Fibromyalgia Support Group
You're not alone in your pain. Fibromyalgia is a condition that can be difficult to diagnose and manage. If you're trying to cope with pain throughout your body, sleep problems, general fatigue, or other common fibromyalgia symptoms, you're in the right place. The community is here for you to talk about therapies and share your challenges.
Yesterday I posted about my head. Well it wasn't just my head but my body - shockingly for me, I am sick....LOL.
The nurse practitioner I saw should not be allowed to practice, at least not with CFS/FM patients.
Let me tell you some of the blunders and then my minor victory.
After asking how I got "it" and what they currently thought "caused" it, she proceeded to tell me that she wasn't surprised that there was a genetic component. She had wondered because she had seen trends and didn't know if it was genetic or simply whether "we" had been taught the behavior - can we say together wth? Then she went on to say that she thought this generation was sicker because we were fatter. Well in fact, I was pretty darn skinny when I got sick.
Another comment was what a shame the illness was because since we were so tired we couldn't be useful to society any more.
Now puncuated through this and the rest of the visit were repeated comments of that hated, hot button phrase "well you certainly look good, you look fine, you look great".
Ok, I decided I couldn't tackle the huge philosophical things, after all my head hurt, they had the heat blazing and the overhead lights were killing me. However, by the time she had said how good I looked for the umpteenth time I stopped her.
I told her that I didn't want to offend (but boy I sure did want to...rofl) but I felt obligated to help her out. That she might want to not tell CFS/FM people that they look good and imply that it had some medical implication. That many of us didn't take kindly to that because it tends to belittle our condition because we ALWAYS look good. That the red in our complextion is a sign of our illness. And such repeated exclamations of our looks of health could cause someone more sensitive than myself to either smack her or walk out on her. And yes, I lost it with that comment, but I said it with a smile...
She actually looked shocked and tried to explain it away that it was what "they were taught to do". To look at the patient as part of the diagnosis. I just told her flat out that technique would therefore never work with patients with CFS/FM. She finally shut up.
Heaven preserve of from these peeps, I thought they were a dieing breed.
The nurse practitioner I saw should not be allowed to practice, at least not with CFS/FM patients.
Let me tell you some of the blunders and then my minor victory.
After asking how I got "it" and what they currently thought "caused" it, she proceeded to tell me that she wasn't surprised that there was a genetic component. She had wondered because she had seen trends and didn't know if it was genetic or simply whether "we" had been taught the behavior - can we say together wth? Then she went on to say that she thought this generation was sicker because we were fatter. Well in fact, I was pretty darn skinny when I got sick.
Another comment was what a shame the illness was because since we were so tired we couldn't be useful to society any more.
Now puncuated through this and the rest of the visit were repeated comments of that hated, hot button phrase "well you certainly look good, you look fine, you look great".
Ok, I decided I couldn't tackle the huge philosophical things, after all my head hurt, they had the heat blazing and the overhead lights were killing me. However, by the time she had said how good I looked for the umpteenth time I stopped her.
I told her that I didn't want to offend (but boy I sure did want to...rofl) but I felt obligated to help her out. That she might want to not tell CFS/FM people that they look good and imply that it had some medical implication. That many of us didn't take kindly to that because it tends to belittle our condition because we ALWAYS look good. That the red in our complextion is a sign of our illness. And such repeated exclamations of our looks of health could cause someone more sensitive than myself to either smack her or walk out on her. And yes, I lost it with that comment, but I said it with a smile...
She actually looked shocked and tried to explain it away that it was what "they were taught to do". To look at the patient as part of the diagnosis. I just told her flat out that technique would therefore never work with patients with CFS/FM. She finally shut up.
Heaven preserve of from these peeps, I thought they were a dieing breed.
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theatre and I are there already. I'm having a very berry tea with crackers, cheese and cherry tomatoes and she's having a joint with some beer and we're both on really comfy recliners on thick pile carpet. we need some help with the decor if anyone is around??
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I'm trying to exercise daily. I was doing fairly well until I sprained my ankle 2 weeks ago but now I'm getting back on the horse. Today I walked over a mile with my arm weights that are about 22lbs total. I was out of shape and it was hard on my arms. I also did my 30 situps. I'm also going to drink a lot of water and try to eat healthy. I do tend to have a sweet tooth but I'm cutting...
c.)Or is that you girls are just radiating beauty from your souls and that is what she is seeing?
I choose to believe the correct answer is the last one because it pains me so to think that there are such Uninformed, Assigine, Rude people in our health profession.
I am sorry you had to put up with this, but I am Thrilled that you stopped her and set her straight. One Small Step for Womankind
I hope she's last one of a dying breed too!
or what...splain urselves PLZ!!!
she SAID that ??
Ohhhhh...see now THAT pisses me OFF !!
I make a GREAT bed warmer !!
It is sad we must go through this kind of treatment and the other posts from you gals are hilarious!!LOL
hey it would be neat if we could ALL get together and make rounds to each doctor/professional office and make a stand and tell them the way they treat fibro/cfs pts. it deplorable and what happened to the hippacratic oath they took? seems they forgot some of what they learned before...hmmm...they have telethons and money drives for other diseases but we "look good"?? well, someone with a headache or nausea or muscle spasm or loss of hearing..they don't show this illness but it is there...we i went to nursing school we were taught "NEVER ASSUME"....i guess they stopped teaching that or they missed that day. you are never to assume something you cannot base factually. that's why they do history and physical (or don't they do that anymore either?) gees, alot of our stress the docs say we should avoid ..funny enough...come from them!!
I wrote and complained about my former doctor after he totally missed my thyroid disease. Being an accountant, I made a point of using legal terms to describe the shoddy treatment I'd gotten over the years. It was upsetting enough to her that she called me to let me know my case was being referred to the medical oversight committee for review. I'm sure the legal department knew who I was, but the level of care was so horrible, they're lucky I didn't sue.
When I was done yelling at her, she acted like a 3 year old child who had gotten caught with it's hand in the candy jar.
It is time that the doctors and nurses really educate themselves on our problems so that they will no longer be so insensitive to us!
Sorry for the rant.