The Feral Truth: I Use ChatGPT So I Don’t Lose My Mind (or Miss Something Important)

I didn’t go to medical school.

But apparently, I did sign up for a full-time crash course in oncology, cardiology, pulmonology, insurance warfare, and “what the hell does this scan even mean?”

Cool. Cool cool cool.

Because nothing says “thriving adult life” like sitting in a hospital room, nodding politely while a doctor says something like:

“There’s a consolidative opacity with possible atelectasis versus infiltrate, and we’ll

correlate clinically.”

And I’m just sitting there like…

Sir. I barely correlate my own grocery list. What are we doing here.

Enter: My Emotional Support Robot (a.k.a. ChatGPT)

At some point, I realized I had two choices:

1. Keep Googling things at 2AM and spiral into existential doom

2. Or… use a tool that can actually translate this medical alphabet soup into something a normal human brain can process

   
   

So yeah. I use ChatGPT.

A lot.

Like… if it had a punch card, I’d have a free sandwich by now.

What I Actually Use It For (a.k.a. Survival Mode, But Make It Slightly Smarter)

1. “Explain This Like I’m Not a Doctor (Because I’m Not)”

I will literally paste scan results, bloodwork, or doctor notes and say:

“Can you explain this in plain English so I don’t accidentally pass out from confusion?”

And suddenly…

• “Left base consolidative change” becomes

  → “Part of the lung was kind of collapsed or filled with junk, but it’s improving.”

  
  

• “Platelets low-normal” becomes

  → “Not ideal, but not panic-level either.”

  
  

And just like that, I go from what the hell is happening to okay, I can follow this conversation now.

Which matters. Because you cannot advocate if you don’t understand what’s being said.

2. “What Questions Should I Be Asking Right Now?”

Because here’s the thing no one tells you:

When you’re in the moment—especially when it’s your person—you forget everything.

Your brain just goes:

“Cool cool cool, let’s panic quietly and remember nothing useful.”

So I’ll ask:

• “What questions should I be asking about this diagnosis?”

• “What follow-ups matter here?”

• “What should I clarify before we leave this appointment?”

And suddenly I walk into appointments like:

“Hi yes, I have 7.5 very specific questions and I will not be leaving until I understand at least 5 of them.”

It’s giving… slightly more in control than I feel.

3. “How Do I Say This Without Sounding Like a Crazy Person?”

Because let’s be honest.

Sometimes the concern in your head sounds like:

“Something feels off and I will burn this place to the ground if no one listens.”

…but what you need to say is:

“I’m noticing a change in symptoms and I’d like to understand if this is expected or something we should evaluate further.”

So yeah. I use ChatGPT to help translate:

• Panic → clarity

• Emotion → actionable concern

• Rage → something that gets taken seriously

(It’s basically my PR team for when I’m one inconvenience away from snapping.)

4. Tracking the Never-Ending Medical Shitshow

Scans. Labs. Symptoms. Meds. Side effects.

It’s a full-time job just keeping track of what’s happening, let alone understanding it.

So I use ChatGPT to:

• Compare current scans to previous ones

• Track trends in bloodwork

• Ask, “Is this improving, worsening, or just… existing?”

• Sanity-check symptoms like:

  • “Is this normal?”

  • “Is this urgent?”

  • “Do I need to call someone or just watch it?”

    
    

And no—it’s not replacing doctors.

It’s helping me figure out:

Do I need to call the doctor right now, or can this wait until morning without me spiraling into oblivion?

5. The “Am I Overreacting or Is This Actually a Thing?” Check

This one is huge.

Because when you’ve been in the medical trenches long enough, you become:

• Hyper-aware

• Slightly paranoid

• Just knowledgeable enough to be dangerous

So I’ll ask:

“These symptoms are happening. Is this something that needs immediate attention or something we monitor?”

And it helps me separate:

• 🚨 “Call now” energy

• ⏳ “Watch and wait” energy

• 🤷‍♀️ “Annoying but not urgent” energy

Which, honestly, saves my sanity and prevents me from either underreacting or going full feral on a nurse’s station.

The Part No One Says Out Loud

I’m still scared.

All the time, if I’m being honest.

Because this isn’t theoretical.

This is my husband.This is my mom.

This was my dad.

And when you’ve lived through enough “unexpected complications,” you don’t get the luxury of blind trust anymore.

You get… awareness.

You get vigilance.

You get the constant low-level hum of:

“I need to stay on top of this because things can turn fast.”

But Here’s the Feral Truth

Using tools like this doesn’t make you dramatic.

It makes you prepared.

It makes you:

• A better advocate

• A clearer communicator

• Slightly less likely to spiral at 2AM

• And way more capable of walking into a room and saying:

  “I understand what’s happening—and I have questions.”

And when everything feels out of control…

That matters more than people realize.

Final Thought (Because We Don’t Do Pinterest Quotes Here)

I don’t use ChatGPT because I think I know more than doctors.

I use it because I refuse to sit in the dark, confused, nodding along to things that impact the people I love.

I use it because understanding is power.

And when you’re a caregiver?

You take every ounce of power you can get.

That’s the Feral Truth.

Yours in chaos,

~Kari, The Feral Caregiver