#medicaltrauma — Public Fediverse posts

I’m Better. I’m Not Okay Yet.

https://perfectlyimperfectlife.blog/2026/10/04/im-better-im-not-okay-yet/

#medicaltrauma #mutualaidrequest #childrenofgaza #poverty #gaza #palestine #press

Little Naeem Ahel turned up last night with another skin infection. Neveen says the sores are spreading by the hour. The free clinic referred him to a dermatologist. He'll need a consultation fee, treatment, and testing. Yet another medical worry and expense to add to the current pile. Rent of $200 is due in 5 days. Please help in any way you can, by sharing this post or sending a gift.

https://chuffed.org/project/129696-help-mother-nevin-care-for-her-four-children-and-husband-with-cancer-in-gaza

Orthopedic Surgeon Describes Trauma of Gaza Conflict

📰 Original title: Mark Perlmutter

🤖 IA: It's not clickbait ✅
👥 Users: It's not clickbait ✅

View full AI summary https://en.killbait.com/orthopedic-surgeon-describes-trauma-of-gaza-conflict.html?utm_source=mastodon_social&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=killbait.mastodon_social

#conflict #orthopedicsurgeon #gazaconflict #medicaltrauma

Grief Has Many Faces: Finding Beauty, Healing, and Community Through Loss

Grief. Most people hear that word and immediately think of death. While death is certainly one of the most profound losses we can experience, grief is so much bigger than that. Grief lives in the spaces between what was and what will never be again. It arrives when a relationship ends, when a friendship fades, when we move away from a place that once felt like home, or when life unfolds differently than we imagined it would. It shows up in the transition into motherhood or fatherhood, in the journey from being single to becoming part of a couple, and sometimes in the painful unraveling that comes with separation or divorce. It can be found in infertility, pregnancy loss, medical trauma, the loss of a career, the loss of health, or the loss of identity. Sometimes grief is tied to dreams that never came true. Other times, it is connected to the childhood we wish we had experienced or the future we thought was waiting for us.

The truth is that grief touches every single one of us. No one makes it through this human experience without loss finding them in some way. Yet despite how universal grief is, so many of us carry it quietly. Somewhere along the way, many of us learned that grief should be hidden. We learned to be strong, to keep moving forward, to avoid burdening others with our sadness. We learned that tears should be wiped away quickly and that healing should happen behind closed doors. But grief was never meant to be carried alone. It was never meant to be hidden. It was meant to be witnessed, honoured, and held with compassion.

I know this because grief has been one of my greatest teachers.

My journey with grief began far earlier than I could have understood at the time. At just four years old, I experienced the tragic loss of my very first friend. While I was too young to fully comprehend what had happened, I now recognize that loss left an imprint on my heart that would shape much of my life’s journey. As I grew older, grief continued to weave itself through my experiences. Friends from my childhood camp community bravely fought battles with cancer, and many of them did not survive. Each loss brought its own heartbreak, yet there was very little guidance available to help me understand the emotions I was carrying. Like so many people, I learned to keep moving forward. I learned to push through. I learned to carry my grief quietly because I didn’t know there was another way.

One of the most significant losses in my life was my beloved Nonna. She was the heart of our family—a beautiful Italian woman whose love could be felt in every meal she prepared, every hug she gave, and every gathering she created around her table. She embodied warmth, generosity, resilience, and unconditional love. Watching ALS slowly change someone so vibrant was one of the most heartbreaking experiences I have ever witnessed. It taught me that grief often begins long before someone leaves this world. Sometimes grief begins the moment we realize life is changing. Sometimes grief lives in the witnessing. Sometimes grief is loving someone deeply while knowing things will never be the same again. Through her journey, I learned that grief and love often walk hand in hand.

The loss of my father was equally profound, but in a very different way. Before he passed, we walked a spiritual path together that forever changed my life. He was one of the first people who truly encouraged me to trust my intuition and embrace the spiritual gifts I had spent years questioning. He helped me understand that there is more to this life than what we can see and touch. Losing him was devastating, but it was also deeply awakening. His passing expanded my understanding of connection, Spirit, and the ways love continues beyond physical form. While I miss him every day, I also carry his wisdom with me. He remains one of my greatest teachers, and his influence continues to guide me in both my personal life and the work I am called to do.

Not all grief arrives through death. Some of my deepest grief came through the endings that don’t come with funerals. I have grieved relationships that ended, friendships that changed, versions of myself I had to leave behind, and dreams I thought would unfold differently. I have experienced moments of questioning, confusion, and heartbreak that left me wondering why certain people or experiences had entered my life only to leave. Looking back now, I understand that every ending carried a lesson, even when I couldn’t see it at the time. Yet what made many of those experiences so difficult was not just the loss itself—it was feeling like I had to navigate it alone. No one had taught me that grief can show up as anxiety, anger, numbness, exhaustion, overwhelm, or even physical symptoms. No one had explained that grief is not linear, that it doesn’t follow rules, and that healing cannot be rushed.

Over time, my own healing journey led me toward practices that transformed the way I understood grief. Through Reiki, mediumship, meditation, trance work, art, ritual, ceremony, and deep spiritual connection, I began discovering new ways to process what I was carrying. I learned that healing doesn’t always happen through words. Sometimes healing happens through energy. Sometimes it happens through creativity. Sometimes it happens through silence and stillness. Sometimes it happens through connecting with Spirit, and sometimes it happens simply by sitting with someone who truly understands. These practices became sacred companions during some of the most difficult seasons of my life. They helped me reconnect with myself when grief left me feeling lost. They helped me find meaning when everything felt uncertain. Most importantly, they reminded me that even in our deepest losses, love remains present.

As I continued healing, I realized that what I needed most throughout my own journey was not someone to fix me. It wasn’t advice or solutions. It was support. It was community. It was having a safe place where my grief could exist without judgment. It was knowing that I didn’t have to carry everything alone. That realization eventually became the foundation for the work I feel called to do today. My heart’s desire is to create spaces where people feel seen, heard, supported, and safe enough to bring the parts of themselves they have been carrying in silence.

One of the greatest gifts this path has brought into my life has been connecting with incredible souls who share a similar calling. One of those people is Courtney from The Midnight Sun. Courtney carries her own profound story of loss, resilience, healing, and transformation. Her experiences have shaped the compassionate and intuitive space-holder she is today, and I am deeply honoured to be collaborating with her. Together, we began talking about what grief support could look like if it were rooted in authenticity, compassion, spirituality, and genuine human connection. We both recognized how many people are suffering quietly and how desperately many of us long for spaces where grief can be spoken about openly.

From those conversations, The Grief Garden was born. The Grief Garden is a sacred community space for people navigating loss in all of its forms. It is a place where grief is welcomed rather than avoided. A place where people can gather, share their stories, explore healing practices, and connect with others who understand. Through guided meditation, Reiki-inspired healing, intuitive connection, creativity, reflection, ritual, and meaningful conversation, we create opportunities for grief to be witnessed, expressed, and honoured. There is no expectation to have the right words. There is no pressure to be healed. There is simply an invitation to come exactly as you are.

We are honoured to be co-facilitating our first in-person Grief Garden gathering at Reflections Books & Wellness in Burnaby on June 18th https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-grief-garden-tickets-1990825742387?aff=ebdssbdestsearch This gathering is an opportunity to come together in community and experience the power of being witnessed, supported, and held. For those who are unable to join us in person, we will also be offering bi-weekly online circles, creating an ongoing space for connection, healing, reflection, and support. Whether your grief is fresh or decades old, whether it stems from death, divorce, infertility, friendship loss, health challenges, life transitions, or dreams that never came to fruition, you are welcome here.

If there is one thing grief has taught me, it is this: we are not meant to walk through life’s hardest moments alone. Healing happens in connection. Healing happens in community. Healing happens when we feel safe enough to share our stories and discover that someone else understands. My hope is that The Grief Garden becomes a place where people remember that they are not broken, that their grief is not something to fix, and that there is no timeline they need to follow. Grief is simply love looking for somewhere to go.

If you are carrying loss of any kind, I want you to know that you are not alone. There is support available. There are people willing to walk beside you. There is space for your story, your tears, your questions, and your healing. And even after profound loss, even after heartbreak, even after life changes in ways we never expected, something beautiful can still grow.

With love,

Nancy

Rough night last night. Got obcessed with my breathing and hyperventilated. PTSD from my month in the hospital trying not to die before my open heart surgery. Took me most of the night to figure out my problem wasn't not enough O2, but too much O2. No stars. Do not recommend.

#mentalhealth #ptsd #hyperventilation #medicaltrauma #insomnia

How MAHA Fucked Up My Surgery
by Matthew Cortland
at the excellent
Shouldn't Need to Be a Lawyer
(well worth the free subscription!)

#MedicalTrauma
#Maha
#CapitalismKills

https://www.patreon.com/posts/how-maha-fucked-156109934

Let the record show:

I made the dr appt
I remembered the dr appt
I went to the dr appt
I scheduled the follow-up

I was v scared but also brave

Go me 🎖️🎉

#medicaltrauma #traumahealing #trauma #traumarecovery #mentalhealth #doctor

Most disabled and chronically ill people have had at least one bad experience in a healthcare setting.

Those of us who rely on the system to survive have likely had many bad experiences.

When we share these stories with others, we’re invariably told to ‘just’ lodge a complaint.

Non disabled people don’t understand the spoons required to go through the formal complaint process, nor do they grasp the risk of retaliation.

If you’re labeled ‘difficult’ or ‘non compliant’, your healthcare will suffer.

My latest looks at the problems with the complaint process, reasons we may not file a complaint as well as ways we can help support people who’ve experienced trauma in a healthcare setting.

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/why-dont-you-just-lodge-a-complaint

#disability #ableism #discrimination #eugenics #longcovid #chronicillness #MedicalTrauma #ptsd

I recently had a physician try to ‘not all doctors!’ me in response to a post I made about masking in healthcare.

They informed me that disabled people NEED doctors to fight fascism, combat vaccine misinformation and provide healthcare, so it’s wrong to call them out or ‘attack’ them.

First things first, I don’t attack doctors. I call out systemic issues within the healthcare system.

It took me years to be brave enough to speak out about my medical trauma. I was scared of retaliation.

The main reason I began speaking out? I recognize that I have significant privilege that isn’t afforded to everyone. By virtue of being cishet and white in a country with Universal healthcare, I have less difficulties engaging with the medical system compared to others.

Yet I’ve still suffered horrendous abuse. Preventable infections. Gaslighting. Delays in diagnosis. Misdiagnosis. Trauma.

The culture doesn’t change because we are bullied into silence. We are trained to take whatever we can get with a smile, and shut up about the rest.

I’m not being silent anymore.

I find a doctor demanding my silence in exchange for help fighting fascism or providing healthcare to be morally repugnant.

You can’t ‘not all doctors’ an issue like this. Patients are being harmed. They’re being disabled. Many have been killed.

We shouldn’t be coerced into silence just because we NEED medical care. That’s simply compounding the trauma.

I will keep speaking out. For those who can’t, for those who are no longer with us, for whose who come after me.

#disability #ableism #eugenics #keepmasksinhealthcare #medicaltrauma #healthcare #chronicillness #covidisairborne

Auslachen, Anbrüllen, Beschimpfen, #MedicalGaslighting!

In dieser Reihenfolge die häufigsten Reaktionen von Medizinern, die ich erlebt habe!

#MedicalTrauma

#IatrogeneKPTBS

#MEcfs

via @ennopark

https://mastodon.social/@ennopark/114416765976146039

Could ER staff please stop asking patients “what do you want us to do?”

There’s no way to answer this question honestly

If a disabled person is in your ER - I promise you they agonized over whether to come in. They’re afraid you will mistreat them. They want you to do your job.

In fact, many of us have suffered from so much medical trauma that we won’t go to the ER unless literally dying:

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/i-wont-go-to-the-er-unless-im-literally

#disability #chronicillness #spoonie #medicaltrauma #ableism #discrimination #longcovid #mecfs

A doctor posted earlier that she saved a life because she believed her patient.

She described him as “strong”, a father, a firefighter. Someone who “wouldn’t complain for no reason.”

How can HCWs not realize this bias insinuates others DO complain for no reason?

I’m glad the man got the care he needed - as he had a life threatening issue that could have easily been blown off.

But what if it had been someone else? A disabled or marginalized women? Someone who’s homeless, has multiple complex illnesses or dealing with drug addiction?

Bias and misogyny are huge problems in medicine.

By this doctors own admission, they believed it to be serious because the patient was “not the type” to complain for nothing.

How can they not realize they’re insinuating there IS a type that complain for nothing?

The majority of people won’t go to the ER for funsies. They’re not complaining for attention - they’re suffering.

If they’re disabled? Odds are good they’ve been suffering for days trying like hell to avoid going to the ER.

But we don’t take them seriously. Why? Bias.

The tendency to dismiss, gaslight, downplay and ignore is always there.

The number of times I’ve gone to the ER and watched a male patient receive vastly quicker & more efficient care makes me physically ill.

It happens ALL the time.

The result? Patients like me don’t go to the hospital. We suffer in silence. We roll the dice with our health rather than be subjected to gaslighting and trauma.

It needs to stop because it costs lives - they’re just not talked about.

When someone with a complex chronic illness dies at home it’s unlikely anyone knows that they were debating medical care. That they would have gone in if not for the myriad of times they were ignored or abused.

Those stories never get told.

I have my own such story from when I had a hysterectomy at 24

I was discharged from hospital despite feeling “off”. I decompensated at home.

I went to the ER for help and was told I was “fine”. Asked “what do you want us to do?”

Told I was “overreacting”

Two weeks passed as I got sicker and sicker. Increasing pain, swelling and fatigue.

I couldn’t eat, walk or function. I was pale and listless and had stopped checking phone or email. I was not “fine”

Yet it took 4 trips and a man coming with me to be taken seriously

I had been bleeding into my abdomen & a large life threatening infection had developed.

Yet I wasn’t believed. I wasn’t listened to.

After 3rd ER trip yielded no results I was adamant I wasn’t going back. I wanted to die in my own bed

The man who took me in saved my life

I could have become a statistic. Bled to death at home because ER told me repeatedly that I was “fine”

They told me this without running single test. They wrote me off the moment I walked in

We must change the culture. Listen to patients. Treat them equally. Lives depend on it
Patients with life threatening medical emergencies should not have to be “strong & tough” young men to be taken seriously

I shouldn’t have needed to bring a man to the ER for them to finally run tests. Patients deserve to be listened to… ALL patients:

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/my-most-dangerous-er-experience-and

#chronicillness #disability #spoonie #ableism #bias #misogyny #discrimination
#medicaltrauma

I was uncomfortable in my own body. I had been resisting the surgical route due to the #MedicalTrauma and #PTSD from my #BladderCancer experience, but I knew that without intervention, it would not have mattered if I beat cancer or not.

I waved the proverbial white flag, got referred to a local bariatric team and started the long process.

It has now been 2 years since I had #GastricSleeve surgery.

I'm just back at home from going to my new GP for the first time, and I don't even feel like I have to recover for half a day! They’re absolutely amazing. The main doc is nice and not patronising. The assistant doc is lovely and super on it. Like, the doc said "right, we'll have to do that" and she'd already done in on the side. 😄

They’re willing to look stuff up. Took my transness in stride. Even offered to do my Nebido shots so I don't have to go to Hamburg every three months and they have experience with similar oily IM shots, so I trust them not to make it painful. They also asked me if I could get my endo to send them their information! They'll also look into getting me a shingles vaccination but I'll likely have to pay for it myself because insurance doesn't cover it for under-50s, not even when there’s a good reason.

I also like that they offer a lot online. They have a patient portal for reordering your meds and sending them messages, and they do video appointments too. Best of all, they have a practice dog called Diego, a 1 year old blue Frenchie who immediately put my nervous self at ease. 😊 Oh and you can just park in front of the building, which is grand too.

I am just so relieved that I now don’t have to dread (and even avoid) going to the GP anymore! Maybe once shingles vaccine is sorted I'll bring up the random muscle issues I suspect are related to my ADHD. I mean they googled things right in front of me, so surely they can't have issues with me doing my own research too?

#MedicalTrauma #Anxiety #ADHD #AuDHD #Doctors

I’ve been feeling a lot of grief this weekend after reading about Professor Amit Patel - a nationally recognized doctor & expert in the rare disease HLH - who died in hospital when medical staff refused to acknowledge his expertise in his own condition.

Many disabled and chronically ill individuals know how dangerous hospitals can be - but reading about a doctor (who had a spouse who was also a physician advocating for him) being unable to get the care he needed to stay alive? It’s terrifying.

I wrote about his death, my own experiences with medical trauma and the need for a safer system for all.

https://open.substack.com/pub/disabledginger/p/prof-amit-patel-death?r=19dk2e&utm_medium=ios

#Disability #ChronicIllness #RareDisease #Spoonies #Ableism #gaslighting #HLH #MedicalTrauma #MedicalGaslighting #Discrimination #DisabilityRights #CovidIsNotOver #CovidCaution

2023 was a lot

Looking back at a... ✨ challenging✨ year

(Content warnings at the start and in the youtube description)

https://youtu.be/_78N5kPvTao?si=_YweS2Dt6--X2XDG

#youtube #freelance #comiccreator #comicartist #mentalhealth #adhd #medicaltrauma

Rant:

My long term disability rep contacts me every 3 weeks. It’s been 3.5 years, bud, I’m *still* not magically cured. Back off. Let me breathe.

It’s so annoying, and frankly distressing, how disabled people are given payments to live on (well below the poverty line) and then followed like a hawk. Imho, it’s unethical. If the federal government has deemed me fully disabled - pay me and leave me the heck alone.

These people cause me immense stress.

/rant
#Disability #Disabled #MedicalTrauma

It would help if loved ones would focus on what really matters instead of being angry about things that aren't important in the long run. #MedicalTrauma

I'm eating dinner around 5:30 so I can walk more. I'm trying to keep my mind busy so my PTS doesn't overwhelm me. #MedicalTrauma #MedicalPTSD

I fired my doctor today.
#MentalHealth
#MedicalTrauma

I can't breathe too deep yet, it hurts too much. Honestly, today has been the most embarrassing day in my life in quite some time. The Kafkaesque demands of his office is just too extreme.

I have been experiencing chronic pain since December of last year, and I am finally seeing a specialist on Monday.

Ok so I’m completely in awe of how good healthcare is here compared to Island Health.

I need some medical imaging… got a requisition this morning.

In BC: I’d wait 6-9 months in silence for them to book an appointment for me on some random day in the future.

Here? I can call booking myself, pick the location, day and time… and they had availability TODAY.

I’m floored. People need to know how bad Island Health is in BC.

#Heath #CanPoli #Healthcare #Medical #MedicalTrauma

I made a doctor appointment and got an extension on my disability review. Clap for me!?

#disability #hardthings #medicaltrauma

#Studie #Trauma #HilfeAlsTrauma
#MedicalTrauma

Clinician-associated traumatization from difficult medical encounters: Results from a qualitative interview study on the Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes

"Ultimately, our interviewees described the result of this traumatization as worse – but preventable – health outcomes."

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667321523000215?via%3Dihub

Lesen, verbreiten, den Begriff etablieren!
Denn:

When I first started studying #medicalPTSD in ~2018 inflammatory bowel disease (#IBD #CrohnsDisease #UlcerativeColitis) I was shocked more hadn't been done. PTSD from medical experiences is a critical aspect of patient care.

So what did we find?

~25% of pts w IBD report medical PTSD from illness/treatment

Hospitalizations are a big source of #IBDPTSD

Logically IBDPTSD is associated w poorer outcomes

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8344426/

If you do similar #MedicalTrauma work would love to connect!

Nice to see the #psychology #mentalheath growing on 🐘 Looking to connect with #healthpsychologiy folks specifically if you’re here 👋

My specialty is a new-ish field called paychogastroenterology or #gastropsych on the bird app. We focus on the intersection of mental health and digestive illness like #IBD #IBS #GERD #gastroparesis #achalasia #EoE

I research #medicaltrauma #PTSD and also the role of #HRV and hypervigilance in diseases affecting the esophagus. If you’re out there say hi 😊