So not that long ago, I am sitting in my doctor's office on the bed with the butcher paper for a checkup and I say:
"So doc, I started taking this herbal stuff for this annoyance of mine. What do you think?"
And doc said, "If it works for you, you should use it."
"You don't have any recommendations about it?"
"Not if you like it."
"And on the bottle there's some bit about seeing your doctor about whether to use this stuff if you get pregnant*. But it's really just like a type of sugar, so I'm thinking, how bad can it be?"
"Right. Sounds like BS to me," says the doc. "I wouldn't worry."
(*I'm not pregnant, just thorough.)
I nod, but I immediately start going over the conversation in my head and I realize that all the doctor had really done is agree with me. So I start to think what use is his expertise. He's the doctor, not me. Shouldn't HE be telling ME whether or not this stuff works well? And then it hits me. The answer to this question is NO. The doctor does not know more about me than I do. And why, in fact, should he? He's trying to see as many of us as quickly as possible and why should I blame him as something has got to keep my insurance premiums down?
A short few weeks later I'm rowing a canoe with el esposo (see pic below) and I start telling him what I think about doctors. I tell him I think sometimes people get the wrong idea. They expect doctors to be like this omniscient being that knows exactly what's wrong with them and how to fix it. So then when the doctor misses something and gets a diagnosis wrong or gives them a medication that doesn't fix everything, people get so angry. On the other hand, some people assume their doctor is preaching the truth even when it doesn't seem quite right to them based on their experience, because as everyone knows doctors are omniscient. I think we can assign both too much power and too much guilt to doctors. I tell El Esposo that we are the ones that are really responsible for our own health.
El Esposo agrees and offers the addition that people often don't keep track of themselves and their illnesses enough to give their doctors all the info they need to make the correct diagnosis. His grandfather has always received excellent medical care because he keeps excellent notes.
I'm not saying doctors don't do amazing things and don't have loads of valuable experience and knowledge from years of intense schooling. Of course they do. I respect them and their expertise. They can also be responsible for the severe errors in judgment they sometimes make. However, I think in most circumstances the onus of responsibility for our health is on us (or the parents of a child, of course). Feel empowered. I do.
And I'm not even going to talk about health care coverage. I'm just not. Because that is a whole other topic.
1 comment:
I kind of agree, but also understand why he didn't have anything to say. Most herbal and vitamins are not reviewed by the FDA, thus their effects can also be disputed one way or another and no long term tests are done on any of them to determine if what they say happens is true. If you look at the label, there is probably a statement about how it hasn't been FDA reviewed. Also, each person is different and herbal remedies might work for you, but not me, and vice versa as well as regular medicine. They have a playbook for regular medicine, ie if not A then B. But for untested things, they do not. However, most of that stuff is mostly harmless, unless it is like Phenphen(sp?) and people start dying, then they take it off the shelf. So it kind of comes down to the old saying, "What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger!" haha.
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