MediHelpz Live w/Sandra L Washington

Sandra
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Medicine

This podcast dives deep into the heart of healthcare through the eyes of patients.  Each episode, we explore the multifaceted experiences of individuals navigating the medical system.  Expert guests will include doctors, nurses, and mental health professionals. The information shared on this podcast does not replace medical infomation provide by your clincian.

  1. Aug 9

    Adult Learning After A Health Crisis

    She survives autoimmune hepatitis, liver failure, and a transplant, then makes a choice that surprises a lot of people: she starts college at 53. I sit down with Sherry Griffith to talk about what happens when a health crisis becomes a turning point and learning becomes part of healing, not just a line on a resume. We get real about the barriers adult learners face, including the “you’re too old” stigma, financial pressure, and even managers who flat-out tell you your degree is “not worth it.” Sherry walks through how she moved from medical billing and coding to a BS in healthcare administration, then an MHA, and now a Doctor of Health Science path and how each step deepens her voice as a patient advocate. Along the way, we talk about bias in healthcare, why women’s health and African-American health concerns can get minimized, and why community health improves when more adults have access to education and credible resources. Then we go practical: patient portals, lab results, and the part most people miss, the visit notes. We share why reading your notes matters, how to request your medical records, and what it means to amend a record when something is wrong or unfairly labels you. If you’ve ever left an appointment confused, dismissed, or unsure what to do next, this conversation gives you language and steps you can use right away. Subscribe, share this with an adult learner or caregiver in your life, and leave a review with one thing you learned or one question you want us to tackle next.

  2. Jul 12

    Patient Experience Without Borders

    MediHelpz Live w/Sandra L Washington

  3. Jun 22

    Stillness Is Strength

    MediHelpz Live w/Sandra L Washington

  4. May 23

    Self-Advocacy Is Not Optional In Health Care

    We talk with Olga Torres about what it really takes to survive the U.S. healthcare system when trust is fragile and the stakes are high. We share practical tools to document your story, ask better questions, and build the skills to speak up even when the system is rushed or biased.  • Olga’s path from public defender to narrative medicine professor and patient advocate  • A near-fatal medical error and why self-advocacy becomes nonnegotiable  • The scale of diagnostic error and the unequal care faced by women and Black and brown patients  • Why patients stay silent: fear, power imbalance, lack of knowledge, prior harm  • Preparing before appointments with a journal, patient portal, and clear written questions  • The HEAL framework: Honor, Expertise, Assemble, Listen  • Repeat-back as a communication tool when instructions are unclear  • “Ask Me 3” questions to keep visits focused  • Balancing long-term self-advocacy with boundaries, rest, and community support  • Language access as a legal right and why family interpreting can take away agency  Be kind always. You never know what someone is going through. So please exercise that right to use your voice when it comes to your healthcare journey to take the lead.

  5. Apr 8

    A Patient’s Story Can Become A Lifeline For Someone Else

    A chart note can change your life in seconds, even when it’s wrong. I’m joined by registered nurse, DNP candidate, and founder Rachelle Dumas, who knows patient safety from both sides of the bed. After nine pregnancy losses, she finally welcomes her son, then later wakes up with sudden vision loss and stroke symptoms and gets dismissed in the ER. What follows is a painful look at how misdiagnosis, delayed testing, and “you’re fine” thinking can spiral into real harm, especially for Black women navigating maternal health and emergency care. We also get specific about the tools and systems shaping care right now. Rachelle explains why informatics and AI in healthcare can either humanize the experience or distance us from it, depending on how carefully we build and use it. She shares a terrifying moment where a post-surgery note mentioned “three aneurysms” and nobody returned calls for a week, highlighting how documentation errors and weak follow-up create avoidable fear, extra costs, and dangerous delays. From that gap, she creates HERD (Human Enabled AI Reporting and Documentation), a patient advocacy app designed to help patients and caregivers document concerns, find the right escalation path, and report harm while it’s happening. We also talk about pregnancy loss support, why language matters, how resource gaps leave families isolated, and what “moving forward” after medical trauma looks like when you’re still healing. If you want a grounded conversation on patient advocacy, medical gaslighting, misdiagnosis, Black maternal health, and responsible AI, press play. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review with the one change you want healthcare to make next.

  6. Mar 23

    Reclaiming Sexual Wellness During Chronic Illness And Cancer

    Nobody warns you that a diagnosis can change your body, your confidence, your relationship, and your sense of self all at once. Sandra L opens with a clear challenge: patients are tired of being dismissed, talked down to, or treated like a template, and real patient-centered care only happens when we communicate and build solutions together. We’re joined by Ebony Mushell, founder of Proud The Lab, a bilateral breast cancer survivor and lupus patient advocate creating tools for healthy sexuality in chronic illness, cancer, trauma, and disability. Ebony explains why sexual wellness in cancer care is often ignored even though studies suggest a huge share of patients experience sexual dysfunction. We talk honestly about supermenopause, body image shifts, fatigue, intimacy after surgery, and how illness impacts partners and kids. Ebony also shares the turning point that led to Proud The Lab after being turned away for help, and why dignity-affirming whole-person care should be the standard. You’ll also get practical steps you can use immediately: Ebony’s three recommendations for clinicians to break the “mutual silence” around sexual health, plus three ways patients can prepare, track symptoms, and use their voice through notes, portal messages, and better questions. We end with the five circles of human sexuality and the resources Proud The Lab is building to bring joy, connection, and confidence back into survivorship. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review. What’s one health topic you wish your care team would bring up first?

  7. Jan 16

    From Gaslighting To Advocacy: A Guide To Womb Care And Informed Choice

    MediHelpz Live w/Sandra L Washington

  8. 10/31/2025

    Get Your Papers In Order

    MediHelpz Live w/Sandra L Washington

See All (26)

About

This podcast dives deep into the heart of healthcare through the eyes of patients.  Each episode, we explore the multifaceted experiences of individuals navigating the medical system.  Expert guests will include doctors, nurses, and mental health professionals. The information shared on this podcast does not replace medical infomation provide by your clincian.

Information