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

Even 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.