Living authentically with chronic illnesses

In this episode, Jess Gregory talks about her experiences with medicine, discusses how young doctors are leading the culture of collaborative care and highlights the importance of supporting medical students and junior doctors with chronic illnesses. ~~~~~~~ Jess is a 27 year old Australian living with Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder, Temporomandibular Joint Disorder, Fibromyalgia, PMDD, Migraine with Aura, and Sinus Tachycardia. She has memories of chronic pain, fatigue, and joint dislocations from the age of 12, but after her and her parents’ concerns were dismissed by multiple doctors, she felt she had no choice but to compartmentalise what was happening to her body and focus solely on her goal of pursuing a career in music. Jess’ health declined significantly at the end of 2019 after a particularly nasty sinus infection. Despite this, she optimistically proceeded with her plans to move to Belgium, believing that she could “push through” and undertake her Master’s Degree there. In a turn of events that will surprise absolutely no one, wilfully ignoring her symptoms lead Jess to become severely unwell and bed bound for over a year. During this time, Jess pushed for the more rigorous clinical evaluation that lead to her eventual diagnoses. She was then admitted to a specialised hospital rehabilitation program and she realised that she had an opportunity to change her life for the better. She could either keep living a lie and pretending that she was able bodied, or she could create a new life in which she worked with her body rather than against it. She now runs Delicate Little Petal, a website where she writes about physical and mental health issues and hopes to help others avoid the same cycle of shame and isolation by opening up about her own messy journey to diagnosis. She is particularly passionate about advocating for the normalisation of mobility aids and tackling the harmful systemic issues that delay the diagnosis of “invisible disabilities” like her own. She is also an ambassador of Healp.Co, a social networking site that also provides crowd sourced health information to those with chronic conditions. Jess continues to live in Belgium with her fiancé Haydn, and their child cat, Adora. In her spare time she enjoys vintage fashion and makeup, pilates, swimming, and unapologetically consuming terrible reality TV! You can find Jess on Instagram and Facebook at @delicatelittlepetal or on www.delicatelittlepetal.com.