Meghan O’Rourke on a medical system not built for chronic illness — and the ‘invisible kingdom’ that could spur change
When her life was upturned by an accumulating array of confounding health problems, Meghan O’Rourke turned, like so many writers before her, to metaphor.
Her body wracked with fatigue was a mound of sand. Her descent into illness was Hemingway’s description of going broke: gradually, then suddenly. The chronically ill patient dejected after fruitless interactions with doctors was nearly invisible, and solitary. She saw the body, within the paradigm of Western medicine, as a car. “Its parts need upkeep, piece by piece,” she wrote in her acclaimed 2022 book, “The Invisible Kingdom.” In 15-minute pit stops, care is doled out, and the car sent to a different mechanic if the issue isn’t as simple as a tire change.
