Transcript for "Patient Stories: Being Bold"

This is a transcript for the “Patient Stories: Being Bold” video found on the ORENCIA resources page.

[On-screen text: FEELING EMPOWERED]

Nancy: When I'm nervous, I actually kind of overcome that by acting like I'm confident, even in situations when I'm not so.

Being a teacher, it's natural for me to go into a room full of children and to try to act in an authoritative manner to get their attention.

So, I find that the same skills that you have in trying to engage a group of children, you can also use when you're trying to engage drug conversation with, say, your doctor or any of your medical caregivers.

Feeling bold was a process for me. Being bold with your doctor is very different than standing up for, say, your child. Because the whole experience of the doctor can be intimidating in itself.

So, my experience going in there, I was learning. Whatever they told me, I listened to.

Shannon: I really like to show people that I'm a very self-confident, very independent person.

I love to see other people with that because it makes me happy to see other people that are confident and just self-assured in themselves, because that's the most important thing for me, I think.

There was one moment that I can recall that I felt extremely bold. When I was in my doctor's office, and we were discussing treatments, and I had done my research. I knew what I wanted.

In that moment, I walked out of there with my head so high.

Rebecca: I do know that when I'm being serious, I am a very passionate person. So when I'm being passionate and I'm being serious about something, I definitely have that eye contact, and my posture and my body language is very forward.

So I was in the room, the examining room, and he walked in, and the first thing I did was introduce myself and I handed him my medical records that I brought from my prior state where I lived.

And I also handed him a sheet with basically a summary of my medications, my surgeries, you know, so on and so forth. And I said to him, "This is me on paper, this is what I need from you, can we work together?"

[On-screen text: Can we work together?]