My Migraine Battle: On The Forefront

I'm Dissappointed with My Doc's Advice

I have to say, tonight, that I'm kind of disappointed in my gp. I mean, I love her and she's very compassionate to what I go through. I'm impressed with her, because she's dealing with my migraines with little to no understanding of them and as we all know it's a huge challenge.

But, recently, she told me she didn't think I should go to Rhonda's site anymore, because her fear is that it would depress me. For those who don't know, Rhonda's is like a support group on the web. Believe me, if I could travel, I'd go to a support group to deal with the issues I have to deal with.

I don't find it at all depressing. Actually, I think it's really empowering, because when you can find a treatment that you haven't tried before and has worked for others, or when you can learn a new coping skill, or when you can share what's worked for you treatment-wise and coping methods, or when you're just having a shitty day and in complete pain and you get others telling you to hang in there and not give up, it lifts my spirits and makes me feel alot better. And when I can do that for others, it makes me feel like I have some purpose in my life, instead of just being a blob on the couch in the dark.

I wonder if I had cancer, would she have told me not to join a support group? I am surprised when doctors say things like that with such authority, when she hasn't even looked at the site that I've gone to. If I had a disease that had visible pathology, like Cancer, AIDS, paralyses, etc., I don't think that that's the advice she would've given. I think she would've urged me to go to a support group.

This is one of the examples of biasness that I have seen over the past couple of years in the medical field where they just don't really understand that migraine is just as much of a disease as Cancer or Parkinsons. The unfortunate thing is that this malady is frustrating, because it's incurable. We have cures, helpful meds and assistance or therapies for pretty much every other kind of disease in the world.

Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not real. You can't see the air, but we know it's real, because we see the effects: the trees swaying in the breeze, the fact that we can breathe, etc. It's invisible, yet it's real. A little too real.

I told her that the only reason I haven't been going on that site recently is because I've been so bummed out that I didn't want to drag anyone else down with me. I know there are other members on that site that do the same thing. But, I was thinking today, that maybe if I did go back to going on the site, asking for help when I need it, telling my cyber-friends at the "support" group what I'm going through, I wouldn't have gotten so down in the dumps about it.

So, I'm not going to accept that "advice"/"order", whatever it was, and I'm going to go back on that site from time to time when I feel the need for it.

posted by Jessica @ 11:58 PM