Part 3: The System Failed Me (and I Found My Voice)
- Yolanda Kittrell
- Jan 25
- 2 min read
Dismissal, audacity, and choosing myself in medical spaces.
Content Notice
This post includes experiences of medical dismissal, emotional distress, and confronting healthcare providers. Please read gently and pause if needed. 💜
Series Context
This is Part 3 of Endo, But Make It Gentle™, a four-part personal essay series about chronic illness, medical dismissal, and reclaiming voice inside healthcare systems.
Each part can be read on its own.
Part 3: The System Failed Me (and I Found My Voice)
This part is about dismissal, audacity, and the moment I realized staying quiet was costing me more than speaking up ever could.
I walked into appointment after appointment with hope — and left with nothing One visit in particular broke me entirely—an office full of awards and experience, yet no answers.
I stopped asking for miracles. I begged for 10% relief. I cried in front of doctors who had no solutions to offer.
And then came that gynecology appointment.
Kid Doctor.
He didn’t read my chart. He assumed I had an STD. He commented on my weight.
He dismissed my lived experience.
For the first time, I didn’t stay quiet.
I advocated. I corrected him. I questioned him. I refused to be small to make him comfortable.
When the tests came back normal—as I already knew they would—I realized something important: I wasn’t done fighting. I just needed the right person.
Reflection Questions
Where have you felt dismissed instead of supported?
What does self-advocacy look like for you right now?
Continue the Series
Finding my voice didn’t immediately bring healing — but it led me to the right place.
In the final part, I share the first time I was believed, the diagnosis that changed everything, and the beginning of healing on my own terms.
If you are still fighting to be heard, I hope this part reminds you that self-advocacy is not audacity — it is survival.
You are allowed to ask questions.You are allowed to take up space.You are allowed to demand care.
Series Navigation
Endo, But Make It Gentle™ — Blog Series
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