vaspider:
roguetelepaths:
uncanny-tranny:
Not to sound like a person who actually cares about children, but it’s so alarming that there’s this tendency and trend of not telling kids about their medical conditions that are in their charts.
I’m finding out as an adult that they (though it’s not documented who) diagnosed me with a life-long, chronic condition without telling me when I was a teenager. I found out recently when I got curious about my medical charts, and otherwise, I would not have known what’s wrong with me. I’ve been left with more questions than answers, and I feel like a private investigator investigating my own damn health and life.
Is this medical malpractice? Yes. However, I think it also speaks to a broader point of how children are seen to not be entitled to their own lives in any capacity, to the point where they are (intentionally or not) made ignorant about things that are or will affect them.
No one ever told me about the medical complications of my intersex variant (nCAH) despite me having had it on my chart since I was a teenager. In addition, no one ever tried to address those medical complications, instead deciding to put me on feminizing HRT to correct the fact that I?? had hairy legs?? Because THAT’S more important than the fact that my body can’t retain salt and my stress tolerance is even more shit than that of the average person with my specific set of brainweasels.
About a year ago, I was talking to my mom and mentioned offhand that “we didn’t know I had EDS until I was like 36” and my mom interrupted me and said, “No, I knew before you were two!”
The stunned silence that followed was pretty fucking epic.
Just. Sorry. You… knew? And you didn’t tell me when I could have had my ankles rebuilt in my early 20s and not be debating whether the risk is worth it when I’m nearly 50?
There’s a reason I’ve made sure my kid knows everything she can about the family medical history she’s inherited, and it’s the same reason my doctor groans every time I say, “So… I was talking to my mom… ”
(via dianapocalypse)
