a rare disease, still searching for answers, or supporting someone who is — this conversation is for you. Rare doesn’t mean dramatic. Rare doesn’t mean invisible. And if you want to share your rare disease story on Chronically Able, the guest interest form is linked in the show notes. You are not alone. You are seen. You are Chronically Able.

What does “disabled” look like? In this episode of Chronically Able, Elisa unpacks the reality of living with invisible illness and why disability doesn’t have a single aesthetic, uniform, or visible marker. From parking lot judgment to medical dismissal, we explore what it means to look “fine” while managing chronic illness internally. Elisa shares personal reflections on autoimmune fluctuation, credibility in doctor’s offices, and the emotional weight of constantly being evaluated in public spaces. This episode covers: ​ Why invisible illness is still disability​ The history of disability exclusion and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)​ How medical bias impacts women and Black women​ The impact of fluctuation in autoimmune and chronic conditions​ Know-your-rights guidance for workplace and school accommodations​ Advocacy tools for medical appointments​ Why media representation of disability needs to expand Disability does not require adaptive equipment to be legitimate. It does not require visible suffering to be real. Whether you live with chronic illness, autoimmune disease, or invisible disability or you’re learning how to better support someone who does — this episode invites you to rethink what disability looks like. You don’t owe anyone visible proof of your pain. You are Chronically Able. ⸻ 🎧 Want to join the conversation? If you live with invisible illness or you’re a caregiver, parent, partner, family member, or medical professional fill out the guest interest form: beacons.ai/chronicallyable Let’s expand what disability visibility looks like. Together.✨🫶🏼

Some people don’t just shape your life, they shape the way you imagine your future. In this deeply personal episode of Chronically Able, Elisa sits down with her mentor Carrie: advocate, mother, Co-Founder of RISE, and one of the people who helped teach her how to dream beyond disability. Carrie once fought systems on behalf of others. Today, she is navigating stage 4 metastatic breast cancer while raising two autistic children, living on both sides of advocacy as both caregiver and patient. This conversation explores motherhood, illness, systemic barriers, grief, resilience, and the power of building community when institutions fall short. It’s about what happens when the strong one needs support - and how we keep dreaming anyway. If you or someone you love needs support, resources, or community, visit risereimagined.org Follow Chronically Able for more conversations on disability, chronic illness, and advocacy: 🎙 Instagram: @chronicallyable_ TikTok: @chronicallyable Please fill out the interest form if you areninterested in being on the podcast: beacons.ai/chronicallyable You are not alone. And you are still allowed to imagine a future.

Medical gaslighting doesn’t end when the appointment ends. It follows you home. In this episode of Chronically Able, Elisa shares the lifetime pattern of being dismissed, undiagnosed, rediagnosed, and forced to deteriorate before being taken seriously, from waiting 8 months for a childhood Myasthenia Gravis diagnosis, to years of untreated lupus symptoms that affected her kidneys, to the quiet warning signs of Sjögren’s that medicine ignored until they couldn’t anymore. This is not just a story about one doctor. It’s about a system that trains providers to doubt complex bodies, an insurance structure that profits from delay, and the psychological trauma of having to repeatedly prove your suffering. We talk about: ​what medical gaslighting actually is​the nervous system impact of being dismissed​the fear of losing access to care​insurance barriers and step therapy​being “undiagnosed” after finally stabilizing​why disability is missing from medical education​how to rebuild trust in your body​tools to protect yourself in the exam room If you’ve ever left an appointment questioning your reality, this episode puts language to that experience — and reminds you that you are not difficult, dramatic, or imagining your pain. You are navigating a system that was never designed for you. And you are not alone here. — Guest sign-ups for upcoming episodes are open. If you’re a chronically able dreamer with a story to share, visit: https://forms.gle/L1yMFeMgphrfN5yS8 You are chronically able. 🧡

A raw conversation between me and my partner. Relationships get real when chronic illness is in the room. There’s guilt. Needing help. Canceling plans. Fear of being “too much.” And through it all there’s still love. In this episode, my girlfriend and I talk openly about what it’s like to love, support, and grow together while navigating chronic illness and the unknowns that come with it. We unpack the moments that don’t usually make it to Instagram: ​Asking for help when you’re scared to feel like a burden​Holding space for each other (even when you’re both overwhelmed)​How we make room for joy, boundaries, and real communication​And the fears we rarely say out loud This one’s messy, honest, and full of heart. For anyone who’s ever wondered if they’re lovable in the middle of it all you are. You always have been.