*THOUGHTS ON HEALTH, MODERN REMEDIES, NATUROPATHIC REMEDIES, AND SURGERY
I posted this as a comment over at Sheryl's fun blog, "A Thought Vacuum" (see links), and thought I might as well post it here too:
My uncle has an interesting take on surgeons: he doesn't want to be cut on by someone who enjoys cutting on people. I suppose he could look at it in such a way that it would be reassuring to be operated on by somebody who likes their work, but I can see where he is coming from.
Being the kind of science guy I am, I trust modern medicine in most cases... although I would not hesitate to augment a modern medical treatment with some naturopathic things that have been around lots longer. I think one ought to take a wholistic approach to prevention and healing, and a lot of natural remedies have been around for thousands of years... Are those remedies effective? I think this may not be borne out by research in a lot of cases, but I would love to see scienctists doing more extensive research on natural rememdies that might not be as invasive or potentially harmful to people as some of the current ones science has given us.
A good friend of mine at work has been cancer-free for about a year and a half since the discovery of an aggressive squamous cell tumor in his neck. He took the radiation and chemotherapy route, and supplemented his treatment with specific herbal remedies. So far so good, and he is back at work and not taking life for granted in any way, shape or form. Given a similar situation, I would also opt for a combination of approaches.
My wife and I have double-coverage on our health insurance, so we basically get everything paid for after the monthy premiums deducted from our paychecks. I work in the public school system and at local the hospital after school, and she works as a nurse at the hospital. I had an MRI done on my back yesterday, and I think it will be covered entirely by our insurance. But I do know there are millions of people in America who are hit with big-time medical bills and simply don't have the money to pay the costs. This is a national problem.
As for doctors in general, some of us tend to rant about their desire to make money, to not be looking after the best interests of patients, etc. I tend to rant on them too, but for different reasons. Because I work with them in my after-school job at the hospital, I run into a few arrogant types with God complexes. They tend to not understand a lot about speech therapy, just like I might not understand much about neurology or about the mechanics of disease. They sure don't like it when I try to explain something to them, because most of them think they know all there is to know already. I have made sound decisions about diets for patients with swallowing problems, only to be overridden by a doctor... arrrrrgh.
My doctor? I like him. He's a lefty, a very relaxed guy, but he always gets right to the point, no games. I had avoided seeing him about my bad back for at least two months, not because I don't like him, but because I didn't want to hear the bad news I knew he would give me: "You need an MRI because I think you have one, maybe two herniated discs." Scheise.
Oh well. I have been trying physical therapy and chiropractic in order to stabilize my lower spine since I threw things out of whack lifting musical equipment on July 4. Because my back musculature still has not stabilized and because my back has basically been killing me for five months, I'm considering something more invasive, like a surgery... but I'll wait for the MRI results. Maybe it will just take a long time to heal, and surgery won't be needed.
Whatever happens with my back, I hope I won't end up needing surgery... because I understand what my uncle says when he talks about surgeons!
My uncle has an interesting take on surgeons: he doesn't want to be cut on by someone who enjoys cutting on people. I suppose he could look at it in such a way that it would be reassuring to be operated on by somebody who likes their work, but I can see where he is coming from.
Being the kind of science guy I am, I trust modern medicine in most cases... although I would not hesitate to augment a modern medical treatment with some naturopathic things that have been around lots longer. I think one ought to take a wholistic approach to prevention and healing, and a lot of natural remedies have been around for thousands of years... Are those remedies effective? I think this may not be borne out by research in a lot of cases, but I would love to see scienctists doing more extensive research on natural rememdies that might not be as invasive or potentially harmful to people as some of the current ones science has given us.
A good friend of mine at work has been cancer-free for about a year and a half since the discovery of an aggressive squamous cell tumor in his neck. He took the radiation and chemotherapy route, and supplemented his treatment with specific herbal remedies. So far so good, and he is back at work and not taking life for granted in any way, shape or form. Given a similar situation, I would also opt for a combination of approaches.
My wife and I have double-coverage on our health insurance, so we basically get everything paid for after the monthy premiums deducted from our paychecks. I work in the public school system and at local the hospital after school, and she works as a nurse at the hospital. I had an MRI done on my back yesterday, and I think it will be covered entirely by our insurance. But I do know there are millions of people in America who are hit with big-time medical bills and simply don't have the money to pay the costs. This is a national problem.
As for doctors in general, some of us tend to rant about their desire to make money, to not be looking after the best interests of patients, etc. I tend to rant on them too, but for different reasons. Because I work with them in my after-school job at the hospital, I run into a few arrogant types with God complexes. They tend to not understand a lot about speech therapy, just like I might not understand much about neurology or about the mechanics of disease. They sure don't like it when I try to explain something to them, because most of them think they know all there is to know already. I have made sound decisions about diets for patients with swallowing problems, only to be overridden by a doctor... arrrrrgh.
My doctor? I like him. He's a lefty, a very relaxed guy, but he always gets right to the point, no games. I had avoided seeing him about my bad back for at least two months, not because I don't like him, but because I didn't want to hear the bad news I knew he would give me: "You need an MRI because I think you have one, maybe two herniated discs." Scheise.
Oh well. I have been trying physical therapy and chiropractic in order to stabilize my lower spine since I threw things out of whack lifting musical equipment on July 4. Because my back musculature still has not stabilized and because my back has basically been killing me for five months, I'm considering something more invasive, like a surgery... but I'll wait for the MRI results. Maybe it will just take a long time to heal, and surgery won't be needed.
Whatever happens with my back, I hope I won't end up needing surgery... because I understand what my uncle says when he talks about surgeons!
