Doctor, Interrupted

‘I was now a patient. And I was going to be a patient for the rest of my life. I couldn’t compute how this had happened. I was a doctor… I didn’t get a diagnosis, I gave them.’

How do you know when you are ill? Are you in pain? Or just aware that something isn’t quite right. But you do know, don’t you?

Dr Clara Doran had been learning about illness and what it looks, sounds and smells like for years when she had to ask herself that question. Doctor, Interrupted tells the story of how she found the answer.

Clara’s story begins with frightening symptoms that reveal themselves weeks into her maternity leave. She soon discovers her nervous system and immune system are attacking each other, and before returning to work as a GP, Clara is diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

As she navigates life with a chronic illness, being a new mother and caring for her patients, she learns first hand how important the way we live and treat ourselves is to both physical and mental health.

Can she remain on her planned path when her landscape now looks different? Following a further deterioration in her health, she finally realises that the answer to feeling better is within her. She just had to be able to hear it.