ACHIEVABLE HEALTH
Champions of I/DD Care

I’ve been asked to share my personal journey and the important role Achievable Health played in it. A little caveat: I am still navigating the emotions of a life-altering diagnosis, which is a journey unto itself.

​​

Much to my dismay, I often find that as I recount my experience, tears fall. So you may see some this evening. While there is sadness as I reflect, these tears also represent the gratitude I feel for the expert care and love I received from the Achievable Health team.​

 

For those who don’t know, I started my professional career as a young writer in my hometown of New York City. I became a staff writer for a popular national magazine in my early 20s. As the growth of the internet began to profoundly impact the magazine publishing industry, I left New York and relocated to Los Angeles in 1997 to start anew.​

 

Like most who move to the City of Angels, I landed in the entertainment industry, where I worked in various capacities for a little over a decade. Having left the film and TV industry frustrated and disillusioned, I decided to simply do my own thing. That decision wasn’t the best for me financially, but it did wonders for my emotional well-being.​

 

During this time, I fell in love with the practice of yoga and even became a yoga teacher. No one becomes a yoga teacher to get rich, and I most certainly wasn’t. I often found myself living hand to mouth, but I found joy in service.​

 

As we headed into 2020, I truly believed it would be my Jabez year. I had written a yoga book and felt deeply that I was entering a season of expansion and blessing. But my hopes were shattered when my life—actually all of our lives—took a huge turn due to the COVID-19 pandemic.​

 

In March 2020 my mother, who had been diagnosed and was in treatment for breast cancer, caught COVID. She was diagnosed on a Friday, and by Tuesday she was dead.  I was grief-stricken, financially strapped, and quietly hiding alarming health symptoms of my own that I simply was not able to cope with. I could only manage to do what I had always encouraged others to do in my yoga classes — take one breath and one day at a time.

​​

However, the urgency of my symptoms ultimately landed me in the emergency room. After multiple tests and two transfusions, I was discharged — but not before the physician on duty with extreme concern on her face appealed to me to PLEASE follow up with my primary care provider.​

 

Having qualified for Medi-Cal, I selected Achievable Health -- a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Culver City, CA -- as my primary care provider. I did so completely unaware that individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) were their specialty. I simply chose them for their close proximity to my home and because the lead physician was a woman.

​​

My first appointment at Achievable, due to the pandemic, was online and with a young Black nurse practitioner. She asked questions and listened attentively as I answered. Most notable was that, despite my attempts to seem “okay,” she saw that I wasn’t. I am a highly functioning adult who wasn’t functioning well.

​

With uncontrollable tears streaming down my face, she asked what was wrong and I explained that I was struggling with the death of my mother. She recommended that I set an appointment with Achievable’s therapist immediately, which I did. ​

 

Before our Zoom visit ended, the nurse practitioner asked one last question — which ended up being the most important.

​

“Is there anything else?” she asked.​

 

I paused, then shared the symptoms I was experiencing. The look on her face changed. I could tell she was alarmed. Without hesitation, she told me it was urgent that I come into the health center for an in-person appointment.

​​

That question and my answer led to a series of appointments, referrals and tests that revealed what we both suspected: cancer.

​​

The Achievable team became the partners and advocates I desperately needed during a very difficult time. They guided me and held my hand through every step of the process — from diagnosis to surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, and recovery.

​​

Before my cancer surgery, members of the medical team called me as I checked into the hospital, knowing I was scared and alone, with my entire family on the East Coast. But I am grateful to be able to say that Achievable Health became my family. From the front-desk staff to the medical team to the referral coordinator, all of them loved on me and supported me during my journey. 

​​

In 2023, I was asked to join Achievable Health’s Board of Directors. I couldn’t have been more proud. It is important to me to help spread the word about the difference Achievable Health makes in the lives of our community members with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and also in the lives of people like myself, who may or may not be part of a vulnerable population. The quality of care is what matters, and it is clearly a priority for them.

​​

At Achievable, they see and hear you. And, as they did in my situation, they will move into action quickly to make sure their patients receive not only the excellent health care they need, but also deserve.

 

Thank you for being champions for Achievable Health. Your support will have life-changing and life-saving consequences for all who are served by this wonderful team of professionals. 

 

I stand before you as someone who is alive because of them.

​

Diane R. Paylor

October 10, 2024