How hand weakness led me to a meaningful career in medicine
I now spend my days talking to patients, something I never expected to love
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To call my medical career a series of random pivots is an understatement. I have multiple sclerosis (MS) to thank for this wandering journey, one with an uncertain destination, but a surprisingly meaningful landing place.
Anesthesiology was my first love. I adored tinkering with the anesthesia machine, working with powerful anesthetics, and being the quiet caretaker behind the drapes. It was the perfect space for problem-solving and micromanaging, and honestly, a great way to avoid the clinic, where rushing through patient after patient left everyone frustrated, including me.
Then MS struck, taking my solitude with it. A weak left hand and arm made practicing anesthesia unsafe, and I was forced to reimagine my place in medicine.
Curiosity led me first to hospice and palliative medicine, which turned out to be too emotionally heavy. Integrative medicine was next. Within hours at my first conference, I knew I had found my people: fellow doctors and nurses whose own health challenges had taken them down a different path to healing themselves and their patients.
From there, I sought out traditional Chinese medicine to determine if acupuncture was real or a magical placebo. After a car accident left me with spine pain from top to bottom, acupuncture dropped my pain to zero for three days. Chinese medicine made no sense to the conventionally trained parts of my brain, but the results were undeniable.
Mind-body medicine and functional medicine rounded out this unconventional tour, which eventually brought me to Stanford’s Center for Integrative Medicine, where I was hired to practice acupuncture. It was the perfect playground to experiment with everything I’d learned.
 The healing power of community
Looking back, what surprised me most about this career detour was how much I actually love talking to patients. In one-on-one visits, I saw people shift their daily habits and slowly feel better. I didn’t cure anybody, but they did become more capable and engaged. One of the joys of lifestyle medicine is watching patients with complex chronic illness learn to cope and become more like themselves.
But the anesthesiologist in me is impatient — and very interested in scalability. So I began experimenting with shared medical visits, teaching groups of patients and helping them apply what they had learned. In 2017, my teaching was clunky, but no one cared; patients were just relieved to be in a room with others who truly understood. In that hour, the isolation of chronic illness faded. We learned together, brainstormed obstacles, and shared resources. I was watching healing happen in real time, accelerated by the power of community.
There are things that only a patient can teach you: how careless medical language can wound and disempower, how chronic disease can shatter identity, and how the most important therapy might be in rebuilding a life, not adjusting a medication. Patients also taught me more about supplements, gadgets, and alternative therapies than I could ever learn on my own.
Now I work exclusively with groups, offering weekly meetings on topics like fatigue, gut health, detox programs, and more. I get to utilize every skill from every pivot to help people shift their environments, routines, and behaviors, so they can feel better. That, to me, is the definition of healing.
So, thanks to MS, I now spend my days talking to patients, something I never expected to love. I’m grateful to have landed in a space where I get to focus on creating health while my colleagues fight disease. Working in community, in this space of healing, is truly beautiful medicine.
Note: Multiple Sclerosis News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of Multiple Sclerosis News Today or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues pertaining to multiple sclerosis.
Kevin Campbell
Dear Dr Payrovi,
I how exciting to read your piece...
I am a retired RMN from Glasgow, ScotIand with specialist in care including Hospice for MS and Huntington's within a 20 yr career which was ended with the MS 'label'.
Please bear with my reluctance to use term ;diagnosis' as you will be well aware the medical texts to date still stipulate hat ; 'the cause of MS is not fully understood ' (Davidson's Principles And Practice of Modern Medicine. 1983)
Being based at Stanford, you will doubt you'll know of anasthesiologlist Dr Bill Code and Profs, Paolo Zamboni, David Hubbard and Michael Dake. After co-organising the 2011 UK Conference on CCSVI. I worked also with Prof. Franz Von Schelling on his article for 'le Societé Transluminal Vasculaire'.
I lost many patients and friends to this ' is misunderstood diagnosis: one to SUICIDE aged 36after only 20 years and another to massive CVA and COMA a third suffered PML possible related to TYSABRI.
I to had acupuncture s the Stroke Neurologist said the was 'NOTHING FOR THE FATIGUE'.
I'll stop here Dr and hope against all hope that you may find the tine to contact me as there is so much I wish to discuss with you .. I relate strongly to your comments in isolation.
Kind regards
Kevin G Campbell RMN
Susan Payrovi, MD
Thank you so much for reaching out to share your story, Kevin.  What a remarkable set of events you have been involved with. I agree with all the points you made. We have come a long way in treating this condition, but we are still missing the low-hanging fruit, like shifting behaviors to make the nervous and immune systems a bit more calm. If it wasnt for MS, I wouldnt have every uncovered this! Hope you are doing well and happy holidays to you.Â
Sheila L Mathis
I love this! So inspiring!Congratulations on finding the path to use your expertise to continue caring for others in a powerful and impactful way.
Tom Kirby
Why doesn't the good Doctor Susan Pavrovi state what type of MS she has And when was diagonis? Thank you
Margie Kennard
See qi gong. Doctors (physicians) in China do it with the patients, as they make rounds. Anna York (MS diagnosis) teaches it on u-tube. It's Relaxing and energizing at the same time! Two women friends after a class said, they felt like, they just had a massage and a facial! Free classes on zoom.
Kevin Campbell
Dear Dr Susan and all,
I was most interested to read about this valuable work..
in particular 'brainstormed obstacles, and shared resources'...
however, I have not seen much talk. even among 'specialists', of;
'DIFFRENTIAL DIAGNOSIS' and such things as I encountered as a trained Nurse factors like;
B12 Deficiency ( Pernicious Anaemia)
Cyanide poisoning ( from CIGARETTE SMOKE)
Life's tragic stresses and impacts on the Nervous system...
So much may have been missed by burying all under a vague and little understood label even when it has been well documented.
If we put all those efforts into reinforcing an unintelligible system, we may continue block active research and waste resources dealing with dangerous side-effects and compounding unbearable suffering with false hopes.
KG Campbell RMN
Sajid Raza
Doc
I am impressed. So simple & straight.
Let me introduce myself. I am a male MS patient with history of 18 years. During all these years I also tried lot of unconventional methods to treat weakness, numbness and pain in my right hand (median nerve to be exact). It included 02 times CTS surgery, pronator Teresa surgery and Thorasic outlet surgery. Above all CCSVI (Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency) liberation treatment while living in relatively less advanced country Pakistan . Now I am taking Ocrevus but now feel sliding downhill on daily basis.🇵🇰. To cut it short no major improvement noticed.
Now what led me to note was that u tried Chinese ways also and got some relief. Can you please share the details.
Best Rwgards
Kristi Cumming
I have followed you for some time. The fact that your bio says "her clinical practice focuses on non-pharmaceutical lifestyle treatments" makes me admire you even more. I have had MS for over 41 yrs. Diagnosed at 28 yrs of age. I have seen several neurologists here in SoCal; UCLA, Loma Linda, UCI to name a few. One even said, 20 yrs ago, "if you were my wife, I would sit on you and inject you". My course has consisted of very few flare-ups. My last one was 14 yrs ago. Yet my MRIs are riddled with plaques, brain, cervical, and thoracic. I have always followed a holistic approach. I get plenty of rest, eat very healthy, and try to "exercise" regularly. Keep up your good work. There are a lot of us "MSers" out there plugging along. I heard a quote the other day; "Movement is Medicine". I loved it. Bless you, and all you do for us.
Be safe