Riketa Smith, a certified medical assistant at Duke University Hospital, formerly served as the Pediatric Neuromuscular Program co-coordinator at Lenox Baker Children’s Hospital, where she worked with Duchenne families. She shares the importance of patients feeling safe to discuss embarrassing or quality-of-life topics.
Transcript
I wish that patients would feel more enabled and willing to talk about things like sex, finances, their interests, and their hobbies — anything outside the typical conversations that focus solely on medical diagnoses or long-term health impacts.
At the end of the day, you’re still a person, and it’s normal to want to know about these things. It’s OK to ask. It’s OK to have desires and curiosity about how to navigate life. I just wish patients didn’t feel like those topics were so taboo. It’s absolutely OK to talk about them, and we’re here to answer.
I want to answer those questions for you. I remember one patient who asked about sex and having children. Those are valid questions. We talked through it and worked out scenarios that could help them get to a point where they could have a family and be financially stable enough to care for that family.
They were really grateful in the end that they asked — even though they felt hesitant and a little scared at first.
It’s nice to know they felt safe enough to ask, and I wish more patients felt that way too.
