Posts

A screenshot of a zoom call with Ian Harding (left), a man with short brown hair and a full beard, and Karina Sturm (right), a woman with shaved brown hair and large, leaf-shaped earrings.
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In conversation with Ian Harding: actor, author, activist

In my role as journalist for ABILITY Magazine and as advocate for the Ehlers-Danlos community, the German organization Chronisch Cool contacted me and connected me to Ian Harding, better known as Ezra Fitz in Pretty Little Liars. Ian is…
Karina is holding a sign saying: Yes, we care!

Yes, we care! – A campaign for children with rare diseases

The Care-for-Rare Foundation contacted me a few weeks ago and asked if I wanted to join their new campaign. Of course, I wanted to! And I would like to recommend this project to you. Why? Because the Care-for-Rare Foundation is committed to…
Old Building of the Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco with a statue in the foreground.
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Positive Care – a short documentary

Positive Care is a short documentary about the lives of previous and current residents at Laguna Honda's Positive Care Unit in San Francisco.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTEYPmyXH5g&frags=pl%2Cwn
Butterfly which is a lateral cut through the spinal cord as well. It is striped like a zebra.

German Podcast

My German podcast contains interviews with people living with disabilities and chronic illnesses, as well as with medical professionals. If you speak German, check out the ”5-questions-for” interview series: https://www.holy-shit-i-am-…
Denise sits in her wheelchair on a beach. She is waring ankle, knee and wrist braces. Also she wears white pants, a blue shirt and red lipstick. Her hair are red and short. In the background is the ocean and some green grass.
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30 doctors have been wrong for 12 years: The medical odyssey of Denise B.

Denise lived with excruciating pain. Her skin was covered in hematomas and no doctor could help her. It was twelve years later, when the surprising diagnosis was revealed, and it came close to salvation. Early in Denise’s life doctors…
Medical marijuana flowers on table

Pain medication, legalized marijuana and chronic illness

I spoke to Monica who lives with a rare and painful illness called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. Find out how she copes with the daily problems, what medication she takes, and what it means to her to live in CA where marijuana is now completely legal. Bild:…
A bottle of Care by Design medical cannabis on a table
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Medical marijuana – a medication in CA, and a drug in Germany

Germany and the US have many apparent differences. However, the gap couldn’t be larger in terms of people discussing marijuana, especially for medical use. Uncountable patients that suffer from chronic pain live in Germany, and many of them…
Close-up of green marijuana plant

Living with medical marijuana as a German in California

What happens if you move from Germany to San Francisco without proper pain medication? You try cannabis for the first time! If you want to read this article, it is available at: Journos From The Blog Interested in learning more about medical…
Logo of the German Müttermagazin. Two big pink M's and two big hearts and a small one.
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“Why can’t I just stay in bed?” – Seeing life through the eyes of a chronically ill child

Seeing the world through the eyes of a child helps some grown-ups to change their attitude towards life, but what happens if this child lives with a severe chronic illness and endures obstacles many adults never have to bear. Marlon* is eight…
Screenshot of the personal essay about Karina Sturm's life with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. It shows Karina standing on a bridge close to the pacific ocean looking thoughtful. She wears a black jacket and a black beanie

My struggle to feel deserving of love as a woman with chronic illness

Living with a chronic illness inspired me to write about other people that share my fate. However, I also publish very personal essays about my life with chronic illness. Read on The Mighty why I struggled to feel deserving of love:  My struggle…
This picture shows a simplified illustration of the RCCX gene locus which includes Tenascin XB
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Medical article about the gene Tenascin-XB

In this medical article, I describe the association between the Tenascin-XB gene and specific Ehlers-Danlos syndrome types based on current research. I, therefore, read more than 40 scientific publications and referenced many in this article…