One challenge of both having a rheumatic disease and caring for patients with a rheumatic disease is the temptation to use one’s own experience with symptoms as a barometer. When Dr. Jeurling sees a patient who has had a severe course with their disease, she sometimes catches herself thinking, I’m glad that did not happen to me. Other times, she may observe a patient who is having disease manifestations similar to those she has experienced, but who reports pain that may be more than what she herself would rate. In both of these cases, Dr. Jeurling works hard to recognize these natural tendencies to compare a patient’s experience with her own, and she is mindful of not letting her own bias interfere with providing each patient with what they need as an individual.
Insights into Relapsing Polychondritis
Marcela Ferrada, MD, a clinical associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, can identify with Dr. Jeurling’s journey, although her bout with illness began later in her life. Born and raised in Colombia, Dr. Ferrada went to the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2015 to complete training in critical care medicine and infectious diseases. Shortly thereafter, she started to notice symptoms, including coughing fits (some so severe that she fractured a rib), fatigue, and joint pain and stiffness that only improved with high-dose corticosteroids.
She was referred to James Katz, MD, a senior research physician at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), NIH, who asked her, “Do you have pain in your ears when you wear a hat?” and “Does your nose ever get sore or red?” Dr. Ferrada had, indeed, experienced these symptoms, leading Dr. Katz to diagnose her with relapsing polychondritis (RP).
The diagnosis not only led to Dr. Ferrada starting treatment for this condition, but it also convinced her to change her course in medicine and switch to training at the NIH in rheumatology. She continued to work at the NIH as a physician-scientist until this past year and is now devoting much of her time to patient advocacy and other efforts.
Dr. Ferrada feels the most passionate about this particular topic—advocating for patients with RP. One of her main goals has been to increase public awareness of RP. She does this by speaking widely, not only at major medical conferences, but also to individual patients and patient groups.
