wow, Annie, so much information, questions and criticism in one post.

I assume that you probably have the same problem that I do- you appear too "energetic" for this illness.

I am not sure I can respond to all of it at once, so I will start from the bottom.

yes, I agree with you, modern physicians tend to "stigmatize" patients. in a way it is very helpful, because it makes it more efficient, and modern physicians, as opposed to previous generations (and I am talking even 30 years ago), are expected to be efficient. if you have ready made boxes that you can put patients in, then you don't have to "waste" too much precious time. this is very much like any kind of rationing.

also, women's health has been very much neglected for generations. if you think about the word "hysteria" which is the synonym of being emotionally unstable and making a fuss of minor problems, or even the equivalent of conversive disorder, as coined by Freud, comes from the greek word -hystero-which means womb.

ischemic heart disease was considered until about a decade ago, to be a men's disease, and women were thought to be very rarely inflicted by it. we now know that the clinical presentations, and accuracy of diagnostic tests-such as the stress test, in woman are very different.
I myself once pretty much forced an arrogant cardiologist, who still ignored those studies, to take a patient with what I thouhgt were obvious anginal symptoms to the cath. lab. and needless to say, she was taken from there straight to the OR for an emergent bypass surgery.

modern medicine is a very powerful tool and like any powerful tool, can be used wisely to improve the life of people , but can also cause much harm, if not used in that way.

I was very fortunate to work with a wonderful physician in a philadelphia inner city hospital- he was a hematologist that took upon himslef to change the way patients with sickle cell disease were treated.
sickle cell disease is a disease of african americans, and some of them do belong to the lower classes of the society and are drug addicts, but most of them are'n't, but as a major manifestation of this illness is extremely painful crises, that can only be managed with opiates, they would come to the ER in the middle of the night asking for morphium and treated like drug addicts.

this wonderful physician, decided to dedicate some of his time, on a voluntary basis and opened an ambulatory clinic, where he would see them on a regular basis. and when they came to the ER they would have a letter from him, giving very clear orders regarding the medications they should recieve.
I can't say that all the residents changed their approach, but some did.
and no doubt that seeing the way it changed those people's life and their gratitude to him was more rewarding then anything he could have earned in his private clinic during that time.

so, yes, things can be changed, if one puts his/her mind to doing so. probably not in one day, but eventually...

and when you say-Not until the diagnostic process of MG can be improved.
I think it is the question of the egg and the hen, because maybe we, as educated patients, can do something about it, in a positive way.

alice