Nicole, honestly, how much worse did you need this pain to be before you actually took it seriously?
Doctor to me, ER
Hey, Lovelies.
This is a short, sharp and sweet post, but it’s important.
If you know your body, and it starts behaving in a way that is not normal, do something about it.
The pain you put up with, the thing that comes and goes, the niggle in your body, that strange problem? Don’t let it go. Find out what it is. If it’s nothing to worry about, then all you did was spend a little time checking your equipment. Most people spend more time making sure their phones and computers are optimised than they do on their health.
If your doctor doesn’t take you seriously, find another one. You know yourself better than anyone else.
That quote at the start of this blog came after I got my husband to drive me to hospital on a wild night of driving rain some years ago. I’d already been at the doctors (I drove myself) in the middle of a thunderstorm after finally deciding I should do something about my niggle. I’d been feeling increasingly unwell all day (ALL DAY!!!) and having increasing chest pain, which then radiated up into my jaw and down my arm. I’d experienced vomiting and nausea too. And a sense of impending doom.
I was having a heart attack. I could barely breathe for the pain. I couldn’t stand up straight. But I didn’t want to cause a fuss, and when the doctors at the surgery down the road realised I was having a heart attack and told me they could call me an ambulance I told them not to worry, I would go straight there. I managed to walk out because there was a power outage and everything was in chaos. But I didn’t go to hospital. I went home first. I waited while Ben finished dinner, I didn’t want to make a fuss…
The ER doctor was furious with me. Rightly so. So was Ben. But you see, I’d always downplayed my symptoms. Even to myself.
I can tell you so many stories of friends and clients who ignored symptoms, and by the time they did something about it they had a full-blown illness, or too much damage done, or were suddenly in real danger, or at the end stages of their lives.
I get it. We’re busy people. We’re often low on our own priority lists. If, like me, you’ve had a chronic illness (or worse, an invisible illness like ME, CFS, Lyme etc) you might not have been taken seriously, to the point where you don’t take yourself seriously. If you’ve lived with pain for a long time, what’s one more to add to the collection?
But honestly, your body talks to you. It will let you know. Your job is to believe it, and to honour it, and to protect it by looking after it and following up on those niggles.
Can you do that for me?
Thank you.
Love, hugs and gentle reminders that you matter, and your life matters, Nicole xx
And I think it is important to look at the small, seemingly harmless and unimportant signs your body gives, which (who?) signal some imbalance in the body. By the time they might lead to a serious illness.
It is easy to put pain off when you visit a doctor and they test you and say, after you feel better, ‘well, you feel better, so that is great!’ My son may never visit another physician because this happened to him. My spouse, he must have had covid, but the doctor he saw got him meds for sinus and said loss of scent and smell are also sinus symptoms. He still hasn’t gotten those back after 3 and a half months. I was also sick, but since he wasn’t tested (am a bit wondering if the doctor didn’t want to add to numbers…), I figured I was ok. After I emailed mine, she said to go in. Except it was appointment only and by the time I could get one, I felt a 100% better! On the other hand, I do agree with getting looked over. In spite of how expensive it is to find out, ‘you are getting older’ when I’m in my mid 50’s!!!
I had a minor panic attack the other evening. I have been eating high protein, low carbs for a couple months. Daughters birthday so we went out for a Thai meal. Haven’t done this for a while , so being a creature of habit I ordered what I normally order from this lovely place. Mussoman curry. I also ate a curry puff, and a piece of spicy chicken about the size of marble waiting for my meal to arrive. I had missed lunch. I had eaten a small amount of curry when I got epigastric pain. I had been vaccinated against Covid the week before, so I am swigging water, remaining calm on the outside, while inside going “Is this a heart attack? is this a reaction to the vaccine ?But I didn’t want want to make a fuss.. I laughed about not being able to eat my meal, said I had indigestion, and sat while the others ate their meals. Then I walked home with my son, as I thought it would help, and did not want to make a fuss. Well I am still here, so guess it was indigestion,
\[ due to the amount of fat in the meal} but how crazy are we. Been a lot more fuss if it was serious and I had tried to ignore it
I live with pain all day every day my GP is pretty good trying to help me cope