Rheum After 5: Embracing Their Inner Swiftie

Cheryl Crow, MOT, OTR/L, occupational therapist and founder of Arthritis Life, Bellevue, Wash., remembers hearing Swift’s song “Fifteen” and how impressed she was that a teenager could look at her life with such a mature perspective.

“I’m a huge fan of complex wordplay and really got into her storytelling during her Red era,” Ms. Crow says.

To date, Ms. Crow has attended four Swift concerts, her first being in Seattle during the 1989 World Tour. Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) 21 years ago, at the age of 21, Ms. Crow finds many of Swift’s songs relatable to rheumatology.

“Taylor sings a lot about finding and losing love. As a patient living with rheumatoid arthritis and someone who works with others who have RA, I see parallels between the relationship with our bodies and our romantic relationships,” Ms. Crow says. “Both are full of exhilarating ups and downs, hope gained and lost, and anger and pain at things outside our control (like insurance barriers to care or frustration at friends/family not getting it).”

Ms. Crow notes that Swift’s songs encourage people permission to “feel their feelings,” something she’s worked on herself and tries to help RA patients process.

On another level, Ms. Crow says she is able relate to Swift as a fellow hard-working, perfectionist people-pleaser.

“I’ve had to overcome feelings of wanting everyone to like me or give me a gold star for my achievements,”Ms. Crow says. “I think you can see over time that Taylor has learned to own her imperfections and define her self-worth on her own terms, rather than relying on external validation.”

Ms. Crow says she first connected with other rheumatology professionals who are Swifties through Dr. Jean Liew, whom she calls a super connector.

“I made over 100 rheumatology-themed bracelets for the 2023 and 2024 ACR Convergence meetings and enjoyed meeting so many other rheumatology professionals while giving away or trading the bracelets,” she says.

Dr. Noelle Rolle

Favorite era: “Hands down, my favorite era is folklore. It’s a beautifully written album.”

Noelle Rolle (left), with her mom, Nadene (right), at the Dublin night 1 concert, The Eras tour. (Click to enlarge.)

Noelle A. Rolle, MD, assistant professor in the Division of Rheumatology and associate program director of the rheumatology fellowship at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, first became a Taylor Swift fan after hearing the song, “Back to December.”