Health Rising’s 2024 BIG (little) End of the Year Donation Drive

75000
17774

Basic Stuff

  • Name: MD
  • Country: Canada
  • State: British Columbia
  • City: Vancouver
  • Gender: Female
  • Education: Ph.D Degree
  • Primary Illness: Fibromyalgia
  • Diagnosis:
    • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)
    • Fibromyalgia (FM)
    • Postural Orthostatic Tachcycardia Syndrome (POTS)
    • Migraine
    • ISTS
  • Year Illness Began: 2017

Functioning Interrupted

Former Level of Functionality: 100
(No symptoms at rest; no symptoms with exercise; normal overall activity level; able to work full-time without difficulty.)
Current Level of Functionality: 20
(Moderate to severe symptoms at rest. Unable to perform strenuous activity; overall activity 30%-50% of expected. Unable to leave house except rarely; confined to bed most of day; unable to concentrate for more than 1 hour a day.)

Work Interrupted

  • Former Occupation: Family Physician
  • Job Responsibilities at Former Occupation:

    Cared for 3000 patients full-time.

  • Years of Work Lost: 4
  • Current Work Status: On disability

Income Interrupted

  • Minimum Current Annual Income Loss:

    CA $340,150

  • Total Projected Economic Losses For Years Not Worked:

    CA $1,542,301

Other Interruptions

Certified Disabled: Yes

Finances:
  • This illness has severely impacted my ability to financially prepare for retirement
Work:
  • I reduced my work hours
  • I left my job or retired early
  • I took on jobs with less responsibilities than I otherwise would have
Relationships:
  • I decided not to have children (or have more children)

Most Impactful Loss

Had to drastically reduce my panel size to 90 patients over 2 years. I had to go on medical leave in 2021. I see only a few patients per month by telehealth, and the rest see other doctors at the clinic. 10 of my discharged patients have died since 2021.

My Story

Got a severe nasopharyngeal MRSA infection from work in 2017 which went misdiagnosed and untreated for over 3 months. I was bed-bound and unable to return to work in any capacity for 5 months. Worked part-time at a greatly reduced capacity and with great suffering for 4 years, and then had to go on medical leave in 2021. Unable to care for self, let alone others now. Basic activities of daily living are difficult for me now. I am mostly house-bound now. My muscles have wasted, joints hurt, stairs are difficult, and reliant on others for support. Unable to exercise, visit old friends/family, volunteer, or travel. Suffer from migraines since getting sick as well. FM, ME/CFS, migraines, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy affect other family members too, so there has a genetic susceptibility in the family.



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