Lisa Doggett - Up The Down Escalator

https://www.lisadoggett.com/ Lisa Doggett, MD, MPH is a family physician and author of a new memoir, Up the Down Escalator: Medicine, Motherhood, and Multiple Sclerosis (available Aug. 15, 2023, HCI Books). A seventh-generation Texan, Lisa grew up in Austin, where she developed a strong commitment to public service under the influence of her father, U.S. Congressman Lloyd Doggett, and her mother, Libby Doggett, a nationally known advocate for children and families. She attended Amherst College, Baylor College of Medicine, and the University of Texas School of Public Health. She completed her residency in family medicine at the University of Cincinnati. Returning to Austin in 2002 with her pediatrician husband, Lisa practiced medicine for several years at People's Community Clinic. Then, at the age of thirty-four, with virtually no administrative experience, she leaped at the opportunity to direct a new clinic for Central Texas residents without insurance. Days after her younger daughter turned two, Lisa was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Shocked and scared, Lisa faced a bleak future, plagued by chronic dizziness and the specter of disability hovering nearby. She didn't know if she would ever be able to work again or serve as an effective parent. But she has done both. Lisa now works as the senior medical director for a national care management company - a job which allows for creativity, continued work with vulnerable populations, and improved stress management. Her daughters - now 15 and 18 - are thriving, and her husband provides support through the challenges of her illness. Since her diagnosis in 2009, despite several relapses, she has hiked the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, traveled throughout the U.S. and internationally, run two marathons, completed a half Ironman triathlon, and biked the MS150 four times: over 160 miles from Houston to Austin and, more recently, Austin to College Station. A co-founder of Texas Physicians for Social Responsibility, she remains active on the board, currently serving as president. She has loosened her grip on perfectionism and accepts uncertainty. MS is now a reason to seize opportunities and rejoice in each day. A memoir of triumph in the face of a terrifying diagnosis, Up the Down Escalator recounts Dr. Lisa Doggett’s startling shift from doctor to patient, as she learns to live with multiple sclerosis while running a clinic for uninsured patients in central Austin. Recounting before and after the discovery of her MS, she chronicles vexing symptoms while trying to be an attentive mother, wife, and a caring family doctor. Facing the prospect of a career-ending disability as she adjusts to life with multiple sclerosis, Dr. Lisa Doggett is forced to deal with a new level of uncertainty and vulnerability, and the everyday fear that something new will go wrong. Taking off her white coat—becoming a patient herself—she confronts unimaginable fears, copes with her limitations, and sidesteps her skepticism of alternative medicine to seek help from unlikely sources. Drawing on riveting patient stories, Doggett reveals the dark realities of the dysfunctional U.S. healthcare system, made all the more stark when she becomes the one seeking care. MS pushes Doggett—a perfectionist at heart—to soften her inner drill sergeant and embrace self-compassion. As a patient, she learns to advocate for herself to ensure on-time medication deliveries and satisfactory treatment plans; to navigate chronic dizziness, relapses, and parenting frustrations; and to push her physical limits as a runner to go farther than ever before. As the director of a health clinic for the uninsured, Doggett’s MS inspires an even deeper empathy as she confronts challenging cases, prompting her to work harder on behalf of those in her care, many of whom struggle with illnesses more serious than her own.