"In addition to having a good partnership with a good doctor, you have to do some of the work yourself. Go online, read about it, and find out what you can tolerate"
About this Quote
The phrasing matters. “Good partnership with a good doctor” nods to expertise without surrendering agency. She’s not doing the internet-triumphalist thing where Google replaces clinicians; she’s insisting on a two-person job. The subtext is a critique of the old paternal model of care, where patients are expected to be compliant, grateful, and quiet. Garr reframes the patient as a collaborator who brings lived data: symptoms, side effects, stamina, fear.
“Go online” is doing double duty: it’s democratizing and slightly risky. In a culture flooded with misinformation, she’s not endorsing rabbit holes; she’s describing how real people actually cope when answers are slow and appointments are short. The last clause, “find out what you can tolerate,” is the bluntest truth in chronic illness: treatment is rarely clean. You’re constantly negotiating trade-offs, deciding what pain, fatigue, or cognitive fog is an acceptable price for stability. That word “tolerate” carries the grit of experience - it’s about boundaries, not optimism.
Contextually, Garr’s credibility comes from celebrity without the usual distance. She isn’t selling a brand of resilience; she’s arguing for informed stubbornness, the kind that keeps you from being managed instead of helped.
Quote Details
| Topic | Health |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Garr, Teri. (2026, January 17). In addition to having a good partnership with a good doctor, you have to do some of the work yourself. Go online, read about it, and find out what you can tolerate. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/in-addition-to-having-a-good-partnership-with-a-78653/
Chicago Style
Garr, Teri. "In addition to having a good partnership with a good doctor, you have to do some of the work yourself. Go online, read about it, and find out what you can tolerate." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/in-addition-to-having-a-good-partnership-with-a-78653/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"In addition to having a good partnership with a good doctor, you have to do some of the work yourself. Go online, read about it, and find out what you can tolerate." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/in-addition-to-having-a-good-partnership-with-a-78653/. Accessed 7 Feb. 2026.







