1203. Community Spotlight - Rick Telander

The “Community Spotlight” edition of the “Ask the Expert” podcast
series shares the stories of our community members. For this
episode, Rick Telander joined Dr. GG deFiebre of SRNA to talk
about his journey with transverse myelitis (TM). Rick shared
about his diagnostic process [00:08:05], the testing that took
place, and the treatment and rehabilitation that he received
[00:09:25]. He emphasized the importance of early diagnosis,
research for better treatments, and support from organizations
like SRNA [00:25:02]. Rick also discussed ongoing symptoms, his
experience of living with TM, and the children’s book of poetry
that he published [00:26:11].





Rick Telander is the Senior Sports Columnist for the Chicago
Sun-Times. He is the author of ten books and was previously a
senior writer for Sports Illustrated and ESPN, the Magazine. An
original member of “The Sportswriters on TV” television show,
Rick has been named Illinois Sportswriter of the Year nine times,
and his work has been collected in over a dozen anthologies. He
has been awarded the Sigma Delta Chi Award by the Society of
Professional Journalists and the Dan Jenkins Lifetime Medal for
Excellence in Sportswriting from the University of Texas. In 2021
he was inducted into the National Sportswriters Hall of Fame in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Rick’s book, Sweet Dreams: Poems
and Paintings for the Child Abed is available online:


https://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/9781510778337/sweet-dreams/