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My guest today, Celeste Fine, is a well known NYC book agent known for being a champion of big ideas. Her clients include Sara Gottfried, Amanda Steinberg, Dave Asprey, JJ Virgin, Joseph Pizzorno, and many others. She's also my book agent.
But today we're not here to discuss Celeste’s career accomplishments. Instead I’m talking to Celeste about an experience she had that was so compelling that I wanted to share it with you. Celeste was pregnant with twins when her babies were diagnosed with Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome. Celeste's story is a cautionary tale for all of us. She was given inaccurate and incomplete information that could have led to the unnecessary termination of her pregnancy as she was advised (twice!), she was subjected to medical “cherry picking” so a specialty practice could maintain their “best outcomes,” and was told that the medical care she needed was not available to her, because one hospital system was competing with another. While yes, there are good and ethical medical doctors out there, as Celeste eventually found, there's a potential gauntlet that each of us might walk through if we need to enter the medical system – and we need to have the power tools that enable us to navigate this.
As a midwife and physician I’ve seen so many patients get misdiagnosed and miss an opportunity to get a second opinion. As Celeste wisely says, “Even the best doctors aren't perfect – we have to be our own and our family's best health advocate.”
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“A lot of this new testing is really great, but you have to also keep it in context, which is that it can give you lots of information but it can also give you misinformation.” – Celeste Fine
In this episode we discuss:
- Why medical testing can be misinformed
- Why you should talk to professionals who understand these tests
- What happened during Celeste’s pregnancy
- The difference between fact and interpretation
- The importance of getting a second opinion
“People are very quick to say the worst scenarios of these tests apply to you because you’re of a certain age.” – Celeste Fine
- Why you can’t guarantee the outcome
- How to just do your best
- What Celeste learned about how to be a patient
- The importance of being an effective patient
- What women can do to find support
“Find what works for you and who resonates with you, and be the one who’s in charge.” – Celeste Fine
