A Rant on Doctors
Victoria Hardy
March 26, 2007
I’ve never really cared for doctors, I was born with a clubfoot and by the time I was two years old, my first surgical experience, I had already had enough of them. At the time my doctor felt the best thing to do with a clubfoot was to keep a cast on it, but even as a toddler I knew that wasn’t right for me. The casts lasted as long as it took for my mom to put me back in the crib, where I would wedge the cast between the bars and have it off in seconds. After 8 or 10 casts, the doctor finally gave up on that idea. According to witnesses, when I had the surgery to repair my foot, I screamed bloody murder every time I saw a white coat or a nurse’s uniform. I am grateful for the surgery to repair the probable limp, but I should have quit when I was ahead.
I’ve known a few great doctors over the years, but I have also known more than my share of not so great doctors, doctors who were arrogant, who didn’t listen and who were convinced they knew more about my health and my well being than I did, and for many years I believed that they were right. Now, I figure I am the only one in here and I know when something is wrong, perhaps I am naïve, but that is my belief. And frankly, after long and hard experience with the medical profession I don’t trust them anymore, I don’t trust that my health is more important than their bottom line.
I’ve actually lost count of the amount of exploratory surgeries I have had over the years, but I fully remember the six major abdominal surgeries I have had, brutally painful and leaving bits and pieces of me in laboratories for further examination. The last surgery removed 4 inches of healthy tissue, the doctor made a mistake reconnecting my colon and I nearly died. It took over six months for me to recover; I was left vicious scars and huge debt. But I think I finally learned my lesson.
My latest doctor likes to write prescriptions and despite my telling him that I wanted less prescriptions instead of more, he offered me four at my last office visit. I guess I am a hungry doctor’s fantasy, all those previous surgeries could mean more surgeries and certainly mean more tests and more prescriptions. Now I find I have a doctor that has his office call me for appointments, when none are scheduled and I feel fine, I get the distinct feeling he doesn’t want me feel fine because it is not conducive to his bottom line, to his BMW payments or his mortgage.
I would think that a doctor should want what is best for his patients, but there I go again expecting the world to make sense and one might think I would be beyond that idealism at my age. When I told my doctor I was handling the chronic pain that comes from having six abdominal surgeries with acupuncture and meditation, he was disbelieving and insisted that prescriptions would be a better option for me. When I still refused each new and different medicine, he laid me on the table for an examination and then tried to see if he could actually touch my spine, by pressing on my stomach. And after each incredibly hard press, he asked if it hurt. Of course it hurt, there’s a lot of scar tissue in there, but I also recognize when someone is attempting to get a reaction, so I lied and said no, feels great, which only made him press harder. The next day, terribly sore from his examination, I went to my acupuncturist and the pain dissolved.
The same doctor didn’t tell my husband that through his own efforts he had lowered his cholesterol by twenty points and then tried to write a prescription for the latest cholesterol pill, which my husband refused. And I wonder, how much choice will we have over our health care decisions in ten years? As the pharmaceutical companies control more and more, will they be dictating what drug we should be taking and will we be bound to comply? Is the freedom to make our own decisions about our health another freedom that we are losing? All I know is, I am looking for a new doctor.
I’ve known a few great doctors over the years, but I have also known more than my share of not so great doctors, doctors who were arrogant, who didn’t listen and who were convinced they knew more about my health and my well being than I did, and for many years I believed that they were right. Now, I figure I am the only one in here and I know when something is wrong, perhaps I am naïve, but that is my belief. And frankly, after long and hard experience with the medical profession I don’t trust them anymore, I don’t trust that my health is more important than their bottom line.
I’ve actually lost count of the amount of exploratory surgeries I have had over the years, but I fully remember the six major abdominal surgeries I have had, brutally painful and leaving bits and pieces of me in laboratories for further examination. The last surgery removed 4 inches of healthy tissue, the doctor made a mistake reconnecting my colon and I nearly died. It took over six months for me to recover; I was left vicious scars and huge debt. But I think I finally learned my lesson.
My latest doctor likes to write prescriptions and despite my telling him that I wanted less prescriptions instead of more, he offered me four at my last office visit. I guess I am a hungry doctor’s fantasy, all those previous surgeries could mean more surgeries and certainly mean more tests and more prescriptions. Now I find I have a doctor that has his office call me for appointments, when none are scheduled and I feel fine, I get the distinct feeling he doesn’t want me feel fine because it is not conducive to his bottom line, to his BMW payments or his mortgage.
I would think that a doctor should want what is best for his patients, but there I go again expecting the world to make sense and one might think I would be beyond that idealism at my age. When I told my doctor I was handling the chronic pain that comes from having six abdominal surgeries with acupuncture and meditation, he was disbelieving and insisted that prescriptions would be a better option for me. When I still refused each new and different medicine, he laid me on the table for an examination and then tried to see if he could actually touch my spine, by pressing on my stomach. And after each incredibly hard press, he asked if it hurt. Of course it hurt, there’s a lot of scar tissue in there, but I also recognize when someone is attempting to get a reaction, so I lied and said no, feels great, which only made him press harder. The next day, terribly sore from his examination, I went to my acupuncturist and the pain dissolved.
The same doctor didn’t tell my husband that through his own efforts he had lowered his cholesterol by twenty points and then tried to write a prescription for the latest cholesterol pill, which my husband refused. And I wonder, how much choice will we have over our health care decisions in ten years? As the pharmaceutical companies control more and more, will they be dictating what drug we should be taking and will we be bound to comply? Is the freedom to make our own decisions about our health another freedom that we are losing? All I know is, I am looking for a new doctor.