the care we’ve been dreaming of

Our Founder’s Care Journey

A Surprising Diagnosis

At age 25, our founder Danielle was thriving, working a dream job as an economic policy advisor at the White House. She was thriving except for one small thing — nagging fatigue and joint pain. She assumed it was due to her long work hours, but it just wouldn’t go away — that fatigue she felt in her bones. 

Yet her primary care doctor didn’t dismiss her symptoms, and ordered blood work to check for issues with her immune system. A few days later, she received that call you never want to get: her results were back and the doctor needed to see her right away. Those test results launched a life-long journey for Danielle as a patient with chronic illness. One blood test led to dozens of specialist appointments, a multitude of painful tests, and — six months later — an autoimmune disease diagnosis. And she was one of the lucky ones…all because her primary care doctor knew what to look for.

A Search for Answers

A decade later, Danielle had adjusted to her “new normal” — until new, much more serious symptoms began popping up. Suddenly she couldn’t lift her arms to dry her hair, her left eye began to droop, her fingers were going numb. And the symptoms started to escalate: her heart began to race, it was hard to breathe, and she couldn’t eat without choking. When Danielle landed in the Neuro ICU for the first time, her doctors began emergency infusion treatments, but the cause of her new symptoms remained a mystery. 

The following months were filled with doctor visit after doctor visit, jumping from health system to health system, each time facing a dead end. This time, having long ago moved away from her original PCP, she had limited support from her primary care team. All of her symptoms were pawned off to specialists and no one was coordinating between them. She felt alone as she was left to carry the burden.

Out of Struggle, a New Idea

The breaking point came when Danielle ended up in the ICU for a second time recovering from a stroke. While lying in her hospital bed she wished for someone who could guide her through this health journey and quarterback her care. A primary care practice who understood complex cases, could coordinate and lead her care team, who was curious to figure out what was wrong, who could manage all of the health care administrative run around, and who could light the pathway for the next steps in her diagnosis and disease management process. With millions of others facing similar diagnoses, she knew she couldn’t be alone in her desire for an easier patient experience. From that hospital bed, the idea for Chronius was born. 

Danielle never stopped being her own advocate, and, armed with medical journal articles, she identified the cause of her new symptoms, requested new testing, and ended up with two new inflammatory disease diagnoses — all it turns out, stemming from her initial autoimmune disease. 

Chronius offers patients like Danielle a primary care experience they’ve been waiting for. No more gaslighting, no more feeling alone in your journey, no more feeling like you are too complex for the system. Having a chronic illness is hard enough, and by building a practice for patients, by patients, Danielle hopes that every patient — whether they are facing an uncertain diagnosis, or trying to find a treatment that works, or just need help managing the “full time job” of being chronically ill — will get the support and relief they deserve.