People First Radio – August 29, 2024People First Radio – August 29, 2024
People First Radio
People First Radio brings together Mark Devries’ and Tammy Statt’s experiences of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, chronic pain and mental health with author Bryce Andrews’ rowing journey along the Salish Sea. The conversations highlight medical barriers, the need for better support, and the role of community care on land and water.
0:00•29 Aug 2024
Silent Pain, Long Journeys and Salish Seas: Living With EDS and Caring for Community
Episode Overview
- EDS can affect every part of the body, yet people often face decades of dismissal before anyone considers a connective tissue disorder.
- A nurse practitioner taking hypermobility seriously gave Mark a working explanation for his symptoms, even without a formal specialist diagnosis.
- Tammy notes that hypermobile EDS may be far more common than diagnosed, with women often waiting 16 years or more for recognition.
- Mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, autism and ADHD frequently intersect with EDS, and lack of belief from professionals can intensify distress.
- Bryce’s rowing journey shows how personal stories, kindness and shared concern for place can spark deeper conversations about how communities treat people and the environment.
“Yeah, don’t give up. If you think you have EDS, do as much research you can into it… get your voice out. Be heard.”
What emotional and inspiring tales of recovery are out there? This edition of People First Radio brings chronic pain, invisible illness, mental health, and environmental care into the same conversation, with stories that stick with you long after you've finished listening. First up, Parksville resident Mark Devries shares his decades-long struggle to get answers for what turned out to be hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS).
He talks frankly about living with a “chronic genetic disease that affects all your connective tissue,” daily debilitating pain, and the frustration of being told for years that his symptoms were “normal”. His account of specialists dismissing his three pages of symptoms and defaulting to fibromyalgia will ring familiar for anyone who's ever felt ignored by the medical system.
A key turning point comes when a nurse practitioner finally connects the dots: “Finally, she listened… she tried to look for anything she could that dealt with hypermobility… this is what we came up with, was EDS.” Mark walks through the realities of life with EDS: hypermobile joints, fragile skin, asthma, allergies, financial pressure from constant treatment, and the toll on his mental health, including suicidal thoughts. Yet he still urges others, “Yeah, don’t give up… get your voice out.
Be heard.” The conversation continues with Tammy Statt of the EDS Canada Foundation, who explains just how common long diagnostic delays are and how validating a formal diagnosis can be. She highlights the overlap between EDS and anxiety, depression, autism, ADHD and tic disorders, stressing the need for better knowledge among medical professionals and more support for patients.
To close, author and rower Bryce Andrews brings a different kind of resilience story, rowing a tiny wooden boat from Seattle to Lund while working on a book about the Salish Sea. His encounters on the water reveal “the kindness and sort of manifest decency of people who live on the water” and raise big questions about how communities treat each other and their shared environment.
If you're living with chronic illness, working in care, or just curious how people keep going under relentless pressure, this one might speak directly to you.
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.