PHOENIX (March 17, 2025) – Erin Kienlen always wanted to be a doctor – until she started experiencing stabbing pain and numbness while still in college. And even though that led to a chronic health diagnosis, it didn’t mean she wouldn’t still end up in health care.
In honor of Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month in March, Banner Health is sharing a unique and unlikely bond between two women battling multiple sclerosis, or MS, which is an autoimmune disorder where the immune system is mis-programmed to attack the central nervous system, which includes the brain, spinal cord and optic nerve.
When Erin was a sophomore in college, in 2004, she was studying biology with the hope of going to medical school. Around that same time, she started experiencing inexplicable stabbing pain, numbness and tingling. She went to multiple doctors searching for answers, eventually being diagnosed with MS. Erin was horrified but one nurse changed everything for her.
“I’ll never forget the feeling of gratitude to that nurse who took the time to just sit with me and let me cry, but also took the time to make sure I was educated about this new chronic illness that I would have to deal with (for the rest of my life),” Erin recalls.
From that point forward, Erin knew she wasn’t going to be a doctor, but instead, a nurse who dedicated her life’s work to helping patients who were just like her. Fast forward 21 years and Erin is now a nurse patient navigator for Banner Health’s MS patients, helping them navigate the complex landscape of their chronic illness, which includes lending emotional support.
Phoenix resident Joey Persinger can attest to that. Joey says she experienced undiagnosed symptoms of MS for 22 years, including numbness, tinging, spasms and cramping. However, it was the flare that left her feet and legs numb in March 2022 that led to her MS diagnosis. It was around that time that she met Erin through Banner.
“Erin is my role model for living with MS,” Joey said. “I think it was the third or fourth appointment before Erin’s diagnosis came up (in discussion). I couldn’t believe it; she seemed so normal.
“In the early days of my MS diagnosis, it was impossible to imagine that everybody couldn’t just see how broken I felt. And here was Erin, not only doing a challenging job with a chronic disease, but doing so with grace and smarts and humor.”
Erin and Joey’s doctor, Dr. Barry Hendin, a neurologist with Banner Health specializing in MS, say an estimated 1 million people in the United States suffer from multiple sclerosis.
“No two MS stories are identical, but symptoms can include rapid loss of vision, weakness, numbness or double vision with incoordination,” notes Dr. Hendin.
Now, as both Erin and Joey manage their condition, Joey finds comfort in Erin’s support.
“It is Erin who makes the office visits feel personal,” Joey says. “I always feel that she is 100% on my side; no matter what I ask her, she walks me through the best answer for me in that moment.”
Erin echoes, “No question or concern is too small.”
Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix is a large teaching hospital that has provided medical care to Arizona and the Southwest since 1911. It is part of Banner – University Medicine, a premier academic medical network. The institution, which has trained thousands of doctors over decades as a teaching hospital, is the academic medical center for The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix. The hospital, recognized by U.S. News and World Report as one of the nation’s best hospitals, specializes in heart care, cancer care, high-risk obstetrics, neurosciences, organ transplants, medical toxicology and emergency care, including a Level I trauma center. Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix is part of Banner Health, a nonprofit health care system with 33 hospitals in six states. For more information, visit bannerhealth.com/universityphoenix.
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