Kathryn's Pages

As some of you may know, my mom and I are preparing for a trip to Florida to see Dr. Gordon Crozier at his practice Excellent Living in just one month. As a part of his diagnostic procedure, he orders an incredibly extensive amount of pre-visit lab work.

This afternoon, I went to my local facility and handed the lab technician the order. When the technician saw the 36 tests that had been ordered, she was visibly flustered and aggravated. Without realizing it, she made me feel as if I was a burden to her and the entire lab.

This is a problem for someone with chronic illness. Although I am blessed with a positive attitude, there are times that I feel my poor health is a burden on my family, my friends, and even my community. Needless to say, this is exactly the feeling I relived when dealing with this lab clinician.

Every fiber of my being wanted to snatch the piece of paper from her hand and walk out of that building, but something stopped me. A smile stayed plastered on my face and I sat down to wait while the tests were prepared. While I waited, curiosity struck the technician and she began to ask me about my illness, my treatments, and about my experiences as a person with chronic illness. I was blessed with the opportunity to share, to educate, and, hopefully, to inspire. As I progressed through my story, I watched her face soften, her voice became muffled; simply, I saw her realize. I saw her reexamine the way she had talked to me, the patients she dealt with before me, and the patients she’s yet to see. After losing quite a few vials of blood, I left a completely different clinician behind.

It wasn’t until later that I realized the Holy Spirit had urged me to stay there because the hurt that I was feeling was temporary and irrational (because my poor health was NOT a burden to this worker or the testing facility), whereas the ignorance and lousy bed side manner of this clinician could affect other patients, her family, and even herself directly.

My message today isn’t to shame clinicians with attitude or ignorance. Today, my message is to those of you who know my story, have a similar story, or know someone with chronic illness. We cannot control the world around us; the ignorance, the apathy, the hatred. We CAN control the impression we leave behind, we CAN choose to take advantage of the opportunities God sets before us to educate, share, and inspire. We CAN choose to look these obstacles in the eyes with love and grace, and maybe change the way others see chronic illness.

Love to you all, updates to come!
Kathryn

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

“So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.