Dr Google

"Don't Google your symptoms, it will just make you feel worse"

If I didn't Google "dizzy and feet turning purple?"

I wouldn't have been diagnosed with POTS.

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If I didn't Google "two-week-long period, normal?"

I wouldn't have been diagnosed with Endometriosis.

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If I didn't Google "exhausted and pain at light touch,"

I wouldn't have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia.

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If I didn't Google "constant fatigue and lump in throat,"

I wouldn't have been diagnosed with Hashimoto's.

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If I didn't Google, I wouldn't have researched

I wouldn't have asked questions, kept records, had tests,

changed doctors, found a community, traded stories,

pushed and pushed and pushed for answers.

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If I didn't Google any of my symptoms,

I'd have thought I was broken, without any cause.

I'd have stayed at that first specialist,

the first appointment, the first diagnosis.

I'd have suffered, hurt, cried, wasted away.

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"Here lies a girl: it was IBS and Anxiety."

But at least she didn't Google and make it worse.

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So don't ask me not to Google.

Just do your fucking job.

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Joanne spends her time split between toddler wrangling, medical admin, and pretending she could survive in her current fantasy read (she would immediately get KO'd by gluten or stairs). Her "chronic ramblings" have been a way of venting frustration about life with multiple chronic illnesses and all that goes with them. You can follow her on Instagram.