M.Y.O.B. vs the Desire to Help: Does Concern Ever Win Over Respecting Privacy?
As a Celiac Disease/Gluten Intolerance Nurse/Educator, I help people regain their health by learning to follow a gluten-free diet. In doing so over time I have become so familiar with every manifestation of Celiac Disease and gluten sensitivity that I can often recognize symptoms in people at a glance. Perhaps you can too. You know, the fair-skinned Celtic or blond Nordic types, with a butterfly-rash on their faces, or dermatitis on their hands, elbows, or legs, a general puffiness in their appearance. Sometimes you hear them complain about general stomach discomfort or bloating, or itchy skin, or aching joints. These are not people I know well, but general acquaintances, like the cashier at the market, or the child of a friend of a friend whose mother is an MD.
I am a highly intuitive person, and I often used my intuitive abilities as a nurse on a busy surgical floor. When my inner wisdom told me what was going on with a patient, I never failed to listen, and advocate for what I felt was in the patient's best interest. But, I'm not in that environment anymore, and John Q. Public is not one of my patients. Still, sometimes I feel as if I ought to say something. Do you think it is ever appropriate to do so? Gluten Intolerance and Celiac Disease are still not part of the common vocabulary. The people I counsel and that take my cooking classes have all navigated long, circuitous paths to finally get a diagnosis. How great it would be to help steer someone in the right direction, maybe skipping years of frustration and ill health! But, I am by nature a reserved person, brought up to respect the privacy of others. Is there a graceful way to intervene and provide information on gluten sensitivity to relative strangers? That is the question I pose, and I look forward to reading any responses.
I am a highly intuitive person, and I often used my intuitive abilities as a nurse on a busy surgical floor. When my inner wisdom told me what was going on with a patient, I never failed to listen, and advocate for what I felt was in the patient's best interest. But, I'm not in that environment anymore, and John Q. Public is not one of my patients. Still, sometimes I feel as if I ought to say something. Do you think it is ever appropriate to do so? Gluten Intolerance and Celiac Disease are still not part of the common vocabulary. The people I counsel and that take my cooking classes have all navigated long, circuitous paths to finally get a diagnosis. How great it would be to help steer someone in the right direction, maybe skipping years of frustration and ill health! But, I am by nature a reserved person, brought up to respect the privacy of others. Is there a graceful way to intervene and provide information on gluten sensitivity to relative strangers? That is the question I pose, and I look forward to reading any responses.
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