The Heart Sink Factor

"'In purity and according to divine law will I carry out my life and my art.(Hippocratic oath) '"..except that is, when someone with ME walks into my consulting room, my doctor's heart will sink and I will seek to boot  them out the door as quickly as possible.

With a condescending air bordering upon pride and a quirky self-satisfaction, I will  remain airily unconvinced that ME is real , even if one of my children have it;  I am a "skeptic", I am not on your side.

I will leave you to suffer, alone, for years on end, without even examining you...blah, blah, blah...."
This is the reality of trying to get treatment for people with ME.
It's the rhetoric that in our experience, so characterizes ME - and is completely  soul-destroying  . There 's lots of good intentions, wonderful presentations going on all over the place.  But really, really, when it comes down to it I am not convinced that anyone knows what to do with Linda, so severely ill. EVERY clinician or world-leading authority we have consulted has let us down  .

The " heart sink " factor ,   it's real - right across medicine , even amongst those who you think you could totally trust. 

Comments

  1. Matthew SmithAugust 19, 2010 at 12:02 PM

    I read a book in Waterstone's the other day called Confessions of a GP by some guy hiding behind a pseudonym, Benjamin Daniels. He didn't mention ME but he did mention "chronic fatigue" and fibromyalgia, something he calls "shit life syndrome" or SLS. He says he's never seen a case of fibro that's not linked to having a crappy life.

    Reminded me of this, which Lynn Gilderdale posted when discussing a friend request:

    what's the point in sugar-coating it? If your life is utter SHIT & is made a complete misery by your illness(es) (like mine is), well then bloody well SAY so!

    By all accounts, her life wasn't that way before her ME. I wonder if that doc can tell the difference between "shit life syndrome" and a real illness?

    ReplyDelete
  2. slothgothAugust 20, 2010 at 7:36 AM

    Of course, some doctors will never experience 'heart sink' as they would appear to be lacking the requisite organ.

    ReplyDelete

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