March 17th, 2005
March 17th, 2005 is a day I remember quite vividly. Yes, it was St. Patrick’s Day, but that isn’t why I am able to recall it so well. March 17th, 2005 holds significance to me because it was the day I was officially diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS). With the diagnosis came many changes in my life. Well, that’s an understatement. The life I planned for and the life I am actually living are very different.
If you were to ask me ten years ago what I’d be doing now, I would have told you practicing medicine. Whether or not I made others aware of it, I wanted to attend medical school from the time I was in 3rd grade. With my interest in health and science, it just seemed like the career I was destined for. As it turns out, I wasn’t actually supposed to be a doctor. Instead, I’m supposed to spend a lot of time with doctors — as a patient.
This didn’t occur to me until recently. I was doing career counseling with a psychologist. My goal was to find something I’d both like to do and can physically do — not an easy feat. One of the first questions the psychologist asked me was where I expected to be career-wise. I told her in medical school, or finishing up medical school. It was at that point — when I said it out loud — that I realized I was never meant to be a doctor. It’s still sinking in even now. I think that’s understandable. Afterall, I didn’t miss out on the opportunity because of things I had control over – taking the right classes and getting good grades. Nope. I missed out on the opportunity because of something I have no control over — something many people take for granted. I missed out on the opportunity because of my health.
This entry was posted on Monday, February 2nd, 2009 at 1:46 am and is filed under Before Diagnosis - Signs, Symptoms, Etc., EDS Stuff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.