Bob Newhart and Mo Collins dramatize an interaction between a patient and a healthcare provider. There’s a lot of ongoing discussion about methods to use to improve communications between patients and professionals. Newhart, reprising his famous psychologist role, illustrates a method many patients feel is all too common.
When you look right through me
What evil disease is this, that would
steal the recognition of a loving daughter from her darling mother’s mind?
With love so strong and infinite, how could
a devoted mother suddenly go so far beyond, leaving a part of her heart behind?
So often you look right through me
as though I’m not here.
And as I wonder when you will again see me,
I become paralyzed with fear.
Each time you look right through me,
a jagged knife plunges into my already shattered heart
because although we’re together, we
couldn’t be further apart.
Although you look right through me
not knowing who I am, I will never forget you
or all that you have done for me.
And I will do everything I can to help you.
Whenever you look right through me,
please know that right here I plan to remain.
Forever by your side I promise I will be,
trying desperately to reunite us once again.
But the truth is – every time you look right through me,
another huge part of me dies.
Forever lost in eternity.
Unseen, like my unheard cries.
© Chrystal Gomes 2012
More from Chrystal Gomes
TVO Interviews Chrystal Gomes
Uploaded on May 16, 2008
TVO’s Person 2 Person Interview, Paula Todd with Stand-Up Comedienne Chrystal Gomes about living with Multiple Sclerosis.
Check out Chrystal’s web site at www.chrystalgomes.com
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A New Chapter
No spoken promises now. No
written guarantees
that what once was, will again be so…
and I get down on my knees.
I cling to my memories of yesterday,
dreading the day when uncertain tomorrow comes.
As always, weariness has a say…
and I fall asleep to the sound of fading drums.
I dream such hearty, rose-coloured happiness
that in reality is so hard to feel…
for in this world rules weepy sadness,
diagnosed truth, that makes fear so real.
Fate has no conscience, and it always gets its way.
But when I shut my eyes,
I see only what I want to see. In the grey
abyss between life and death, my spirit lies…
in waiting. A new chapter
of a carefully woven destiny
gently unfolds in silken scenes filled with laughter…
and my soul rejoices, a wronged prisoner finally set free.
By Chrystal Gomes
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Finding an MS Voice for Patient Centred Education
By Chrystal Gomes
As an introverted and painfully shy person until my late 20’s – I often couldn’t find my voice. I spent my late teens and 20’s working, traveling and speaking just a little more often, while still unsure of serious future goals. At the age of 28, I finally realized I wanted to pursue a career in hotel and convention management, and my life was now filled with hope and excitement.
I had completed my first year of the three-year hospitality program, when I suddenly became seriously ill. Following a horrible headache that had me praying for death because nothing would relieve the pain, I developed double vision, my speech became slurred and completely garbled. I lost all hand coordination, and I couldn’t walk without help… to name a few of my many symptoms.
My parents naturally first thought…that I had started drinking. I sought medical help, and was subsequently diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. I shared this news with my parents and…we all started drinking.
I was diagnosed by a specialist who told me I had Multiple Sclerosis, then promptly left my hospital room without another word. This was the first time that the absence of adequate communication left me gutted. [...] continue the story