Susan2 provides advice about the connection between education, being persistent, and empowerment.

Transcript

You have to fight. You have to fight to be heard. There’s been a few times I’ve gone up and I’ve said to my doctors, I have this and this and this as symptoms of a medication, a side effect whatever. And sometimes, you know, it’s like you get brushed off. They do it. You come home and you go, “He didn’t really listen to that.” But then I think okay, next time I go, I’m going to bring it up again and we’re going to talk about it. And you know, you get firm. You need to learn and educate yourself about all those things so that you can talk about it. Other than that, you might get talked over. You might get swept under the mat.  

I think it’s important to educate yourself about all of those things. As a woman, that you can be vocal about it. Don’t go it alone. Get some people to be on your team because that just gives you more power when others are with you and helps you. it empowers you then to say, “I’m important.” Stand up. I’m a woman but you know what, I need help. And I think in society nowadays, I don’t think it’s as true anymore. It certainly was years ago. But I kind of think that that issue might for some people, maybe some other diseases, I don’t know, but maybe that’s kind of starting to fade out – that we’re all treated the same in the system, I hope. I don’t know what the studies say about that. But it’s okay to share. Build a team, be heard and go to all your visits. Make sure you’re visible, you’re not skipping things and whatever. Be visible, kind of ‘in their face’ in a sense. Just continue to push for yourself always.

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