Today's Women of Age

I have great admiration and respect for medical professionals and for most of my life I have followed doctors’ orders to the letter. But as I’ve gotten older I’ve realized doctors are human. Some may medically gaslight us. Others may misdiagnose us or suggest treatments that aren’t right. It happens. And I know I need to take a more proactive role in my health and healthcare.

Case in Point

I’ve had high blood pressure for at least 8 years and despite being on a blood pressure medication my BP numbers have continued to fluctuate, sometimes quite wildly, throughout the day. Finally my doc suggested I undergo a 24-hour BP test. I dragged my heels for months, but finally did it several weeks ago. After not hearing back from my doctor I finally checked my online health portal and found the results of my test posted. Turns out I am “borderline hypertensive, labile.”

So of course I did what all of us do in that situation and googled the heck out of that discovering that lifestyle changes are the prescription for labile hypertension, not BP medications. And when medication is prescribed it’s an anti-anxiety or stress med! So all these years I’ve been taking a medication that I didn’t need and wasn’t helping.

My next step was to send a message to my GP and get her feedback on the situation and I’m now waiting for her reply and recommendations. But honestly I’ve already stopped taking the medicine because it’s not the right treatment. I’ve made that decision.

And this little health issue reminded me that I can no longer be lackadaisical about my health nor can I just leave it in the hands of busy doctors. This is not to besmirch my GP (who I adore), but she did know years before this test that my BP numbers have been erratic. It just seems like this should have been figured out sooner and for my part I should have pressed her long ago. And I realized too if I hadn’t checked my health portal I might not have known the test results and implications for some time.

Serious Case in Point

This is the hardest story to share because it doesn’t have a happy ending. Here’s the short version. One of my brothers (at age 61) started having a minor health issue and for nine months he ignored it because he didn’t have health insurance (though he could afford to go to a doctor). He started a new job and by then the issue was more serious. But now he had insurance so he headed to a doctor. Over the course of four months the doctor (and other specialists) tried different treatments but he didn’t improve. By the time they figured out what my brother actually had (a treatable and curable type of anemia) his body could no longer cope and he died.

Not only did my brother not take charge of his health, he ignored it. And sadly in the beginning his new GP didn’t take his problem seriously. My brother’s death shouldn’t have happened, at least not at 62 from anemia.

Moving Forward

As we age and more health problems loom on the horizon, it behooves us take them seriously, to advocate for ourselves pushing our doctors for more information, to do our own research and to get second opinions when necessary. Now is not the time to be reticent or take our health for granted.

Now is also the time to use our human agency to accept or reject a doctor’s recommendation. We have that power.

I’ll close with this story of human agency. Decades ago a co-worker discovered that her breast cancer had returned, for the third time. She was in her late 50s/early 60s and decided she couldn’t go through the chemo and radiation yet again for a mere whisper of a hope that she would live a few months longer. She wanted her last days to be full with family and friends, not spent in a hospital dealing with toxic treatments. Her oncology doc was naturally aghast at her decision and pressured her to reconsider. She didn’t and spent her remaining months as she wanted. I respected her decision and fortitude to live and die on her own terms.