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An open letter to patients



What I want for all patients.

I want you to get better, I think we can all agree on that. However I also want you to feel heard, never dismissed, really listened to & looked after. I know going to a health practitioner can be a big deal. There is a vulnerability, whether you’re in physical pain or beaten down by not knowing why you’re not pregnant yet. It is a practitioners responsibility to treat that with the care & respect it deserves. Please don’t underestimate this (in my opinion) right. 


Patients are placing their health, which is a pretty big part of their lives, in our hands. I take this seriously. This is probably why I get more invested than most. I know what it’s like to be on the other side, desperate for someone to just help me figure out what was going on in my body. For me It was a really long road & while it was years ago I can still tell you the names of the ones that did everything to work out what was going on. I can’t remember the others. 


I’ve had patients come in & tell me they’ve been told that “no, that medication couldn’t possibly be the cause of the neuropathy in your feet.” But their gut tells them it is, & my experience tells me it is (plus it’s actually a side effect listed on the information sheet!) And low & behold we get them off the medication (along with acupuncture) & the neuropathy drastically reduces (80% gone).


I’ve had patients beside themselves after being told their AMH (“egg reserve”) is one & they’re probably going to have to do IVF. They’ve fallen pregnant naturally. 


Yet still, patients are told their iron levels are fine when their ferritin (iron reserves) is 17 & the reference range is 30 -200! I want you to be at 100, how is 17 ok!! And how are you meant to know that’s not right. It’s their job to look after you. You trust that what they say is right!


This for me as a practitioner is one of the things I struggle with the most & part of what motivates me to spread awareness. I want you to know what your health options are & I want you to be able to advocate for yourself. This is one of the things I aim to do for my patients outside of actually treating them with acupuncture & herbs. 


I want you to get the best care you can. I want you to ask “why is my blood pressure so high?” So that maybe we can work on the cause instead of you being given a medication to bandaid the problem, which might cause its own problems (like neuropathy!). 


Anyway that’s all I have to say, as one of my patients likes to say, thanks for listening to my Ted talk. 

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