Navigating complex medical issues: one family's story of advocacy and hope [PODCAST]

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In this episode, we have a special guest, Laura Fernando, a patient advocate, who shares her heart-wrenching story of her daughter Lily’s medical journey with COVID-19 and other health conditions. Joining her and Lily is Linda Bluestein, an integrative medicine physician.

Lily was a healthy 12-year-old when she contracted COVID-19 in June 2020. Despite recovering from the initial symptoms, her daughter never fully regained her health. She later contracted a tick-borne illness, and her health declined rapidly. Despite working hard in physical and occupational therapy, her daughter’s health worsened when she contracted COVID-19 a second time in January 2022.

Laura shares the struggles of finding a physician who understood her daughter’s unique and complex medical needs and how one physician’s actions led to a traumatic experience for her daughter and family. But, they eventually found hope and healing with an autonomic specialist team of a neurologist and a gastroenterologist who believed in her daughter and took the time to listen to their narrative and check her previous medical appointments.

Through this episode, the guests discuss the importance of finding the right physician, advocating for yourself and your loved ones in the health care system, and the impact of trauma on the patient’s and their family’s mental and emotional well-being.

Tune in to hear an inspiring story of hope and healing and how one family’s perseverance led to a brighter future for their daughter.

Laura and Lily Fernando are patient advocates. Linda Bluestein is an integrative medicine physician.

They share their stories and discuss the KevinMD article, “My daughter and COVID: a tale of 3 doctors.”

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