Our bodies are falling through the cracks in the medical system

06 Feb Our bodies are falling through the cracks in the medical system

We don’t want to go to health therapists and coaches. Why would we want to pay from our own pocket to risk trial and error of finding the right person or therapy that could help us? I began seeking more from my health and healthcare over 25 years ago, but not because I wanted to, it was because I felt lost, alone and fed up of the never ending cycle of feeling temporarily ok just to fall into poor health again and again. The medical system was doing what they could regarding time and finance limitations and a system that is constructed for acute illness, not chronic.

The disappointments

Twenty five years later and although some health concerns continue (genetic disease and post organ transplantation) as well as meeting new things like the intersection between chronic illness, perimenopause and ageing, I feel much more able and empowered in my health and wellness, and not from my doctors. And as much as I need the medical system and it keeps me alive, for which I am extremely grateful, I am still repeatedly disappointed by it. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels like this, so why?…

I guess I am speaking to all of you that don’t feel energised, or have aches and pains, digestive issues, chronic medical trauma, or any symptoms that on their own don’t point to a medical diagnosis or solution, but are still impacting your quality of life. We not only want solutions, but understanding and explanations – “why do I feel like this?” “why is this symptom manifesting?”

From silencing to listening

When I talk to my Lung Transplant Team they offer no explanation or solution for migraines or fatigue; when I spoke to my gynaecologist he didn’t explain perimenopause, he called it “unexplained 40+ year old bleeding” (?!); when I ask my endocrinologist how I can reduce my cholesterol and blood pressure, she offers me no explanation of why these things are happening, just pills with no lifestyle questions or changes. I understand that some people don’t want to make lifestyle changes, let’s be honest, none of us do, but hopefully there comes a time (normally when we are desperate enough) when we have to face our reality – there aren’t any true quick fixes …..and actually  by showing up for ourselves we improve our relationship with our body, mind and health, by meeting it as opposed to “silencing it”.

My story is maybe different to yours, but maybe you have at some time felt the same. Frustrated and hopeless.

Dealing with the whole, not parts

We need people that are able and willing to devote time, support and holistic understanding to our body and mind. More and more medical and anecdotal research is showing the undeniable connection between our systems, and yet medicine is still separated into body parts. Who of you has just wished that your doctors would get together in a room and understand the whole picture? We are complex beings that have needs that are not being met by our current medical system. That is why we need extra health practitioners, who have different knowledge and more time to dedicate to each individual, although at personal cost to the seeker of better wellness.

Not replacing, filling the gaps

As a person with chronic illness I know first hand how daunting it can feel to trust a therapist or coach to assist you to where you want to get health wise, and yet when we dare to step a little into the unknown (with a qualified and experienced practitioner) we can find ourselves met with the care we have longed for, the guidance and support that can help us flourish, and if the therapist is really good, they will empower us to find our own answers, help us create space for choices to arise, rebuilding trust in our body and mind.

This isn’t about replacing medical care, it’s about filling the gaps that medical care doesn’t and cannot fill. I could take pills for a migraine that only help sometimes, or I could also look at why I am getting migraines and how to meet my body’s alarm signal that is the migraine; I may live with some health concerns, but how do I nurture my body to access it’s natural potential? Or how do I reduce the overwhelm of showing up in this life with challenges?

Body intelligence is not just a fancy theory

One of the things I have learnt from forty plus years of chronic illness and working with hundreds of people is that the bodymind is an extremely intelligent galaxy of systems and when we step into listening and meeting it where it is, we invite a new space of health co-creation where we live in relationship with our inner and outer worlds tapping into a little more potential and greater aliveness. Oftentimes in practice, this starts with finding more little moments of okayness and gently moving towards grey skies clearing to see the sun again.