They knew it was something related to my heart, but they didn’t know why. So, I went to the GP, who told me to go straight to the A&E. After visiting many doctors, I eventually got so sick - I felt like I’d just had an awful flu - but I also couldn’t breathe, and my heart rate was through the roof. But then, over the next nine weeks, I got steadily sicker and sicker. The acknowledgment that pain has a real impact on our emotional and mental health is important.īut because they were monitoring my pregnancy and focusing on the health of my baby, the question of how this would impact my health was left to one side. This particular antibody was really closely associated with autoimmune diseases, principally with lupus. So what they figured out was that, effectively, my own immune system was attacking my baby’s heart. Now, one of the only reasons that this very rare condition, which is called congenital heart block, is caused is by an immune abnormality in the mother’s body. He actually had a heart condition while I was pregnant, and it was difficult for the consultants that I was seeing to figure out what was causing this irregularity. And I’d had a really difficult pregnancy with him. I was 30, and I’d just had my second son nine weeks before. Could you speak about those experiences a little bit more?ĮLINOR CLEGHORN: So I was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus in 2001. REBECCA SNOW: You discuss in the introduction that the driving force behind this book was inspired by your own dealings with medical professionals. Shondaland spoke with Cleghorn about the challenges in telling this history, “scalpel happy” doctors, and the future of medical care. Beginning in ancient Greece and ending with her own experiences, Cleghorn expertly parses out the successes and downfalls of modern medicine and where we go from here. She took on the lofty task to capture the history behind the pathologization, misdiagnoses, and lack of care that women have experienced for centuries when they’ve needed medical assistance.
Cleghorn was inspired to write her debut book when her own illness, systemic lupus erythematosus, was met with incredulity, disbelief, and ultimately misdiagnosis after misdiagnosis.
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