Comments on: Medical attitudes toward women http://www.errantdreams.com/thoughts/2007/10/30/medical-attitudes-toward-women/ "You never paint what you see or think you see. You paint with a thousand vibrations the blow that struck you." --Nicholas de Stael Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:49:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: heather http://www.errantdreams.com/thoughts/2007/10/30/medical-attitudes-toward-women/#comment-5600 heather Wed, 31 Oct 2007 16:21:22 +0000 http://www.errantdreams.com/thoughts/2007/10/30/medical-attitudes-toward-women/#comment-5600 I definitely understand that the complexity is a problem. This is why I so appreciate doctors who understand the limits of their knowledge and are willing to send you to a specialist or another doctor when they aren't sure of something. (The one good male doctor I had shocked me by saying to me once, essentially, "this is what I think is going on, but I can't be entirely sure, so I'm going to refer you to a specialist." I was so loyal to him as a patient until he, sadly, left to go to work for Blue Cross Blue Shield.) The doctors that make me angry are the all-too-common ones whose fragile egos apparently can't handle admitting that they don't know something or could be wrong, so rather than write a referral or ask for another opinion, they dismiss your concerns or stick with an obviously wrong diagnosis. I have many of the same concerns about chiropractors that I do about doctors, unfortunately, because I've heard just as many bad stories of them messing people up. =/ I definitely understand that the complexity is a problem. This is why I so appreciate doctors who understand the limits of their knowledge and are willing to send you to a specialist or another doctor when they aren’t sure of something. (The one good male doctor I had shocked me by saying to me once, essentially, “this is what I think is going on, but I can’t be entirely sure, so I’m going to refer you to a specialist.” I was so loyal to him as a patient until he, sadly, left to go to work for Blue Cross Blue Shield.)

The doctors that make me angry are the all-too-common ones whose fragile egos apparently can’t handle admitting that they don’t know something or could be wrong, so rather than write a referral or ask for another opinion, they dismiss your concerns or stick with an obviously wrong diagnosis.

I have many of the same concerns about chiropractors that I do about doctors, unfortunately, because I’ve heard just as many bad stories of them messing people up. =/

]]> By: Aaron http://www.errantdreams.com/thoughts/2007/10/30/medical-attitudes-toward-women/#comment-5580 Aaron Wed, 31 Oct 2007 01:34:21 +0000 http://www.errantdreams.com/thoughts/2007/10/30/medical-attitudes-toward-women/#comment-5580 I'm reluctant to trust any diagnosis. Go to 7 different doctors and you'll get 7 different diagnoses. But, to be fair, physician is a rough profession, because there are so many possible maladies and so many different human bodies. A decade of training won't alert a person to half the possible maladies. And I don't think they're trained to really acknowledge the uniqueness of individual bodies. The human body is kind of like an MMO in that one little difference changes everything. If you have poor blood flow, that will affect countless other bodily functions. If you have a high metabolism, that's a whole other set of condtions. The body is far too complex for anyone to claim mastery, and that's a scary thought. So scary, I think, that only the best doctors keep it in mind. You might see a chiropractor about the digestion problems. One or more of the vertebrae in the upper back host nerves that control digestion (a lot of involuntarily functions are controlled by the back, not the brain). Good luck. I’m reluctant to trust any diagnosis. Go to 7 different doctors and you’ll get 7 different diagnoses.

But, to be fair, physician is a rough profession, because there are so many possible maladies and so many different human bodies. A decade of training won’t alert a person to half the possible maladies. And I don’t think they’re trained to really acknowledge the uniqueness of individual bodies. The human body is kind of like an MMO in that one little difference changes everything. If you have poor blood flow, that will affect countless other bodily functions. If you have a high metabolism, that’s a whole other set of condtions. The body is far too complex for anyone to claim mastery, and that’s a scary thought. So scary, I think, that only the best doctors keep it in mind.

You might see a chiropractor about the digestion problems. One or more of the vertebrae in the upper back host nerves that control digestion (a lot of involuntarily functions are controlled by the back, not the brain). Good luck.

]]> By: heather http://www.errantdreams.com/thoughts/2007/10/30/medical-attitudes-toward-women/#comment-5579 heather Wed, 31 Oct 2007 01:09:22 +0000 http://www.errantdreams.com/thoughts/2007/10/30/medical-attitudes-toward-women/#comment-5579 I can only imagine it's a combination of things. Medicine changes so quickly, and it has to be hard for doctors to keep up as they age. The temptation has to be there to dismiss some of the 'newfangled' diagnoses, to pretend it's nothing when the truth is you just don't have the answers, and so on, just because it's impossible to keep up with everything. Maybe it would be nice if there were more ways for older doctors who find themselves having trouble keeping up to gracefully move to a background position, where they're mentoring and aiding younger doctors or the like. I'm glad to hear you finally found out what was wrong! I can only imagine it’s a combination of things. Medicine changes so quickly, and it has to be hard for doctors to keep up as they age. The temptation has to be there to dismiss some of the ‘newfangled’ diagnoses, to pretend it’s nothing when the truth is you just don’t have the answers, and so on, just because it’s impossible to keep up with everything. Maybe it would be nice if there were more ways for older doctors who find themselves having trouble keeping up to gracefully move to a background position, where they’re mentoring and aiding younger doctors or the like.

I’m glad to hear you finally found out what was wrong!

]]> By: Shinigami http://www.errantdreams.com/thoughts/2007/10/30/medical-attitudes-toward-women/#comment-5577 Shinigami Tue, 30 Oct 2007 23:58:24 +0000 http://www.errantdreams.com/thoughts/2007/10/30/medical-attitudes-toward-women/#comment-5577 It isn't just you. As a 25 year old male I have been trying to get a doctor to listen to me about joint pain for nearly seventeen years. It wasn't until last year that one asked a simple question that put it into place. The question was "how are you sleeping?" Not well thank you. I have averaged four hours of sleep since 2nd grade and routinely spend several days awake at a time. Her response was simple. Prolonged insomnia can cause joint pain. Thats just the joint pain issue. The worst thing to ever tell a doctor is that you have abdominal pain. Due to family history and the afore mentioned joint pain it looked like something bad. On my third doctor, after two CT scans, a scope through the nose, two colonoscopies, and an upper GI X-ray, I was asked if anyone had done a bacterial overgrowth test. Yeah. I had IBS and a bit to much of the wrong bacteria in my intestines. Years of pain and frustration came down to taking some serious antibiotics and eating yogurt afterwards. I felt a world of difference in my life. The doctor that helped my gut was a young male, the one for my joints was a woman. I don't think I will ever see an older male doctor again. It isn’t just you. As a 25 year old male I have been trying to get a doctor to listen to me about joint pain for nearly seventeen years. It wasn’t until last year that one asked a simple question that put it into place. The question was “how are you sleeping?” Not well thank you. I have averaged four hours of sleep since 2nd grade and routinely spend several days awake at a time. Her response was simple. Prolonged insomnia can cause joint pain.

Thats just the joint pain issue. The worst thing to ever tell a doctor is that you have abdominal pain. Due to family history and the afore mentioned joint pain it looked like something bad. On my third doctor, after two CT scans, a scope through the nose, two colonoscopies, and an upper GI X-ray, I was asked if anyone had done a bacterial overgrowth test. Yeah. I had IBS and a bit to much of the wrong bacteria in my intestines. Years of pain and frustration came down to taking some serious antibiotics and eating yogurt afterwards. I felt a world of difference in my life.

The doctor that helped my gut was a young male, the one for my joints was a woman. I don’t think I will ever see an older male doctor again.

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