Adhesion related disorder is a painful, lonely illness. Many adhesion sufferers deal not only with scores of doctors who write them off as mental cases, but also with loved ones who just don't "get it." Adding insult to injury, a doctor who says there is nothing wrong often carries more credence than the person who is doubled over in pain.
After watching my daughter suffer for 14 years, I learned one thing from illness:
health care can be a cruel, cold world. Yes, there were a few good doctors who were helpful and honest along the way and I thank God for them. However, the ones who were rude, insensitive, patronizing-and often downright mean-sadly outweighed the good.
I am a firm believer in staying the course, especially when your gut instinct speaks more loudly than the monotone voices of countless physicians.
Today, I work diligently to promote awareness of this insidious illness because I know there are other little girls out there who are going to wake up one morning, just as my daughter did, and say, "Mom, I am so sick." And with those words, their lives will be turned upside down.
My prayer, and that of Melissa's and our family, is that no other child will be left to suffer year after year while doctor after doctor dismisses this illness as trivial. Far from trivial, adhesions can be completely debilitating and even life threatening in many cases.
Medicine is not perfect, but medicine should have a heart. Too often, this compassion is missing. It is lost when doctors do not have an ear to hear, when they are more concerned about reaping the financial benefits that come from seeing a certain quota of patients in one day, when they quickly draw conclusions based on the advent of puberty and when, unbelievably, they actually recognize all the signs and symptoms point to adhesions, yet refuse to inform the patient and parent who sits before them. Yes, many physicians know, but they have long guarded this illness and kept it under wraps-a code of silence in the medical world.
That, thankfully, is changing. At karensteward.com we are committed to promoting ARD awareness. Please check our site often for upcoming news and projects.
After watching my daughter suffer for 14 years, I learned one thing from illness:
health care can be a cruel, cold world. Yes, there were a few good doctors who were helpful and honest along the way and I thank God for them. However, the ones who were rude, insensitive, patronizing-and often downright mean-sadly outweighed the good.
I am a firm believer in staying the course, especially when your gut instinct speaks more loudly than the monotone voices of countless physicians.
Today, I work diligently to promote awareness of this insidious illness because I know there are other little girls out there who are going to wake up one morning, just as my daughter did, and say, "Mom, I am so sick." And with those words, their lives will be turned upside down.
My prayer, and that of Melissa's and our family, is that no other child will be left to suffer year after year while doctor after doctor dismisses this illness as trivial. Far from trivial, adhesions can be completely debilitating and even life threatening in many cases.
Medicine is not perfect, but medicine should have a heart. Too often, this compassion is missing. It is lost when doctors do not have an ear to hear, when they are more concerned about reaping the financial benefits that come from seeing a certain quota of patients in one day, when they quickly draw conclusions based on the advent of puberty and when, unbelievably, they actually recognize all the signs and symptoms point to adhesions, yet refuse to inform the patient and parent who sits before them. Yes, many physicians know, but they have long guarded this illness and kept it under wraps-a code of silence in the medical world.
That, thankfully, is changing. At karensteward.com we are committed to promoting ARD awareness. Please check our site often for upcoming news and projects.
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