Is your doctor listening to you? Actually listening?

In today’s world of medicine, many patients aren’t being heard. In fact, many are being completely dismissed, invalidated, and sometimes even insulted. Especially when it comes to women’s health, doctors sometimes don’t take women seriously. The doctor-patient dynamic here has damaged people, even to the point of causing diseases to get worse.

This is Angela Allen’s experience. Angela is a psychiatric ER nurse based out of North Carolina. So far in her life, she’s had quite the battle with endometriosis. She’s had over five surgeries and a multitude of doctors totally reject her plea for help, treatment, and care. Even as a nurse, she, too, has struggled with the cold doctor-patient power dynamic.

Today, we talk about our overall experiences with endometriosis. The three of us each take turns telling stories about our surgeries, treatments, total rejections by doctors, and the trauma that is associated with this cycle as a result. Angela specifically talks about her own healing process and how she’s learned to advocate for herself in the doctor’s office prior to going under the knife.

Get ready to learn more about how to find your voice in the doctor’s office, self educate, and empower yourself to get the treatment you deserve.

Some Question I Ask:

• What was your process in getting diagnosed with endometriosis? (4:45)
• What feedback did you receive after your first surgery? (7:39)
• What have doctors told you that really shocked you? (15:52)
• What’s it like for you to switch from being the nurse to the patient? (17:23)
• How can someone practically prepare for a doctor visit? (18:30)
• How did you prepare yourself for a potential hysterectomy? (23:20)
• How do you feel when you see the uterus as a symbol of unity and strength depicted now in social media and in art? (25:05)
• What’s your job as a nurse in a psychiatric ER like? (38:04)

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• How endometriosis can be diagnosed. (4:48)
• About Angela’s experience of her pain being dismissed by her doctor and being labeled a drug addict. (7:48)
• Why the doctor-patient dynamic disserves patients. (17:27)
• How to find your voice in the doctor’s office. (18:37)
• Why a hysterectomy may be needed to help treat endometriosis. (21:34)
• About the intangible grief and isolation after having an unwanted hysterectomy. (25:34)
• How to cope with the grief tied to a hysterectomy. (32:34)
• About the long-term effects of being dismissed by your doctor due to severe chronic pain. (35:04)

Resources:

Endo Coach RN Website

Connect with Angela:

Instagram

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sometimes, when you make a mistake or say the wrong thing, it sticks with you. I mean, it really sticks with you.

Sometimes, that can stick with you for days, weeks, or even years. Even just thinking about it can make your face turn red and your chest constricts due to all the anxiety, guilt, and general discomfort around the whole thing. These feelings can spark the desire to run away and avoid this discomfort at all costs. This is especially true with conversations centered around race: where white people with good intentions make mistakes, get defensive, and avoid the discomfort.

On today’s episode, we talk with Joy Fennel, who handles these difficult and uncomfortable conversations with absolute grace. Together, we talk about where we have unintentionally participated in “white feminism,” and left others behind. We debrief our mistakes, confront our own white privilege, and learn to grow from there.

Get ready to get uncomfortable with us and grow through this process.

Some Questions I Ask:

• Do you often get stuck in uncomfortable conversations where you have to debate whether or not to confront racism? (18:34)
• How would you like to have these conversations? (22:19)
• Why aren’t black people receiving proper medical care? (33:29)
• Did you face representation issues while growing up? (35:44)
• What changes do you see in beauty trends? (37:48)
• What are your goals for the future? (53:17)

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• Why America needs to enter into uncomfortable discussions around race. (7:05)
• How Joy prioritizes giving grace to others within these uncomfortable conversations. (11:33)
• How Joy determines whether or not to confront someone. (19:17)
• Why the “revved-up mentality” is dangerous to progression and health. (22:40)
• Why people distrust allies. (26:48)
• How anger shifts into depression, and how this is dismissed through stereotypes. (30:00)
• Why black people are their own advocates in healthcare. (34:04)
• How Joy began her journey in the beauty industry. (38:15)
• How impactful it is to see a situation from other points of view when it comes to race. (51:19)

Connect with Joy:

Joy’s Instagram

The Joy In Beauty Instagram

Cloutier Remix Profile

The Joy In Beauty Website

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Did you know that 80-90% of female-bodied individuals suffer from PMS?

Did you know that actually suffering from PMS isn’t how life needs to be for those who experience periods?

This episode of And Yet Podcast is about empowering women and female-bodied people to use their menstrual cycle as an asset rather than a hindrance on their quality of life. Lara Briden is here to share some of her wisdom and experience with helping her patients progress from accepting period discomfort as a normal life experience to helping them mostly—if not completely—eradicate all PMS symptoms.

Lara Briden is a naturopathic doctor with over 20 years of experience. Her mission is to have easy, symptomless periods, and join the worldwide period revolution. Her book Period Repair Manual outlines practical solutions to improving PMS and all unpleasant symptoms related to the menstrual cycle.

Right now, conventional medicine tends to brush off many period problems, telling patients that it’s “normal.” Lara Briden, however, says menstrual health is not separate from the rest of your health, even if conventional medicine treats it that way. Instead, it’s more like a monthly report card that will determine if you are eating a nutritional diet or have any underlying health issues.

Learn how you can take back control over your period on this episode of the And Yet Podcast.

Some Questions I Ask:

• How did you become involved in the area of menstrual and hormonal health? (4:00)
• What do you mean when you say that menstrual health is an indicator of overall health? (5:41)
• What can our periods tell us? (6:36)
• What PMS symptoms are normal and considered healthy? (16:05)
• What PMS symptoms should raise a red flag? (25:04)
• What is the problem in misdiagnosing something like PCOS? (27:52)
• How should we be talking to medical professionals about our experiences? (38:38)
• How can we learn to use our cycle to our advantage? (44:20)

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• How menstrual health indicates overall health and what our periods are telling us. (5:51)
• What is and is not a period. (10:39)
• The various PMS symptoms that are normal and why they are experienced. (16:13)
• Vitamins and supplements that help rid you of your PMS symptoms (27:06)
• What PCOS is and its effects. (29:15)
• Useful scripts and suggestions to help with having tough conversations with doctors about pain and other symptoms. (38:44)
• Tips on using your cycle to make time for self-care. (44:31)

Connect with Lara Briden:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Additional Resources:

Period Repair Manual by Lara Briden

“3 Signs Your Period is Not Really a Period” by Lara Briden

“Histamine Intolerance and a Brand-New Way of Treating PMS or PMDD” by Lara Briden

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.