Retha De Wet, who lives in Germany, was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis (MG) in 2013. She shares about a language barrier that taught her a life hack to help her with communicating medication needs.

I was in the ER recently for something nonrelated to MG. I was injured and fell into like a rusty garden fork thing. I’m not quite sure what happened, but I needed antibiotics.

And with MG, antibiotics can be contraindicated. So I was trying to explain to this doctor that I have myasthenia gravis and I can’t have certain antibiotics.

And because it was in my third language in German, the doctor kept thinking that I wanted antibiotics and that I must have more antibiotics. 

And the more we spoke, the less either of us understood what was going on. I also realized afterward that he had no idea what myasthenia gravis was.

But the best hack for that — and I mean, I’ve had this my entire journey, I just did not have it for this ER visit — is definitely just to have a list of contraindicated drugs on your phone to just give it to someone so you don’t have to talk.