I Was Labeled a Difficult Patient. Then I Built EASE OS™ | Dr. Connie Cheung
Apr 14, 2026
Four years ago, Dr. Connie Cheung was running a thriving hot yoga and functional wellness business. Then, acute kidney failure from lupus nephritis changed everything.
Recorded 16 days after her second kidney transplant, Dr. Connie shares the full story for the first time — in sequence, without the polished version.
In this episode, you'll hear:
→ How lupus nephritis and acute kidney failure pulled her out of her hot yoga business and into a dialysis clinic — almost overnight
→ What it was like to undergo chemotherapy to save her kidneys — and have it fail
→ Three years of home hemodialysis as a single mother — the schedule, the fear, the scary moments alone with the machine at midnight
→ Her twin sister who tried to donate a kidney, and why blood type O made matching nearly impossible
→ A yoga student who stepped forward to donate her kidney — and what that kind of generosity does to a nervous system that has been in survival mode for years
→ A kidney transplant that was severely rejected within weeks — and a medical team that dropped her, labeled her difficult, and walked away
→ Three more years on the transplant waitlist with a high PRA (panel reactive antibody) — two calls that came close and then fell through
→ Closing her business, losing her identity, and learning to hold fear and hope simultaneously
→ How EASE OS™ was born — not from research, but from a body that had no other option
→ Where she is now: 16 days post-transplant, grateful and terrified, and applying her own framework to her own recovery in real time
This is not an inspirational story. It is the origin story of EASE OS™ — a health integration framework built around four systems: Enteric (gut brain), Autonomic (nervous system safety), Somatic (body as data), and Empowered Psychology (identity inside illness).
➢ If you have been told your labs are normal, but your body doesn't feel normal, this episode is for you.
➢ If you are a practitioner with complex patients whose results won't hold, this episode is for you.
➢ If you have ever been labeled difficult by a system that ran out of answers — this episode is especially for you.
Topics covered: lupus nephritis, kidney failure, chronic kidney disease, home hemodialysis, kidney transplant, transplant rejection, high PRA antibody sensitization, living kidney donor, functional medicine, nervous system regulation, chronic illness identity, medical trauma, integrative health, EASE OS™ framework, autonomic nervous system healing, somatic awareness, empowered psychology
Learn more about EASE OS™: drconniecheung.com
Apply for the Clinical Diagnostic Intensive: drconniecheung.com/Clinical-Diagnostic-Intensive
Follow Dr. Connie on Instagram: @drconniecheung
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