This was brought to my attention by Mitch, a fellow blogger, and it not only brought me up short but offered me a sudden and far too rare insight into the person on the other side of the exam table. I’d never heard this from any doctor. I admit, I’ve never given much thought to how my doctor feels when I bring in yet another problem, expecting her to have a solution. My frustration when she doesn’t have any solutions will forever be tempered by these words. I offer a short excerpt, and I hope that, like me, you will subscribe to Dr. Rob Lamberts writings, Musings of a Distractible Mind. He has much to teach us.
“Dear Patients:
You have it very hard, much harder than most people understand. Having sat for 16 years listening to the stories, seeing the tiredness in your eyes, hearing you try to describe the indescribable, I have come to understand that I too can’t understand what your lives are like. How do you answer the question, “how do you feel?” when you’ve forgotten what “normal” feels like? How do you deal with all of the people who think you are exaggerating your pain, your emotions, your fatigue? How do you decide when to believe them or when to trust your own body? How do you cope with living a life that won’t let you forget about your frailty, your limits, your mortality?
I can’t imagine.
But I do bring something to the table that you may not know. I do have information that you can’t really understand because of your unique perspective, your battered world. There is something that you need to understand that, while it won’t undo your pain, make your fatigue go away, or lift your emotions, it will help you. It’s information without which you bring yourself more pain than you need suffer; it’s a truth that is a key to getting the help you need much easier than you have in the past. It may not seem important, but trust me, it is.
You scare doctors… ”
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Powerful stuff.
one life: livin' the dream 