So, I have been a patient advocate for years. Some things I believe as a physician and as a human: 1. People are inherently worthy, 2. We need to stop blaming people for their disease (far too often still occurs with obesity and T2D) 3. Medicine does not have all the answers
4. Science ROCKS, but too often is manipulated to support individual bias and $$ 5. We have almost unreal inequity in healthcare 6. Dogma can be deadly. Three years ago I had to transfer those beliefs not just to support my patients, but to support myself as well
when I was diagnosed with advanced cancer. I have a gene mutation that is similar to having a BRCA gene, but this one put me at risk for many cancers. I have not spoken publicly about this until now for fear of being attacked which really means I really understand my patients
now in ways I could never have imagined. COVID-19 has been difficult for all my high risk patients who suffer from T2D, and it has been rough for cancer patients all around the world. We need to do better to protect all of us. We also need to work really hard to imagine
walking in the shoes of someone with chronic disease when it comes to COVID or, well, anything. No one makes a choice to live with a chronic disease. @TB_Times bit.ly/38Bbe6S
