Don ’ t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow: How Participatory Medicine Helped My Family

On Halloween night 2014, my mother and I found ourselves sitting in an executive suite at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC, eagerly awaiting to see my favorite band, Fleetwood Mac. I know it may be a little odd that someone my age, which at the time was 21, is obsessed with that band and not something more “hip” like one of the flavor of the week popstars, but what can I say? I have good taste in music, thanks in part to my mother. As the lights in the arena went down and Stevie Nicks and the group took the stage, I couldn’t help but think how lucky I was to be here with my mother. Looking back now, it is quite astonishing to me that she is even alive, let alone able to accompany me to a show that we had to travel two hours to see. As a child and teenager I was not sure if I would ever get that lucky. This group knows my mother as Tracy Zervakis, a strong minded and often outspoken e-patient and patient advocate, but I know her simply as “Mom.” When I was about eight or nine years old I remember that almost suddenly my mother was not the same person she used to be. She went from being the silly, fun mom who was always active to staying in bed all day due to debilitating headaches. Shortly after began the whirlwind years of doctor appointments and visits to specialists. She was diagnosed with everything from multiple sclerosis to a mental disorder (a specialist questioned her sanity and recommended she see a psychiatrist). Finally, after years of searching, she ...
Source: Society for Participatory Medicine - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Member Updates Newsletter empowered patient family participatory medicine Patient Empowerment patient stories Tracy Zervakis Source Type: news