Reply to Sister and her constant health “issues”

Forum Index » Family Relationships

Reply to "Sister and her constant health “issues”"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am 44 and she’s is 30. I love my sister, shes extremely intelligent, funny and generous. However, she can also be her manipulative. I think I am frustrated because it has been over a year since she went to the ER and I felt she was finally at a better place with all this medical drama. I do recognize that if she ends up having spinal surgery this is very serious. I am worried about her. This is going to sound terrible, but I feel like this is one those situations where she went from specialist to specialist until someone agreed something was wrong with her. We all have minor medical issues that if we had dozens of scans, and test run, they would find something too.

-OP[/quote]

Hi OP, I am sorry that your sister has been suffering. It sounds like she may have a legitimate diagnosis to explain her symptoms. However, 
as a medical professional, I can confirm: if you look hard enough, you WILL find something. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for patients with undiagnosable and/or functional disorders to undergo unnecessary interventions for incidental findings which are discovered during exhaustive workups. Seeing many different doctors, or doctor shopping, increases the likelihood of this. Most surgeons are judicious, but when you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail. These patients are suffering greatly, but the etiology of their suffering is often psychological. This doesn't make their suffering any less real or important, but it should change the approach to management.

I cannot say which category your sister belongs to, but I know as a professional and family member, providing constant attention and support can take a toll. Regardless of whether her illness is mainly physical or psychological, managing a chronic illness of any nature can take a psychological toll. Counseling, or medications, can similarly help both a functional fibromyalgia patient or a cancer patient cope with their physical and psychological distress. One can suggest therapy without implying "it's all in your head". Perhaps you could warmly encourage her to seek out therapeutic support to help her cope with her diagnosis (syrinx, chronic pain/headache/neuropathy, or otherwise).

FWIW, the sickest patients are often the most graceful. The worried well, on the other hand...[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics