Member-only story
Be Your Own Best Health Advocate
Chronic illness has taught me to use my voice and reframe my relationship with health practitioners.
Because my parents are medical professionals, I grew up with an unquestionable respect and awe of doctors and nurses. For most of my life, I went to all my health appointments ready to accept what was told to me as gospel, asking very few (if any) questions.
My perception drastically changed when I lived in India for three years and experienced a spate of serious gastrointestinal problems throughout my time there. I visited doctors on a regular basis, swallowing their advice and submitting to their treatments, desperate for resolution. And it was during this time in my life that my hero-worship of health practitioners began to waver and eventually collapse.
It would take being diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia (TN) two years ago to fully understood why.
Ugly and full of shame
For most of my life I have been fortunate to have competent, patient, compassionate doctors. Perhaps that’s one reason why I never had very many questions when on the examining table: any question I could’ve had in the moment was already answered.
But I also know that I took for granted certain details that only become more salient as you get older. Details like insurance…
