Someone asked if I was embarrassed to be the only person in the room who was wearing a mask. Embarrassed for me? No. But for the rest of y'all? Yep I'm definitely muting this (if muting a thread is still something that you can do on here.) For the record though

I'm still masking because there are elderly and high risk people in my family and I don't want to get them sick.

cw: racist/ableist language

What I said (tldr version:) the south is incredibly diverse & a lot of us here can't / won't leave because this is our home & we deserve better than what we get so maybe think about that before you throw the baby out with the bathwater.

The response: This actually speaks to something else that people seem to forget with their reductive views of the south. Racism? Isn't just a regional problem. And anti-Blackness is worldwide.

Black people live in red states. Brown people live in red states. Queer people live in red states. Writing off the South means writing off some of the most diverse communities & fierce advocates in the nation & leaving those who will be most harmed these policies behind. "Why don't you just leave?" Because some of us can't because of poverty, because our families are here, because this is our home and we shouldn't have to. Some of us won't because we believe that we deserve better than this and we're ready to fight for it.

Going to medical school as a low income student meant taking on nearly $300K in educational debt. That's grown to over $400K thanks to interest. Want more doctors who come from disadvantaged backgrounds? Make higher education more accessible & #CancelStudentDebt And cancel medical debt while you're at it!

I worry that my doctors won't believe me.

Every time. Every appointment. Every doctor. Even the ones with whom I have a good relationship.

Why? Because once, when I was sick and needed them the most, my doctors did not believe me. I dress nicely when I go to doctor's appointments.

I am as polite and respectable as I can be.

I use correct terminology.

I am thorough when I report my history.

Why? Because once, when I was sick and needed them the most, my doctors did not believe me.

parent: I think she fakes it to get days off

me, pediatric neurologist & migraineur extraordinaire: what does she do when she gets a headache?

p: lays down in a dark, quiet room

me: &

p: throws up

me: &

p: cries herself to sleep

me:

p:

me:

p: she gets a whole day off Yes, children can get migraines. Yes, they really can be that bad. No, they aren't faking it. No, a migraine day does not count as a day off.

xoxo,

that brain doctor who's had migraine with aura since she was 11