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How It Feels to Be Sick and Accused of Faking It
The problem is in their heads, not yours
In the first semester of my senior year in college, I got sick: very sick. Every joint in my body was swollen and tender. I couldn’t move without pain. Sleep came in fits and starts because, once I dozed off, my body would forget it wasn’t supposed to move, and I’d be jolted awake with a vengeance.
It was the worst period in my life, not because I was in so much physical pain, but because nobody believed I was sick.
Doctors don’t know everything
It’s a doctor’s job to diagnose a medical problem and to treat it. If the problem is something they can’t diagnose, they do one of two things: brush you off or experiment on you.
As much as we’d like to think that every doctor is like House, they’re not. Unless your vital signs are taking a swan dive off the Hollywood Bowl or your symptoms are so bizarre, the doc imagines they’ll be a technical advisor on your Netflix biopic, they’re not interested.
Once they determine you’re not dying, the motivation to examine every clue, perform every…
