Jon DubovskyMar 6
Cat Hicks

RE: https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina/116144078270105346

Hello. I wrote this after fighting through to another appointment with a new specialist and I got a sudden opening with them and THEY HELPED. A LOT. THEY UNGASLIT the situation and validated a ton of things I'd documented on my own and been bouncing around providers trying to get someone to believe. They did the right test and now we have very significant empirical evidence about something critical.

Do not give up

Mar 6 at 3:42pmWeb
Show threadCat HicksMar 6
I know I have been sharing a lot about this lately. But I share because even I, with all my experience and expertise in evidence, felt foolish and doubtful about whether I was doing the right thing continuing to push and then it turns out I was being misled the entire time. Nolite te Bastardes Carborundorum
Show threadLuis VillaMar 6
@grimalkina hugs
Show threadAbhijit Menon-SenMar 6
@grimalkina That is so good to hear.
Show threadCoyote of WinterMar 6
@grimalkina Wow, congrats! Glad you are making progress!
Show threadChris PetrilliMar 6

@grimalkina this is great news and also depressing that it isn’t the norm.

But, yay progress!

Show threadCat HicksMar 6
@petrillic omg. A thing I had been raising to other providers as a possibility since last August and it was the first possibility the new specialist brought up
Show threadChris PetrilliMar 6

@grimalkina such a common refrain. A close friend had been trying to evaluate hormones for her PM symptoms, and her doctor (a woman!!) kept refusing and gaslighting her.

She finally found a new doctor who was like “we should try this” unprompted and… it has wildly improved the situation.

The amount of gaslighting in healthcare is literally murderous.

Show threadCat HicksMar 6
@petrillic yes :(. I spend a great deal of time in the patient chats I'm in with much older women who have suffered in silence for decades with so many things. It is devastating. We millennial women in the chats talk a lot about it separately and feel a great responsibility to be more open and demand more for young girls. I thought I knew a lot about this including as a researcher who has dealt with gender effects but I could not have imagined the extent of it
Show threadChris PetrilliMar 6

@grimalkina I am so proud that you and so many other women are fibalky starting this push back against the institutional misogyny of medicine.

We (meaning not women) need to do more as well. I wish I knew how to help more other than encouraging friends to speak up and advocate for themselves. Sadly nobody else is going to.

Show threadCat HicksMar 6
@petrillic that is already a lot though. Progress is made in tiny moments of encouragement to not give up
Show threadEthan MarcotteMar 6
@grimalkina oh cat this is WONDERFUL news, here’s to more clarity and support coming your way 💜 💜 💜
Show threadmags amondMar 6
@grimalkina
ungaslit - a good word, let there be more of it
Show threadoctopusfractalMar 6
@grimalkina 😭😭😭
Show threadSpiritual Annie ☮️Mar 6

@grimalkina

I do understand. I had my first (onset) Fibromyalgia flare-up before it was a trusted diagnosis. The first rheumatologist, who are responsible for testing for it, called it a "garbage can diagnosis." It was over a year later, when I had to stop working, that I got sent for a second opinion to a rheumatologist that knew what he was doing. Then I had to educate my PCP on treatments I was reading about as there really wasn't much. At least he was willing to learn.

Always fight!

Show threadGuillaume RossoliniMar 6
@grimalkina this is the third time this week that I’ve seen people sharing great progress with their elusive health issues
Show threadJason PunyonMar 6
@grimalkina YES <3
Show threadBen RosengartMar 7
@grimalkina yay, Cat, that’s great
Show threadKeith WansbroughMar 7
@grimalkina awesome!!!! It's such a relief when you know what it is!
Show threadBill HookerMar 7
@grimalkina I am very glad to hear this!