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People are often told to advocate for themselves. However, being an advocate for yourself isn’t always enough. You need the entire system to work in your favor. Years ago, 6 months after an IUD insertion, I woke up at night with abdominal pain & bloody underclothes. 1/
I saw 4 physicians before anyone would listen to me and not call my pain “normal.” The pain woke me up in the middle of the night and happened randomly during the day. Physical activity would provoke it so, I stopped working out. Often It left me hunched over and crying. 2/
They kept saying it was normal after the placement. It was placed months prior without any bleeding or pain. It took seeing the third doctor to get a physical exam. It wasn’t till the final doctor that I received a physical exam, imaging to check my IUD placement, & removal. 3/
I think about this experience often because what if I didn’t find a doctor willing to listen?! I think about patients who are also sent home but remain in pain or are succumbed to their condition. I think about the patients who seek help repeatedly and are still not heard. 4/
Sometimes advocating for yourself isn’t enough to receive what is supposed to be the “standard of care”. Simply needing care isn’t even enough.
