When I was in college, I worked at a private psychiatric hospital on the locked ward for women. Many of the patients I worked with on this ward had schizophrenia diagnoses. These women were often in their 20s and 30s, and many were in this locked ward for their first hospitalization after repeated attempts to diagnose and control behaviors in the community setting.
We took this time to do what women do best: we had fun just catching up, admiring the amazing and truly beautiful collection of flowers in full bloom in the Botanical Garden, then finding a quiet table during the cocktail hour to reconnect.
We honor those who lost their lives or lost loved ones, along with those who were critically injured, in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.
If you’re convinced that you’ll be tortured by hot flashes and temperature disruptions, then you certainly will be. But if you’re disciplined about taking the steps described, you’ll have non-medical tools to diminish the impact of the hot flashes.
I told Steve, the motel’s front-desk clerk, that I’d be sleeping in the back of my SUV, since the chemical and tobacco stench in Room 209 was intolerable. He offered me a suddenly available room on the third floor. I thanked him and declined.
The patient-doctor relationship is part of the healing process. This relationship requires both a “a good fit” and takes time to develop. Doctors need to listen to the patient’s story and understand that not all gynecological problems are diagnosed by ordering tests or doing procedures.
