Recently, I addressed a group of health care professionals, mostly students, and it struck me to remind them of something so basic that we often miss it. The people who seek health care become patients as soon as they are in our care. However, they do not stop being persons. It is so common to refer to various individuals as the cancer patient, the cardiac patient or the Parkinson’s patient. Often the diagnosis becomes the defining adjective for the person and sometimes we forget that the disease is just a part of who they really are. The woman who has ovarian cancer may be the household’s breadwinner, single parent, caregiving daughter, corporate executive and much more. The cancer disease will impact each aspect of her life, but it does not solely define her. A major role for the health care provider is to remember this. Appointments, treatments and even side effects of these treatments influence her ability to just carry on with her life’s routine. She is not only a patient with cancer.
As a person with a long term degenerative disease, Parkinson’s, I have had to fight for maintaining my “self” and not let my condition define my personhood. When my tremors were very pronounced and obvious, it was tough to ignore the major impact the disease had on my very being. Some days I chose to stay away from social events just to avoid discussing it. This was not good for my mental or physical well being. After the deep brain stimulation (3 years ago), I had a significant decrease in my visual awkward movements and thus, did not wear my Parkinson’s on my sleeves, literally and figuratively. It made a significant difference in many ways.
If you are afflicted with a specific condition, try to find ways to be yourself rather than letting the illness define you. I know this is much easier said than done, but it will make a large change in the overall quality of your life. If your mobility is impaired, but you can still get around with a cane or walker-do so. Yes it is frightening at first, but be determined and go for it. Allow your anxiety to be part of the process for trying something out of your comfort zone. Remember you are not just the disease-specific patient, you are the same individual who you were prior to your illness. And as health professionals, let’s try to keep the person in the patient.
