Hanna's POv
Today was a lot I never thought Ali would own up to the weight shaming. She apologized for her behavior in high school. She's really changed. But it still felt bitter at times. I think our friendship really needed this and I'm glad that I was the one with
her for this. I noticed Ali was gaining a lot of weight after our imprisonment, but we were all too into our own trauma to really look out for each other. It even seems me and Ali have something in common we were both imprisoned and tortured Mutiple times.
That is not a fun club to be a part of. I hope this recommendation gives Ali the answers she needs.
We go 1st thing in the morning to see Doctor Cameisha Missick. Before she spoke Ali gave her every answer to all the questions the previous doctors asked her about. She also said she gained over 70 pounds in one year. I was shocked,
I think she said this earlier, but I was to angry at the doctor to hear her. I didn't realize it was this bad. We'd spent the afternoon yesterday talking all about her other doctor's visits. What she had to go through just to be heard. The too friendly doctors, the incompetent doctors, and the beligerent doctors. I was disgusted and felt so sorry for my friend. The doctors that were kind and actually listened still couldn't figure it out. Then there are the ones that Refused to make any effort to listen to her or try. They even gave wrong diagnoses like obesity and decrease metabolism. Ali said she was ready to give up if after her last appointment she still didn't get any definite answers. She would have gone home, told Emily, and managed it all by herself. Maybe she'd try again in a few years if she felt up to it.
Once Ali finished saying everything that was on her mind. The doctor asked her for all her lab results then asked her some new questions. She then left the room and said she' be back.
Ali Pov
I felt like a complete asswhole. I'd just went off on a total stranger who was trying their best to help me and fit me into her schedule. Hanna gave me a look, and I knew when she returned that I needed to apologize. She's not the same as the other doctors and
I can't blame her for my bad experiences. She's been nothing but accommodating since we arrived. She came back into the room, and I immediately apologized. She laughed and said "It's fine. I get it. Its hard for women to get good health care. Most male doctors never listen to what we have to say or go to deep into our symptoms or worse not deep enough. They usually give halfhearted treatment or just send you home with incorrect diagnoses. Even though it still doesn't explain all your symptoms or solve the problem." She went through this herself
it's one of the reasons she decided to open her own women wellness center. She accepted my apology and sat me down. She offered me her diagnoses. It was PCOS. Apparently she is also an endocrinologist. I have PCOS, or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. PCOS messes with your hormones and makes it hard to lose weight or increases it. It also causes hormones imbalance having too much of a male hormone called androgen
I didn't hear her at first, I was just too shocked that she had a diagnosis for me. I finally replied saying "yes I hear you go on" She continues to explain when she finishes. I started crying. Hanna holds my hand tighter. She sits down in front of me takes
my other hand and says, "Alison it's my job to help you by listening to what you have to say and then trying to figure out what going on inside your body" Relief washed over my entire body I'm not crazy. She said, "you know your body better than anyone. You knew something was wrong and you investigated until you got an answer. you kept at it until you found me." To think I was going to give up today. I'm so grateful to Hanna for this. I wouldn't be here without her suggesting we blow off my last appointment and her calling her old doctor.
Hanna left the room to make a call and Dr Missick prescribed me treatments, medicine, and activities to carryout to get my body back in balance and my weight under control. We both left her clinic, but not before I asked her if she had any other branches close to Rosewood. She scheduled my follow up visit for next week at her clinic in ravenswood.
