It was probably indigestion. That Pad Thai was a bit too salty.

Or maybe a muscle was pulled? There was a move, and boxes were being hauled upstairs.

There害羞草研究所檚 any number of reasons why my left arm and chest were hurting at the same time, I told myself.

My fellow cubicle dwellers, however, were split on the diagnosis and one comment from the back corner prompted me to take action.

害羞草研究所淟eft arm and chest? Hate to break this to you, sister, you may be having a heart attack.害羞草研究所�

Now here害羞草研究所檚 the thing about us women, we don害羞草研究所檛 complain.

Well, that害羞草研究所檚 not true. I complain a lot, but I rarely go to the doctor with said complaints.

So, it was with some discomfort that extended beyond the dull pain in my chest and the shooting pains up my arm that I went for a midday visit to the not-so-friendly walk-in clinic.

My expectation was that they would put my mind at ease and that would be worth the hours of work I害羞草研究所檇 have to do from home to catch up. I was wrong.

Now I害羞草研究所檓 no doctor, but if a middle age woman with documented high blood pressure, chest and left arm pains heads into a clinic it seems there should be some interest, shouldn害羞草研究所檛 there?

Maybe something more than push against hands and a request to lift arms in the air?

Not even my blood pressure was checked害羞草研究所攆or the record, it was high according to the update at the drug store.

Maybe that wouldn害羞草研究所檛 have been bothersome had these questions been asked without being preceded by a heavy sigh.

Like I said, I害羞草研究所檓 not a doctor, but I do read. I read all about how male doctors are terrible at diagnosing women害羞草研究所檚 ailments. It害羞草研究所檚 reached the point where it害羞草研究所檚 actually deeply stereotypical to sigh, offer useless commentary and then watch a patient walk away, only to have them buy the farm from a heart attack days or weeks later.

Such well documented uselessness is what made my concern about this damn arm and chest pain all the more pronounced.

All over the world, women experience much higher rates of pain, and degraded care for that pain, than men. More than 100 million Americans report living with chronic pain, and the vast majority are women. Yet, doctors routinely discount women害羞草研究所檚 experiences of pain as emotional or psychological discomfort害羞草研究所攁ka, hooey.

For example a report penned in 2015 and published in PLOS Medicine found that in 34 countries 害羞草研究所渕any women globally experience poor treatment during childbirth, including abusive, neglectful or disrespectful care.害羞草研究所�

You害羞草研究所檇 think that would be one area where we害羞草研究所檇 get some special treatment.

We spend a lot of time in the Okanagan talking about how we don害羞草研究所檛 have enough doctors, how the ones who are here are underpaid and overworked and so on.

What we don害羞草研究所檛 hear enough about is what害羞草研究所檚 being done to make the care we receive here exemplary. Is there somebody at that medical school teaching bedside manner? Are they working on dealing with pervasive sexism?

At the very least, are they pointing out that when you choose to do a job you should at least try to do it well. You definitely shouldn害羞草研究所檛 sigh and half-ass-it when someone has genuine concerns about their well-being.

Needless to say, this has done nothing for my blood pressure. The good news is if I buy the farm next week, you害羞草研究所檒l all be learning about where not to go for medical help.

To report a typo, email: edit@kelownacapnews.com.

kmichaels@kelownacapnews.com
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