Part of me feels a little sorry for these girls re: their obvious limitations in education. They’re apparently from a family that didn’t place a priority on learning. The fact that Helinore is just now, at her age, coming to the realization that you have to be your own staunch advocate in seeking medical treatment is a little sad but … good for her. I agree with her in the respect that you should be curious, definitely ask questions, be diligent, engage your physicians, be an active participant in your own treatment.
The problem is that to these two, “doing your own research” means starting from behind in the smarts dept and then falling down a rabbit hole on the internet, cherry picking the crazy conspiracies that appeal to their aggrieved biases and limited intellect and assuming that they now know better than the medical professionals that are smarter than they would ever hope to be and who have dedicated their entire lives - blood sweat and tears - to healthcare. It is not a profession of slackers, for fucks sake, who abandon their patients to take random days off to recharge and sit in the bathtub writing poetry about their dream man. I guess you’ve got to be smart enough to know when you’re not smarter than an actual doctor and Leila and Helinore most definitely are not.