Lisa Doggett

"You have MS."

What?!? That can't be right…seriously?… NO! I'm fine. You're mixing me up with someone else… At least it's not a brain tumor… but what the hell?..  that just can't be right…

That mishmash of thoughts at the time of an MS diagnosis, as with many other serious or chronic diseases, can be so loud and alarming that everything else is shut out. The analogies are endless – you're being sucked into a tornado, sinking to the bottom of the ocean, suffocated under an avalanche. I remember feeling numb, dizzy, confused, and horrified all at once...

(To continue reading, see the article as published by New York Weekly.)

The young man was in his mid-20s when he came to see me for severe abdominal pain at my small community clinic. The pain, worse than any he'd ever experienced, had persisted for weeks and was getting worse. He cried out when I examined him.

I didn't know the cause of his pain, but I could think of possibilities, including a ruptured appendix, a perforated ulcer or pancreatitis. He needed an urgent CT scan and a surgical consult. The fastest way to get both was to send him to the emergency room.

But the man said he couldn't go. He was uninsured...

(To continue reading, see the article as published by NPR news and Public Health Watch.)