Chronic and Courageous

Celebrating National Women Physicians Day

February 3^rd is the birthday of Elizabeth Blackwell. Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman to become a licensed physician in the United States. That is why every year, on her birthday, we celebrate National Women Physicians Day. According to Forbes, Dr. Blackwell was originally allowed to attend medical school as a joke. While she may have proved doubters wrong, it seems that many still think of women in medicine as a joke. Forbes reports that in the medical field “women’s salaries are nearly $20,000 less on average than those of their equally skilled, equally experienced male counterparts, or about 8%…” This discrepancy is baffling to me since some of the best doctors I see are women.

I have seen the same rheumatologist for years. She treats my juvenile idiopathic arthritis. I actually first saw her when she was in training as a fellow in pediatrics. She always listens to me and knows that I know my joints the best. She trusts my judgement just as I trust hers. Out of all of the doctors I see, she is the one that I have the best relationship with. My cardiologist is also amazing. She was instrumental in ensuring that I was diagnosed with POTS quickly after I started showing symptoms. She is the best doctor in the area for POTS and has given me the absolute best treatment I could ask for. My gastroenterologist is one of the sweetest people. She helped me through a very difficult flare with kindness and understanding. She has found what treatment works best for me and sticks with it. I could not ask for a better psychiatrist. I feel comfortable talking to her and I know she does all that she can to help me. She is always ready to listen and does her best to understand.

When I think of these women that I have on my care team, I feel very blessed. They are all phenomenal physicians and incredible people. I trust them all with my treatment and I feel that they reciprocate that trust. I don’t know what I would do without them. I don’t know what my life would look like if Dr. Blackwell hadn’t been brave enough to take the first step for all women in the medical field years ago. Medelita says of National Women Physicians Day, “Today we celebrate the courage of Elizabeth Blackwell and celebrate the accomplishments of female physicians by setting aside February 3rd as a national holiday to honor these tenacious women and the obstacles they have overcome.”

How to Get Through a Migraine

I have made it through countless migraines in my life. I don’t claim to be any sort of expert because getting through a migraine often feels like stumbling through it blindly until it’s over. However, I have found a few tricks that have worked for me over the years. Here are my top tips for getting through a migraine.

Know What Bothers You

Every migraine sufferer has certain things that trigger them. For me, it’s always been light. Because of this, having a migraine often means that I have to rest in a dark room. Figure out what makes your migraines worse (or what triggers them in the first place) and avoid them during an attack. Maybe this means you’ll have to keep the TV off or stay away from anything with a strong scent. The American Migraine Foundation lists migraine triggers as everything from stress to dehydration to sleep disturbance. As soon as you know something is problematic for you, do all that you can to avoid it when you’re in the middle of a migraine to try to prevent an increase in pain.

Medicate Mindfully

Often our first instinct when we feel pain is to take medicine. It’s what we’ve been told to do. Whether you have medication prescribed specifically for your migraines or you’re relying on over-the-counter options like Tylenol, these can be helpful for when your pain is intense. However, you have to be careful about the way you take these medications because taking them too often can lead to rebound headaches. According to the Mayo Clinic, “Medication overuse headaches or rebound headaches are caused by regular, long-term use of medication to treat headaches, such as migraines. Pain relievers offer relief for occasional headaches. But if you take them more than a couple of days a week, they may trigger medication overuse headaches.” Take medication as prescribed and directed and when your pain makes it necessary, but make sure you are not doing more damage by taking too much.

Utilize Low-Stimulus Options

Sometimes one of the best things you can do for yourself in the middle of a migraine is distract yourself from the pain. Of course, there’s a good chance you won’t feel up to doing something like reading or watching a movie. At these times, I like to listen to audiobooks or podcasts. They take my mind off of what I am feeling without causing any extra pain. I always have a few downloaded and ready to go.

Know It Will Pass

In the middle of feeling pain, it can be hard to focus on anything else or to feel any hope. But nothing lasts forever, including pain. No matter how bad it gets, remind yourself that it will get better. The old adage that “this too shall pass” is true. There are better things to come, even if you can’t see them. You can do this.

Chronically Me

I was diagnosed with my first chronic illness when I was two-years-old. It was then that I learned that I have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, which has since come to be known in the medical community as juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). JIA is a form of arthritis that is found in children, but can affect them into adulthood (which has been the case for me). JIA was very difficult for me to deal with as a child, but is fairly well-controlled now by medicine. In the years since then, I have received many more diagnoses. There are a lot of factors affecting my health. The two biggest conditions that I deal with now are chronic migraines and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).

Chronic migraines are just what they sound like – migraines that won’t go away. I like to describe it as having a baseline headache all the time which fluctuates to a full-blown migraine two to three times a week. So far, my chronic migraines have not responded to any treatment – conventional or unconventional, old or new, nothing has made a dent. POTS is more complicated to explain. It is a form of dysautonomia, which is a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is responsible for things your body does that you don’t have to think about, like breathing and your heart beating. POTS is characterized by an increase in heart rate upon standing because your body does not move blood to your brain quickly enough. All of this means that when you stand up, you might pass out. Other POTS symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, low energy, and difficulty concentrating.

I’ve been through a lot because of these chronic illnesses. Living with them means living a completely different lifestyle from most of those around me. But I also feel that I have been blessed because of them. I have travelled to some really cool places for treatment that I probably wouldn’t have seen otherwise. I have met so many amazing people (doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals) who have left lasting marks on my life. I feel like I have become a stronger, braver person, and I have a greater understanding of who I am and what matters to me.

Whether you are dealing with chronic illnesses yourself, you know someone who is, or you’re just curious about it all, I hope this blog can give you an accurate look at what life with chronic illness is like – and at what it’s like to live chronic and courageous.