It’s official, MCAS is a ‘thing’. No, not according to some medical governing body… according to People Magazine! There was an article in this week’s magazine about a girl with MCAS, which you can read it ://people.com/human-interest/teenage-girl-allergic-to-almost-everything/.Very rare for a pop news magazine, but they did a great job. It’s well written, and nothing jumped out at me as anything I could disagree with. You can do all the education and advocacy in the world with physicians and not get far, but popular media creates a ‘bottom-up’ pressure that can make a huge difference.
And somehow we have to shift the allergists, some are great, but too many have dug in their heels and refuse to see MCAS as an accepted diagnosis, let alone something that has blown up to epidemic proportions. It’s horribly catty of me, but my patience has been spent. The average reader of People Magazine now knows more than most allergists here do about MCAS. How embarrassing. The flood of patients asking for help is growing, the answer is right there in front of them, and more and more patients are going to recognize that this isn’t ‘a midlife crisis’, ‘factitious disorder’, ‘panic attacks’, ‘menopausal hormones’, etc etc etc… And they’re going to show up at the allergists door. Some local allergists are finally able to contradict the powers that be, but swimming upstream is never easy. Young, bright, capable physicians are reluctant to contradict their teachers- especially if they are the head of allergy and Immunology at the Universty, or the head of the Canadian Allergy and Immunology Association. It’s reasonable to dismiss a patient or two on your mentor’s advice. But once it’s captured everyone’s attention, there will be a lot more patients looking for answers. It’s become undeniable.
Happy New Year!
Tonight is New Years Eve, so I wanted to wish you all a lovely New Year. I’m looking forward to 2019- 2018 was better than 2017 for me, (despite septicaemia, being left on the floor of an ER, a PICC incorrectly handled, delayed iron etc..). Ironically, feeling better physically has been exceedingly hard mentally. I am dealing with so many losses- I was out of it for so long! In the last few years I have had several family friend ‘uncles’ pass away, along with close friends in the MCAS support groups. That doesn’t include the loss of my career, my freedom, my safety, my sense of purpose, years of events with my hubby and children… So many things with the children. So many. It’s like I was shoving stuff in a closet labeled ‘deal with later’ and then when you finally decide to take it on, you touch the door handle and the contents explode to fill the whole room! I haven’t taken care of my family and friends, or our relationships. I hope I can make some amends and reconnect with others, they very much deserve it. Selfishly, I take it as a good sign that I am even noticing anything past my the tip of my nose! This isn’t easy, but I’ll take it over being disconnected.
For 2019, I am very hopeful that I can keep my health on a slightly more even keel. I’m optimistic; I think I can be a bit more involved in life this year- Time will tell!
I hope that all of my readers have a lovely new year celebration, and more so, that it starts a great year!