interview transcript women and autoimmunity

[GinaD]

npr.org/templates/transcrip...

Interesting. Medical me too?

[MaryF Administrator]

Thank you for putting this on, hope you are well at the moment. MaryF

[AnnNY]

One of the members on LupusUK was a source for this book. It's been a popular subject there.

Here's a link to one thread:

healthunlocked.com/lupusuk/...

I'm not sure I'm going to read the book. I think it would upset me, but thanks for posting the interview. It was very interesting.

[Wittycjt]

A similar situation happened to me when I was seen for a follow up fractured neck appt by a workman’s compensation neurologist, (before I had my first stroke) when I gave the attending neurologist my symptoms and he attributed it to “women’s hormones”. My son had driven me to this appointment and on the way home my son said “Mom, he doesn’t believe you and thinks you’re nuts because you talk so fast” . My son felt so bad because he knows me, and he knew I was talking fast because I wanted to get alot of information out in a short appointment and I didn’t want to forget anything. This appointment has also reminded me to slow down now🤨

Had this doc believed me I probably wouldn’t have had the initial stroke. I am going to remind him of this when I’m ready! So hopefully this won’t happen to someone else. Although I think he does know because I ran into him thereafter and he was back- pedaling. A$$hole! He told me “anything I can do, I will“ . Yeah a little too late...listen to the patient with an open mind.

[GinaD]

Different, but the same: I slipped in the mud on a hike once. I clung to my hiking stick, which, in hind sight was the wrong thing to do. Had I not held on to it so tight I would have fallen onto my rear end, which is what rear ends are designed to deal with. Instead, my body twisted down the slope and when I did fall I had twisted a good 110 degrees around. And all that torque centered on my poor right leg and my outer shin bone ( forgot the name) just dislodged with a smsll ‘ click’ sound. A broken leg.

I was quite dispassionate about it as I asked a fellow hiker to please give me a ride back to my car and I would then take myself to the ER. His was a new truck, and he was offended when I did not take my muddy hiking boot off before I climbed into his truck. I explained, “ The boot is the only thing holding my leg together enough to kinda walk.” “Oh come on,” he responded, You know you leg isn't broken. You’re a woman. If your leg were broken you’d be screaming yout head off now. But you aren’t , so it isn’t.”

I was tempted to send him a copy of that afternoon’s X ray. But I didn't. He rarely hikes with us anymore.

[Wittycjt in reply to GinaD]

He’s probably too embarrassed to have to face you. Hah!

[GinaD in reply to Wittycjt]

Yeah, thats what I have concluded too.

[SoulRebel-APS]

I agree 100%. Drs won’t even take a minute to consider u might actually be sick. They assume u are just lonely or hormonal and looking for attention. I got all kinds of stupid diagnoses before finding the right dr. One neurologist said I had “spastic leg syndrome “ when I asked him if he felt that it included all of my symptoms he said “No” I was like sooo what now and he was 🤷‍♀️. Another problem I had was with holes in my heart which where facilitating multiple tia’s As clits jumped sides thru the holes and went straight up to my brain. I was referred to a cardiologist to get a test to confirm the holes where there. Unfortunately he did a bunch of stupid tests over a couple months, all while I was having multiple TIA’s a day! I finally said “ok but what about the bubble test I came to u for? He had guts to look me straight in the eye and say “it’s to rare I won’t test u for it”! My hematologist at the time then sent me to see his cardiologist who was able to diagnose one hole in a ECG! First visit! When I finally found a doctor who could and would do the surgery I had the surgery and when they were in there they found a second hole so I had both a PFO and an ASD. They were able to close them off with a titanium implant which dropped my daily tia’s To just a few a week! Which was amazing. I think how if I had been diagnosed in a reasonable amount of time I would not be disabled now with little short term memory!

Sorry got off on a tangent there. It just makes me so angry. Also, in my state u only have 3 yrs to file malpractice against the dr’s. I only wanted to do so so that Maybe the next time a women walked into their office with symptoms maybe they would take just a minute to consider the fact that there could actually be something wrong with them!

Soul Rebel

[GinaD]

Sounds like you have really hiked through the misogynistic medical weeds! Sorry.