Your care is shaped by your unique experiences when living with a chronic illness.

You know this now, right?

If you don’t, well, take that on board and understand from this point on that you are the beholder of everything, you need to plan your recovery.

Obviously, it’s not as simple as it sounds, and when I heard it years ago, it confused me completely. How could it be my job to make me well?

But yes, your daily living cocktail (hardly a cocktail, more like poison!) is THE information required for your health team to help you recover.

Your information is powerful.

Your health team won’t be able to help you if they can’t understand, grasp and interpret this information.

See, that’s what a great care team do. They learn the latest treatment information (whether Western, traditional, natural medicine, etc) and combine it with what you tell them to tailor your recovery. I also think they must have a good instinct and a little oomph.

It wasn’t until later in my journey that I realised all this.

And I’m still saddened that it seems so challenging for a healthcare provider to grasp the reality of living with a long-term health condition. And more horrifyingly, why does finding a great care team take so much time?

These questions and my 4.5 year misdiagnosis experience have recently inspired me to do something about this. I’m expanding My Health Story’s (MHS) vision.

In addition to helping you manage and communicate your health information, I am establishing a new network of MHS Friends that you can trust will understand the importance of incorporating your unique experiences into your care plan.

The idea is that you arrive at MHS and know that any logo appearing on that website represents a group that can provide you with brilliant resources or is a helpful service.

It’s like finding your clan, and this clan will be inspiring carer givers, and treaters you can trust will listen, believe, and want to tailor your care.

I recall all the baffled looks I received on the appointment trail when I would explain I felt my finger was stuck in a powerpoint. It caused me such frustration until I met Anne-Florence Plante, who named the experience ‘Soula, that is sensory pain’.

It should be easier and quicker for individuals to access a team that truly understands their needs.

I want you to feel confident and trust that if MHS Friends are personally connected with me, you can be sure they’ll understand your situation.

Meet MHS Friend, Wise Psychology

Over my 16-year period navigating this awful forest, I’ve met some pretty amazing people. I’ve also met many who have no idea about treating chronic health issues, and they will never become MHS Friends, I can tell you.

I’m going to filter the good ones. And you are welcome to help me – pop me an email with your best! Or if you are a service or group and you think, ‘hey that’s me!’ please also contact me or read more here.

So let’s start with mental health support you can receive via telehealth within a week.

It’s not uncommon for MHS subscribers to feel hesitant about either joining or discussing their health stories with a healthcare provider via MHS as the practitioner might not be keen on embracing new technology, or they say they ‘don’t have time’, or the patient is too intimidated even to ask.

Well, MHS Friend, Wise Psychology, is not like that. In fact, they want to read about your lived experience and learn as much as possible before your appointment.

You might recall me joining Talking Health Tech, a network of healthcare workers/professionals interested in health tech.

This is where I met Wise Psychology’s CEO, Steven Whittington, who shares my passion for digital health technology, patient-centred care, convenient telehealth, and accessible health services, particularly for individuals with chronic illnesses.

I am excited to announce that Steven and his team at Wise Psychology have been welcomed as MHS Friends! This is significant in providing my followers access to personalised and technology-enabled care.

Wise Psychology’s practitioners are respectful, highly qualified, and committed to providing best-practice services to their clientele; importantly, appointments are immediately available for most practitioners within a week of inquiry.

If only I could access emotional support online and get the appointment that fast!!!

Easing the burden is a phrase we often hear; in this case, it rings true. Wise Psychology delivers just that.

How to begin

Start documenting your health story, and subscribe to MHS.

As an MHS subscriber seeking a psychologist, visit www.wise-psychology.com, view the team, and complete their online intake form. A senior practitioner will phone you for an initial confidential discussion to match you with the most appropriate practitioner and book your first appointment, usually within seven days.

In the meantime, log in to MHS and prepare to share your health story with your Wise Psychology psychologist before your first appointment to get a head start on your mental health journey from the outset.