Dr. Michelle Nelson Migraine Story

I am a nurse practitioner, a family nurse practitioner.

I had the first migraine of my lifetime. And if you think you've had a migraine, but you really haven't had one is when you really have that first one, you realize that someone has tried to open the top of your head with a drill with no, you're not put to sleep and nothing. Someone is taking a sledgehammer to your head. 

And I said to my husband, I have got to go to the emergency room and he wasn't home. A neighbor was kind enough to drive me. And I'm sure the way that I looked when I got there was, you know, I didn't have on my Sunday best. I had on maybe two different shoes, sweat clothes, you know, I wasn't looking like Dr. Nelson that day. And do you know, it was deplorable the way that I was treated and I'm sure because of my skin color, this person must have looked at me in intense pain and thought that I was a drug seeking individual, which I have never taken drugs in my life. I was in intense pain, and I asked for pain medication and it was so slow to come. 

I shouldn't have to walk into any type of healthcare setting with all of my degrees and all of my handles to be able to get a certain amount of care or a level of care. Any, and everybody should be treated equally and should be able to have access to adequate healthcare. 

But it's absolutely imperative that we understand that there are all kinds of people in Georgia. And we have to make sure that everyone is given a chance. Everyone is treated fairly. Everyone has access, no matter what you look like, no matter if you're in Metro Atlanta or you're in the most rural parts, each Georgia has to be treated fairly and adequately.