Rochelle Roberts, who lives in Canada, was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2020. She reveals how leaning on her “hype team” and learning to speak up transformed her MS journey — and why no one should face it alone.
Transcript
For me, especially as a Black woman navigating the healthcare system, you need to have advocates on your side. So enlist family, close friends who can go with you to appointments and who can help you keep track of things because of brain fog.
Who can rally, support, and boost you up and be a hype person when you’re feeling low.
I have a hype team who boosts me every time I have to get an MRI because, one, I hate them. I hate being confined. Two, I really hate needles. It’s really hard to find a vein.
So I always come out extra stressed and there’s always somebody who’s like, “OK, let’s go and decompress and go for a walk.” Or drive me home if the MRI is in the middle of the night.
So sit down with those you trust already in terms of friends and family, who can then be advocates at your side as you build the team and will help you navigate and ask the questions that you may sometimes forget to ask, or may be too embarrassed to ask.
And also know that when you are working with a team and you’re building up that trust, you need to be as transparent as possible. So even if there’s a side effect of a medication or if you’re displaying a symptom that you might feel is a little, you know, embarrassing.
These are the professionals that you need to go to with those questions and concerns. And how they respond to you is how you can then progress forward in your treatment. And if you don’t like how they respond, seek out new team members.
