Health Professional Radio - Podcast

Rheumatologist, Dr. Hillary Norton, who is living with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) a form of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), discusses axSpA, signs and symptoms, her own experience with a form of axSpA and tools available to help patients get diagnosed faster.  She is joined by Jill, a patient living with non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) who shares her experience, how it has impacted her daily life and offers advice for others living with unexplained back pain. While Dr. Hillary Norton first displayed symptoms of AS in her 20s, it wasn’t until she developed a severe case of iritis during her residency training in her early 30s that she was diagnosed with the disease. Upon her diagnosis, Dr. Norton initially declined treatment, refusing to accept that she had a chronic disease. However, over the next few years the pain in her back progressed, making everyday activities and some of the things she loved most, like running, increasingly difficult. At times, Dr. Norton had trouble with sta