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Not to mention that Gynecology is, I think, the most inaccessible specialty out there because it’s like one of the only medical specialties, I think, where you truly have to be up on the table and there’s really not a lot of work around. So unless somebody is there to lift you, like, you can’t really go to the Gynecologist.

My mom is great about lifting me, but she’s getting older and it’s getting harder for her to do. And technically, by law, the people who work in the doctor’s office are supposed to be willing to help with transfers and stuff because having somebody need to go with you is technically like a HIPAA violation. Like, by law, they can’t force you to bring an attendant with you. They’re supposed to find a way to transfer you. But in real life, that doesn’t usually work out unless the office happens to have, like, a mechanical lift, which doesn’t happen very often.

And I’ve been trying to push more doctors offices to get those and learn how to use them because there’s no reason for either party why my parents should still have to do the lifting at all of my doctor’s appointments. But that’s kind of where we are, because in the absence of a mechanical lift that works really well, you run the risk of some untrained person dropping you if they’re willing to help you at all. And I have become very physically fragile. I have a lot of hardware and medical devices, and to me, it’s not worth the risk of potentially being dropped. So I really don’t have a choice but for my mom to lift me unless some of these offices start to get proper equipment because there’s going to come a point where my mom just can’t do it anymore.

But I certainly understand why people in wheelchairs put off the gynecology situation because it’s just not accessible.