Gees! What a ride!

Accessing medical help is, at times….. IMPOSSIBLE

No matter the illness, injury, or condition, needing medical assistance often comes with many challenges. But when your condition is uncommon, poorly understood, or invisible to others, those challenges can become overwhelming.

If there are no obvious physical signs, people may question the severity of what you’re experiencing. At times, you can feel disbelieved or dismissed. The journey to getting appropriate care can become exhausting, confusing, and feel almost impossible.

One may tell you it’s fine, the next it’s serious, one says no rush, the next immediate specialist care is required!…… arghhhhhh!!!!

I believe there are many reasons for this. It may come down to a clinician’s knowledge or experience with a particular condition, differences in opinion, gender bias, limited resources, or the restrictions of the healthcare system itself. Often, it isn’t clear where the barriers actually lie, making the pathway to treatment feel ambiguous and uncertain.

I have experienced this firsthand with both a traumatic brain injury and severe gynaecological bleeding. Both situations had the potential to become life-threatening, yet at times they felt as though they were being treated far too lightly.

I have lost litres of blood. Medications have not always worked. Yet there have been moments where it felt like the expectation was simply to “carry on.”

I am on 18 pills a day to “stop the bleeding”…. What is this medication doing to the rest of my body, how long do I take it for? The bleeding hasn’t stopped, what now? No answers…. Is my body able to cope with this loss of blood? If so, for how long? HELP!!!

Scary af!

How is it that in a society with access to incredible medical knowledge and information, getting meaningful help can still be so distant? Unattainable and in some instances impossible.

These experiences have left me asking difficult questions.

Are we too focused on managing symptoms rather than finding solutions? Are medications sometimes used because they are the only options available, or because our health system lacks the resources, specialists, or funding to offer more? When treatment isn’t available, it’s hard not to wonder, Am I not worth helping?

I don’t have the answers.

Is modern medicine in New Zealand limited by funding, access to specialists, research, or experience with more complex conditions? Is it a combination of all of these? Or are there challenges behind the scenes that patients rarely see?

I know there are many dedicated healthcare professionals working incredibly hard under immense pressure, and I am grateful for those who have listened, advocated, and genuinely cared. This isn’t about blaming individuals. It’s about questioning a system that can leave people with complex or invisible conditions feeling unheard, unsupported, and left to fight for care when they have the least energy to do so.

No one should have to battle the healthcare system while they are already battling their own body.