Dr. Stacey Guo Chong

Today I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Dr. Stacey Chong. I’d read some positive things about her online and though, why not?! I’ve had positive ANAs on and off with symptoms that specialists have suspected to be autoimmune, so I was referred to her. If you have chronic health issues then you know what it’s like to have bad appts, appts where you don’t feel like you’re heard, where you feel like unless your lab results match an exact perfect pattern, you’re brushed off. I won’t lie, I walked in today expecting just that and what I got instead was a diagnosis. A diagnosis after years of suffering! An answer to the pain and horror I’ve been going through. Gentle words, tons of well explained information, and most importantly? She took the time that was required to sit and ask me questions, she examined quite literally everything. She looked at the photos I had for her of “evidence”. Dr. Chong is everything the rheumatology world needs more of and I can’t express to her how… thankful I am for how she treated me today. I walked out of there feeling like a human being and not just a number or a file. I got an answer regarding what it is instead of what it’s NOT. I can now begin to treat my many symptoms and I know what my course of action should be thanks to her carefully laying out my suggested steps forward for me, and it’s not even autoimmune (yet, who knows what the future holds ha). Dr. Chong is so good at her job that instead of finding out that this isn’t autoimmune in nature currently and feeling anger at being “brushed off” my mind has been opened to what’s actually going on. She explained ANA tests in depth, answered every single question and showed so much compassion regarding my history of trauma. I get it now. It doesn’t have to be autoimmune to be disabling, and my trust in rheumatologists has been restored. Dr. Chong is proof that big egos don’t define medicine. She is the example for what others should strive to be. Gentle, kind, well spoken, patient, and boy does she know her stuff! There’s passion in her words! You can tell she has a passion for what she does and genuinely cares. If you’re like me and have gone down a long road seeking a compassionate doctor to help you, but are now jaded by bad experiences… please don’t give up until you see Dr. Chong. She has quite literally saved my life today. I have hope for the first time in a very long time. Hope of a future and hope of getting back to work one day. Hope that I can work hard on my treatments and find some semblance of independence again! Thank you so so so much!