A personal response

A medical misadventure

Seemorerocks

This week I have had cause to go back to my doctor.

One more attempt to get the medical profession to take me seriously. 

It took a long session and a very emotional response to me ‘reading the riot act’ and then a private talk with the GP (a replacement from my usual doctor, who is in Canada), telling him my medical history – how I was diagnosed with sarcoidosis 5 years ago for him to have his Hail Mary moment and to realise that I wasn’t pretending and there might be something behind what I was saying.

It turned out that my medical records that were supposed to have been transferred electronically from my normal doctor’s previous practise went off in a whiff of smoke and had disappeared, so the doctor was unaware of my previous history.

Mind you that's not the first time that has happened. After transferring from my previous doctor, MA at the M Health Centre, the files were transferred  but all the files containing X-rays were corrupted.

While I have been aware of this situation for some time this was not such a problem with my normal doctor who made up for his lack of organisation with an insight and knowledge of medicine, both of the the conventional and the "alternative" variety.

The problem was that it seems, to finance his practise in New Zealand he had to make regular trips back to his native Canada from time to time. That meant he was absent whenever anything important happened for me - such as being diagnosed and operated for melanoma and having a major fall in the shower which necessitated surgery on my ankle.

W's approach was always a consultative and very equal relationship (as opposed to a self- declared one). When it became obvious that the conventional model held no credible explanation for my illness and the anthroposophical remedies he suggested hadn't worked he asked me "Robin, what would you like to do?"  My response was "nothing".

That was in winter.  My biggest mistake was to ring up for an appointment to find that W had already been in Canada for some months and wouldn't "be back for some time". So I agreed to an appointment with a woman locum, a creature taken straight out of the British National Health System.

Outwardly friendly and helpful and generous with her time ("oh, I practise yoga") she turned out to be a gargoyle. After spending time explaining my situation (with my partner Pam on one occasion) she said "let's do a West-meets-East scenario" and proceeded to explain how a lot of illnesses were simply in the head and sent me off with a link to a website so I could persuade myself that I wasn't ill but simply depressed.

After my encounter with this "doctor" creature I vowed not to go back, so that when I was next panicked by some symptoms I went to the Accident and Emergency section at the hospital instead.

After going through the usual ritual which included tests such as an abdominal X-ray (almost designed not to show anything) the duty doctor opined that "it's just old age" - at the age of 59!!!

So again, I determined I would not set foot in the medical system until doctor W got back.

Then I got a ring from doctor E, the head honcho at the medical centre literally summoning me for an appointment and that this had something to do with my trip to the hospital so on the urging of my partner I made an appointment.

Once again the friendly smile and when I talked about honesty he said "I'm your guy!"

He did some palpation as well as the usual ritual measurement of blood pressure etc. and then he had a bright idea - to take my weight and then came back with his considered opinion. "You're obese!" "If you do this diet you'll feel at least 50 % better!"

The diet, one based on cutting out carbohydrate was a sensible one but one best left to experts - trained naturopaths and not to enthusiastic amateurs who have found it worked for them and then using their self-proclaimed authority as a general practitioner to push the idea.

My protests that my being overweight was a consequence,not a cause of my problems, fell on deaf ears.

Just try mentioning pesticides!!

So "best practise" has told me in the last year that it is "just old age", that it's all  in my imagination and I'm depressed and finally that it's because I'm obese.  

I'm a fat fantasist!

Once again, despite my better judgement (to appease my partner's desperate and understandable need to know  what's ailing me) I found myself once again in Doctor E's office.

Once again a vain attempt to persuade this individual that actually something serious is going on and Pam explaining that she's afraid of losing me - a desperate plea to take this seriously and to repeat previous tests.

The response to this? 

Another bright  suggestion ("does he snore? Have you noticed whether he stops breathing? You don't sleep in the same bed - why not?).

Sleep apnoea! 

He thought that I was so stupid I'd not heard of it.

That was it! My patience was broken and I started off an angry tirade.

This evoked a hurt response.  "You're being so aggressive and I'm just a thoroughly nice chap wanting to help", "it's been a long time since this happened

"Things have reached a dangerous point.....what is important is the therapeutic relationship....Other doctors might take offence at this and cancel the relationship... but I won't"

TRANSLATION: "How dare you question my authority"

Pam said she was afraid I might be affected by some bacteria or something. "We're evidence-based", says Dr. Sleep Apnoea.

ASIDE: "Evidence -based" is just a lie used to beat empirical medicine over the head.  Most medicine practised by doctors is what ? Empirical!

We got back to the consultation and when I mentioned a problem I'm happening he sent me off to the bathroom to take a sample (no physical examination by the way).

Pam took this opportunity to have a heart-to-heart with the doctor. 

Seeing I'd had a diagnosis of sarcoidosis perhaps he should repeat the tests?

Sarcoidosis?

That seemed to change everything for when I re-entered the room he was engaged in a conversation (in a hushed voice for some reason) to make an appointment for a chest X-ray - and the appointment had to be as soon as possible, today if possible.

So, it turns out that not one of these 'doctors' had ever once bothered to look back at my file to find my history - or rather the gaping gap in my history. In fact, not one of them had ever asked about my history.

The response, on a follow-up visit  was an impassioned (and rather pathetic narcissistic denial that either he or his staff was in any way responsible for the cock-up and he was perfectly comfortable with his actions.

In fact he was such a nice fellow that he had rung the hospital for me ("mightn't my partner have had something to do with that?).  When I suggested  that they are all responsible - the Ministry, the previous practise, his receptionist who had failed to follow up on getting my files back ("how dare you criticise M. She's a nice person!".  Perhaps I ought to ask William about this?

In other words in his self-view he was a rather fine fellow, honest and trying to do his best.

After mentioning that I was considering my options (including a complaint to the Health and Disability Commissioner) I was quickly offered a reduction in fees, even a free consolation and would I please consider not taking that course of action.

This is the latest in a whole history with the medical establishment that has brought me into conflict with the current Paradigm at every turn.

As I am still involved with this practise and, despite everything, they're still the best of an extremely bad bunch I will not be making an official complaint.

This, instead, is my response.

The X-rays and other tests will show absolutely nothing because the symptoms I had previously (and the diagnosis of sarcoidosis) have nothing to do with my illness.

But that's another story.

I have an intention to record my entire history, including my ghastly history with the Manuka Health Centre where I worked for eleven years, but that is going to take a bit longer as I take periods where I have the energy to sit down and write.

The modern medical protocol

"But getting back to those struck down with Twentieth Century Illness, it was, at least in the English-speaking countries never a case of 'I regret it, but our tests, our laboratories are inadequate to determine what is wrong with you, and so am I. We'll do our best for you in the face of our ignorance'

"Because Freud has said there were hidden things under the surface, in that dim and murky place, which we call, with our patheticallysuperstitious and primative understanding of the brain and logical human motivation, "the mind". And students at medical school are actually taught to believe that up to 45% of their patients will say they are ill, but will not actually be ill."

(Dr Toni Jeffreys PhD - Your Health at Risk – What Doctors and the Government Aren't Telling You, 1998)

...

It turns out that at medical school they are taught something along the following lines:

In any month any 400 people over 16 feel ill

Of these only 100 go to see the doctor.

Of these 50 have "objective, physical disease". 35 cases will clear up spontaneously and do not need further help. 15 have a real disease that needs further help.

The remaining 50 have "no physical disease" – and this can be explained as stress, anxiety or "in the mind".

So turns out that only 15 out of every 100 people who visit a doctor actually 'need help'. Too bad about the rest! The 35% will clear up, because that's what most illness does. But then there's the 45% who claim to be ill but medicine has 'decided' are not ill.

http://robinwestenra.blogspot.co.nz/2016/01/reflections-on-modern-medicine-and.html