Eric Butcher was told to get his affairs in order at 38. He had cirrhosis, Alpha-1 Antitrypsin deficiency, and five years. That was 15 years ago. His MELD score has dropped from 15 to 8 through lifestyle changes, community, and getting off medications that were quietly compounding the damage. Now he's built The Prepared Patient, a navigation framework for chronic illness patients who are tired of 15-minute appointments that go nowhere. He joins Kim Nash to talk Alpha-1, insurance gatekeeping, how to advocate without being labeled difficult, and why community is the most underrated medicine there is.

CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction and Podcast Milestone
01:04 Eric Butcher's Journey with Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency
08:57 Navigating Chronic Illness and Healthcare Challenges
15:55 Advocating for Yourself in Healthcare
20:48 Community Support and Personal Struggles
22:54 Conclusion and Resources

CONNECT & RESOURCES

📱 @EricButcherOfficial

The Chronic Truth Podcast:

🌐 Website: chronictruthpodcast.com
📱 Instagram: @ChronicTruthPodcast
📘 TikTok: @chronictruthpodcast
💬 Share Your Story: Testimonials
📋 Community Survey: Survey

Production: Podcast Mechanic

Jason Jepson was 19 when he had a psychotic break at an Army base in the Mojave Desert. He's 45 now, living independently, volunteering, writing a blog cited by academic journals, and traveling to Portugal with his family. His mother, Maye, is a trained counselor who became an expert in schizoaffective disorder overnight, started a Facebook group called Parenting Through Mental Illness, and trains law enforcement through NAMI on how to respond to mental health crises. Together, they join Kim Nash for a conversation that covers the full arc: diagnosis, crisis, the trust partner model, long-acting injectables, triggers, and why recovery doesn't mean cured, it means living.

CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction to Mental Health Advocacy
02:05 Jason's Journey: From Army Life to Diagnosis
05:50 Understanding Schizoaffective Disorder
10:03 The Role of Family in Mental Health
14:12 Becoming a Trust Partner
17:59 Advocacy and Community Engagement
24:09 Navigating Law Enforcement and Mental Health
29:47 Medication Management and Recovery
34:02 Daily Routines and Coping Strategies
38:13 Conclusion and Call to Action

CONNECT & RESOURCES

📝 Jason's Blog: jasongepps.blogspot.com
👥 Facebook Group: Parenting Through Mental Illness

The Chronic Truth Podcast:

🌐 Website: chronictruthpodcast.com
📱 Instagram: @ChronicTruthPodcast
📘 TikTok: @chronictruthpodcast
💬 Share Your Story: Testimonials
📋 Community Survey: Survey

Production: Podcast Mechanic

Dean Graves has spent 20+ years teaching one idea: the condition of the body is a manifestation of the mind. As a meditation teacher, mental health counselor, and author, he works with veterans, trauma patients, and chronic pain sufferers who are ready to stop fighting their bodies and start understanding them. This conversation covers consciousness, the ego mind, how stress works as a teacher, and a set of trauma-clearing techniques he learned from a Serbian psychologist that can dissolve a lifelong pattern in 10 minutes. For anyone living in chronic pain who wonders if there's more to healing than medication, this one is for you.

CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction to the Chronic Truth Podcast
01:10 Meet Dean Graves: A Holistic Healer
03:32 Understanding Consciousness and Healing
09:10 The Mind-Body Connection in Healing
15:41 Stress as a Teacher
17:00 The Power of Meditation
20:21 Defining Happiness and Bliss
23:04 Pain, Energy, and Healing
24:24 Exploring Dean's Books and Teachings
27:11 The Role of Medication in Healing
28:34 Conclusion and Resources

CONNECT & RESOURCES

🌐 Website: ddeangray.org

The Chronic Truth Podcast:

🌐 Website: chronictruthpodcast.com
📱 Instagram: @ChronicTruthPodcast
📘 TikTok: @chronictruthpodcast
💬 Share Your Story: Testimonials
📋 Community Survey: Survey

Production: Podcast Mechanic

Ruthy spent years being dismissed before passing out from pain and finally landing in the office of a surgeon whose bio said: If you're in pain, please come see me. The MRI showed seven internal organs fused. She built The Yellow Hub: a global specialist map with over half a million views so no one else would have to find the right doctor by accident. Now, as co-founder of Ma Pott Health, she's bringing AI-powered symptom forecasting to endometriosis patients so they can manage their lives around the disease instead of being controlled by it.

Chapters/Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to Chronic Truth Podcast and Ruthy's Journey
06:55 The Birth of the Yellow Hub and Community Support
14:12 Understanding Endometriosis: Diagnosis and Treatment Challenges
21:58 Innovative Solutions: AI and Patient Empowerment
25:48 Life After Diagnosis: Managing Chronic Pain and Daily Life

CONNECT & RESOURCES

🌐 Website: theyellowhub.org
🌐 Website: ma-pott.com

The Chronic Truth Podcast:

🌐 Website: chronictruthpodcast.com
📱 Instagram: @ChronicTruthPodcast
📘 TikTok: @chronictruthpodcast
💬 Share Your Story: Testimonials
📋 Community Survey: Survey

Production: Podcast Mechanic

Lorrinda Gray-Davis went from managing billion-dollar construction projects to crash-landing in an ER with end-stage liver disease, then inoperable liver cancer, then a high-risk transplant that was only possible because of clinical trials. As president of TRIO and vice chair of OPTN's Patient Affairs Committee, she's turned that journey into systems that actually help: a peer-to-peer transplant support meeting running six years online, and the Transplant Medication Navigator, which has taken medications from hundreds of dollars to single digits for patients who didn't know they had options. This one is packed with information the transplant community needs and isn't hearing anywhere else.

CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Facing the Diagnosis: A Life-Changing Moment
06:51 Navigating the Transplant Journey
14:12 Empowerment Through Advocacy and Support
19:56 Understanding the Transplant System
25:49 Living Life After Transplant: A New Perspective

CONNECT & RESOURCES

🌐 Website: trioweb.org
💊 Transplant Medication Navigator: transplantmedicationnavigator.com
📧 Email: ldavis@trioweb.org

The Chronic Truth Podcast:

🌐 Website: chronictruthpodcast.com
📱 Instagram: @ChronicTruthPodcast
📘 TikTok: @chronictruthpodcast
💬 Share Your Story: Testimonials
📋 Community Survey: Survey

Production: Podcast Mechanic

When chronic illness enters a relationship, it doesn't ask permission, and no one gives you a manual for what comes next. Lisa Gray is a licensed marriage and family therapist, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome patient, and author of Thriving in a Relationship When You Have a Chronic Illness. She joins Kim Nash to talk about why both partners are grieving (just differently), how to stop fighting each other and start fighting the illness together, and what to do when your partner won't accept your diagnosis. Packed with practical tools for newly diagnosed patients, caregivers, and couples at every stage.

CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Navigating Chronic Illness and Relationships
07:14 Grief and Acceptance in Chronic Illness
14:06 Communication Strategies for Couples
20:57 Tools for Thriving in Relationships
26:23 Finding the Right Therapist

CONNECT & RESOURCES

🌐 Website: LisaGrayAuthor.com (both books available)
📚 Books: Available on Amazon, independent bookstores, and LisaGrayAuthor.com
📱 Instagram: @LisaGrayMFT (chronic illness content)
🗂️ Find a chronic illness therapist: chronicillnesstherapists.com

The Chronic Truth Podcast:

🌐 Website: chronictruthpodcast.com
📱 Instagram: @ChronicTruthPodcast
📘 TikTok: @chronictruthpodcast
💬 Share Your Story: Testimonials
📋 Community Survey: Survey

Production: Podcast Mechanic

Dr. Bruce Gillis spent over a decade proving what too many doctors still refuse to accept: fibromyalgia is a real, diagnosable immune deficiency — not a made-up condition affecting neurotic women. His FM1 blood test, covered by Medicare and most major insurers, gives patients a definitive rule-in diagnosis. His supplement Imbix targets the gut-brain axis and has helped people off wheelchairs, off anti-psychotics, and out of decades of suffering — with zero confirmed adverse effects. This conversation covers fibromyalgia, long COVID, interstitial cystitis, the dangerous drugs the FDA did approve, and why 65 million Americans are still suffering when they don't have to be.

CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Understanding Fibromyalgia and Its Prevalence
02:50 The Science Behind Fibromyalgia Diagnosis
06:03 Innovative Blood Tests and Their Impact
08:59 The Role of Immune System in Chronic Pain
12:01 Treatment Options and Patient Experiences
15:01 Challenges with Traditional Medical Approaches
17:58 The Future of Fibromyalgia Treatment
19:26 Understanding Interstitial Cystitis and Diagnosis Challenges
21:56 The Importance of Accurate Testing and Lab Accreditation
23:59 The Mental Health Impact of Chronic Pain
26:59 The Role of Big Pharma in Patient Care
29:56 Empowering Patients with Information and Resources
32:08 Connecting with Dr. Gillis and His Work

CONNECT & RESOURCES

🌐 fm1test.com

The Chronic Truth Podcast:

🌐 Website: chronictruthpodcast.com
📱 Instagram: @ChronicTruthPodcast
📘 TikTok: @chronictruthpodcast
💬 Share Your Story: Testimonials
📋 Community Survey: Survey

Production: Podcast Mechanic

Eileen Flynn Wagner survived five Hep C treatments, a near-fatal liver failure, and a transplant she almost didn't live to receive, and eight years later, she's still navigating the aftermath. Her kidneys are now at 20% function, she gets stents replaced every three months, and she carries a partially collapsed lung she's never once felt. She joins Kim Nash to speak candidly about why a combined kidney-liver transplant should have been done from the start, the anti-rejection medications patients aren't fully warned about, and why waking up from surgery turned her into a lifelong voice for organ and tissue donation.

CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Eileen's Journey with Hepatitis C and Transplantation
07:25 The Impact of Interferon Treatment
08:29 The Need for Simultaneous Kidney and Liver Transplants
12:21 Current Health Status and Ongoing Challenges
15:44 Advocacy for Organ Donation
19:31 Life After Transplant: Lessons Learned

CONNECT & RESOURCES

🌐 Organ Donation: organdonor.gov

The Chronic Truth Podcast:

🌐 Website: chronictruthpodcast.com
📱 Instagram: @ChronicTruthPodcast
📘 TikTok: @chronictruthpodcast
💬 Share Your Story: Testimonials
📋 Community Survey: Survey

Production: Podcast Mechanic