"After my stroke when I was in ICU, the paperwork… said ‘Death likely’. And here I am." - Sarah Schreiner

In January 2017, Sarah Schreiner was a healthy, active 30-year-old mother of two, fresh off a ski trip. Within days, what seemed like the flu spiraled into bacterial meningitis and two strokes. She woke up in the ICU unable to walk, feed herself, or remember how she got there, with doctors warning she might never drive or work again.

That was only the beginning. Six months later, Sarah developed rheumatoid arthritis. For nearly a decade she cycled through medications that made her sick, chronic pain that hit 7-9 out of 10, and a hand tremor so severe she couldn't put on mascara or write her name. "I felt like a guinea pig," she says of years spent searching for real relief.

In this episode of Patient Perspectives, Sarah sits down with Dr. Dave to walk through her full journey: the stroke, the RA diagnosis, the mental health toll, and the moment everything changed: a single fascial counterstrain session targeting drainage pathways in her head. Her tremor, present for years, visibly turned off in real time. Today, Sarah isn't just pain-free, she's lifting heavy weights regularly for the first time since high school.

In this episode you’ll hear:

• Sarah's sudden decline from flu symptoms to bacterial meningitis and two strokes
• Relearning to walk, talk, and function after a life-threatening brain injury
• The unexpected rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis and years of trial-and-error treatment
• How functional medicine and neurofeedback helped her come off antidepressants
• The moment her decade-long hand tremor stopped mid-session with Dr. Dave
• Why chronic pain patients often struggle to "isolate" their pain and why that matters clinically
• Sarah's perspective on faith, hope, and grieving the athlete she used to be
• Why a multi-disciplinary approach (functional medicine, PT, and traditional care) mattered more than any single treatment

00:00 – Intro & Welcome
02:04 – The Ski Trip That Changed Everything
03:07 – Misdiagnosed and Sent Home
03:17 – The Spinal Tap That Confirmed Meningitis
04:04 – Two Strokes and an Emergency Airlift
04:22 – Waking Up in the ICU
05:18 – Relearning to Function
06:11 – Rehab and the Hard Emotional Work
08:18 – A New Diagnosis: Rheumatoid Arthritis
10:17 – Turning to Functional Medicine
11:06 – Healing Beyond What She Expected
13:38 – Leaky Gut and Learning to Eat for Her Body
15:31 – Blending Functional and Western Medicine
17:25 – Discovering Fascial Counterstrain
19:24 – Living in Chronic Pain: The Coping Mechanism
20:58 – The Tremor No One Expected to Fix
21:05 – The Tremor Turns Off
23:34 – Understanding the Inflammation Behind It All
24:24 – From Fear of Migraines to Lifting Heavy
26:28 – "You Were Lied To" Reframing the Medical Narrative
28:38 – Faith, Hope, and Defying the Odds
29:26 – A Message to Anyone in Chronic Pain
30:13 – The Power of a Multi-Disciplinary Approach

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