Sep 8, 2026 · 44 min · 9 segments
September is Rheumatic Disease Awareness Month (RDAM), and today we're sharing the story of Deborah Talbot, an occupational therapist from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and her daughter…
Deborah TalbotGuest
Molly TalbotGuest
John HausmannHost
Welcome back to ACR On Air, the official podcast of the American College of Rheumatology.
For Rheumatic Disease Awareness Month, we're sharing a different kind of rheumatology story.
Not guidelines or trials, but the lived experience of a patient and her family.
Molly was 12 when what seemed like a simple ankle injury turned into months of pain, swelling, repeated evaluations, and ultimately a diagnosis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
what families endure when treatment is difficult, and what it means when effective care gives a child her life back.
She's performing in musical theater, competitive marching band, and advocating on Capitol Hill for children with arthritis.
She was an occupational therapist in the 1990s when she cared for children with severe juvenile arthritis before modern therapies transformed outcomes.
We are super excited to have you here as part of Rheumatic Disease Awareness Month and to talk a little bit about the patient journey and how Molly was diagnosed with rheumatic disease eventually.
And Deb, can you take us back before people were talking about JIA, what's actually happening with Molly?
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Welcome back to ACR On Air, the official podcast of the American College of Rheumatology.
For Rheumatic Disease Awareness Month, we're sharing a different kind of rheumatology story.
Not guidelines or trials, but the lived experience of a patient and her family.
Molly was 12 when what seemed like a simple ankle injury turned into months of pain, swelling, repeated evaluations, and ultimately a diagnosis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
what families endure when treatment is difficult, and what it means when effective care gives a child her life back.
She's performing in musical theater, competitive marching band, and advocating on Capitol Hill for children with arthritis.
She was an occupational therapist in the 1990s when she cared for children with severe juvenile arthritis before modern therapies transformed outcomes.
We are super excited to have you here as part of Rheumatic Disease Awareness Month and to talk a little bit about the patient journey and how Molly was diagnosed with rheumatic disease eventually.
And Deb, can you take us back before people were talking about JIA, what's actually happening with Molly?