What is advocacy? Helping yourself and others continued. The lesson I learned here is to have an open dialogue with your doctors and if you are not satisfied with the answers to your questions, express this concern, and your desire to get better and have a better quality of life. If the answers are not there, seek other help. In my case, after I alerted my doctor of the diagnosis and where it had been made, I was told bluntly that if I wanted my medical care to come from the chiropractic college, I should see another GP. I took that advice. So, a new journey begins that will take me to the depths of despair for help, to the gentle caring helping hands of care givers who shared with me the responsibility to improve my health and to offer guidance when needed. I now have the proper diagnosis, a new family doctor and have been referred to a rheumatologist, who now can offer a treatment strategy. The prescribed treatment at that time were NSAID’s, non steroid anti-inflammatory medications and there were a few available, with a variety of dosages available depending on the extent of the condition. I am now in my early twenties, I am in university in Montreal and taking regular dosage of antiinflammatory medications, and when I am back in Toronto, I regularly visit my rheumatologist. Feeling pretty good on most days, a normal life resumes with the odd inflammatory flare up and some resulting pain and discomfort. Not perfect, but livable. There are recurring advocacy themes that are also present at this time - family support and encouragement, seeking and taking advantage of the best technology/treatment available at any given time, maintaining a good relationship with your doctors by seeing them regularly and following the prescribed treatment. This is where I begin realizing that advocating for yourself also means taking responsibility for your health and making regular visits to your doctor so that they know how you are doing. Several years later, I am now in my late twenties and on most days, there is discomfort, but somewhat manageable. But I recall a moment when I am out playing golf with some friends, I had to leave the course due to severe pain. There is no relief over the next few days and so I visit my family doctor to explain this and to say that it is becoming more and more difficult to live a normal life, be it full time work, or even just a restful sleep. He decides to refer me to the Canadian Arthritis Society, who provide instructional classes on my type of arthritis, and provide me with support for my condition. There are moments in your life that years later, you recognize were life changing, but at the time you do not understand their significance. This was one of those moments.
Marc Lasorsa, resides in Markham Ontario, and is originally from Montreal Quebec
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