“Our bodies contain our histories—every chapter, line, and verse of every event and relationship in our lives.” ~Caroline Myss   I could hear my teacher talking, but I wasn’t listening. Staring at the math homework in front of me, I couldn’t get the sound of my heartbeat out of my head. Two times two equals, thump thump, equals thump thump, four. The more I focused on my heartbeat, the louder it became. I could even feel beating in my chest. Noticing the clock, I had ten more minutes before my mom would meet me in the school office. We had a meeting scheduled with the school nurse. I dreaded it. Was I in trouble? If so, then why was I meeting the nurse and not the principal? Besides, I was an A+ student. I never got in trouble. At the sound of the bell, I made my way reluctantly to the office. As planned, Mom was there. The school nurse, a small woman with a huge smile, met the both of us. “Come in,” she said, as she motioned in the direction of her door. I looked over at my mom and she looked at me, shrugging her shoulders. We were both clueless about the purpose of this meeting. “Uh huh,” clearing her throat, Nurse Smith broke the ice… “Let’s get to it. Casey, you are too thin. It concerns me.” Looking at my mom, she said, “Mom, do you know why Casey is losing so much weight?” My mom quickly described our diet and how she prepared meals for me, “balanced and complete.” “Is Casey seeing a doctor?” Nurse Smith followed up. My mom, in an agitated voice said, “When necessary we go to our family physician.” Looking at me intently, Nurse Smith patted me on the shoulder, “Okay, Casey, you eat more of your mom’s good cooking and get some weight on you. I don’t want to see you back in my office until you fill out a bit.” This was one of many incidents where people, including professionals, noticed something physical about me, made assumptions, but never asked me about my experience. No one asked me about my perceptions of my weight. Did I notice changes in the way my pants fit? Did I notice changes in my desire to eat? Instead, a band-aid approach—eat my mom’s great food—was recommended, and I was sent on my way. It was assumed that if I ate more, my weight would increase. Was eating more also the solution for my fast heartbeat? Apparently not. Months later, during a physical education drill, my teacher confirmed my rapid heartbeat. My teacher was not only concerned, but I was banned from taking physical education classes until my heartbeat was “normal.” Saddened that I couldn’t take a class that I really enjoyed, no one, including my physicians, offered me any solutions. After wearing heart monitors and complying with many tests, I was diagnosed with tachycardia. This is a medical [...]