Doctors Said She Was Overreacting, But She Didn’t Give Up

Photo: Sister Girl Foundation At the age of 16, Shantana Hazel began to experience symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). “In the morning, I would wake up with what I called ‘old lady hands.’ They were achy and stiff and hard to move. It took me a moment before I was able to get out of bed, and even then I’d continue to feel fatigued throughout the day,” she shares. The mild symptoms didn’t alarm her at first because she often had issues with sleep. Instead, she chalked it up to needing more rest. After fighting the urge to take what doctors were telling her at face value, Hazel shared her story with CreakyJoints to help Blacks living with rheumatoid arthritis navigate health disparities. Although she wasn’t initially alarmed by her mild symptoms, Hazel decided to schedule a doctor’s appointment because the symptoms were recurring. “It set off an alarm in my head and made me pay attention. I went to my doctor and showed him where I was hurting and described my other issues,” she says. For most, this would have been a straightforward path to getting a diagnosis, but for Hazel it was a “terrible experience.” After seeing a...