Melissa Congdon, MD, FAAP || Fibromyalgia, Fatigue, and Chronic Pain Specialist and Consultant || Marin County and the San Francisco Bay Area, California

10 Millwood St., #5 | Mill Valley, CA 94941
1501 Clement St. | San Francisco CA 94118 | Map & Directions
Phone: (415) 927-0600 | Fax: (415) 381-8892

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The Making of “Fibromyalgia: Getting Our Lives Back,” Behind the Scenes Part 1: A Surprise for the Doctor

February 23, 2015 By Melissa Congdon, MD, FAAP

IMG_1258Even though I had a vision in my head about what I wanted the fibromyalgia film be I had no idea how to get there. How could I help my patients communicate what they had been though? During a patient appointment I ask pointed direct questions (what is the severity of your pain? How is your energy? Has your fibrofog eased at all?) These questions are designed to give me the information needed to quickly and accurately assess how the patient is doing before I exam them and then make an assessment and plan. But making a good movie is different than structuring a good office visit. Luckily filmmaker Tylor Norwood had it all figured out.

“Ask your patients to tell you their story” Tylor said. “Sit in a chair across from them and ask them and listen. I will film it all.” It was that simple but that profound. This was not a situation where the doctor controlled the visit, this was the patient’s chance to describe what was important in their healing journey: to reveal the struggles to get diagnosed, the disappointment when medications and treatments failed to work, and the joy when the pain and fatigue started to ease on the guaifenesin protocol. I had known most of these patients for over a year and yet I learned things about their journeys that I had never known–important and profound things. All I had to do was listen.

Filed Under: Fibromyalgia, Fibromyalgia Film, Guaifenesin, Medication, Symptoms Tagged With: chronic pain, diagnosis, fibromyalgia, fibromyalgia film, Fibromyalgia is real, missing the diagnosis, pediatric fibromyalgia

Contact

10 Millwood St., #5
Mill Valley, CA 94941

1501 Clement St.
San Francisco CA 94118

Map & Directions
Phone: (415) 927-0600
Fax: (415) 381-8892

Patient Schedule

Monday: Mill Valley Office – 12pm – 4pm

Wednesday: Mill Valley Office – 9am-2:00pm

Friday: San Francisco Office – 9am-1:30pm

Informational Phone/Skype Consultations

Dr. Congdon offers 30- and 60-minute consults to provide information on fibromyalgia, the hypoglycemic diet, and the guaifenesin protocol. In these sessions Dr. Congdon does her best to answer questions about your condition using information derived from various published research studies/books and her extensive personal and professional experience with fibromyalgia.

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