You’re sitting in the doctor’s office with a new diagnosis you’ve never heard of, lab results full of numbers you don’t understand, and a brand-new prescription you’re supposed to start taking. You nod, you smile, and you leave.
And before you even get to your car in the parking lot, you realize what you 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 have said: “𝗪𝗮𝗶𝘁... 𝗜’𝗺 𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆. 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁?”
Lynne Vella has seen this happen far too many times, to far too many people. She spent 16 years as a Registered Practical Nurse and another 10 years as a medical transcriptionist. Again and again, she watched people receive important information about their own bodies and their health without truly understanding what they’d just been told.
Sometimes the explanation wasn’t enough. Sometimes the language was too clinical. And sometimes you don’t even realize what you should have asked until you’re already home.
Seriously... how are you supposed to know what questions to ask about something you didn’t even know you had five minutes ago? You can’t prepare questions for a diagnosis you weren’t expecting. You don’t know which numbers on that lab report matter until someone explains them. And you shouldn’t need a medical dictionary just to understand what’s happening in your own body.
That’s why Lynne originally created 𝘼𝙨𝙠 𝙇𝙮𝙣𝙣𝙚 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝 𝙀𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙤𝙧, a health literacy community built around one simple idea: 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀.
Plain, easy-to-understand language. No medical jargon. Absolutely no judgment.
But a couple of months in, Lynne realized that she shouldn’t be the only voice in the room. Health is bigger than one profession, one perspective, or one person. People should be able to learn from nurses, counselors, coaches, holistic practitioners, people living with chronic illness, and other health communities and professionals.
It’s a place where health seekers meet health communities. It’s a place to come when you have questions or need help making sense of your labs, a diagnosis, hormones, symptoms, or the conversation you just had with your healthcare provider.
And 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙖 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝-𝙛𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙮, there’s a place for you here too. Share your knowledge, connect with people looking for support, and help them discover the resources and communities available to them.
Most importantly, this is a place where you never have to pretend you understood something you didn’t. Ask the question. Ask it again. Ask someone to explain it differently.
Because when it comes to your health, 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲. 💚
💬 What’s something a doctor or healthcare provider told you that you didn’t fully understand until much later?