Opinions and the practice of medicine

 Health Care, My MCL, Off Topic, Treatments  1 Response »
Oct 112006
 

I hear those terms all the time when discussing medicine, i.e. doctors practice medicine, a doctors practice and going for a second opinion.

Those and similar statements should be the first indication that something may be amiss in the field of medicine. Maybe medicine isn’t an exact science, and that doctors aren’t gods that know everything there is to know about treating diseases. But a recent discussion on an MCL message board I frequent, seems to indicate that, at least a few out there still believe that to be the case.

One person stated

It is my opinion that the patient must choose a doctor after obtaining all information available and even checking with several doctors —- then after choosing a doctor in whom the patient has confidence, he or she must then submit to that doctor’s recommended treatment

Another says

The saying is that if you’re going to be your own d[octor] you have an idiot for a patient. … I was introduced to a young (32, who looked 22) doctor. I asked him his age and where he was from. I was in way to much trouble to shop around. … I’ve never been sorry that I didn’t take the time to shop for a second opinion.

Of course I have no objections to people believing and pursuing such courses of action, but those are individual decisions that must be made by each individual on his/her own. Advocating those beliefs as gospel for everyone is dangerous.

I sure don’t believe that to be sound advice. I have never been of the belief that doctors are gods, and know everything about everything. And if there are such doctors they probably work at a university/research center, and see very few patients if any.

Most doctors/oncologists/hematologists have to deal with a myriad of different cancers, diseases etc. and to expect any doctor to keep up with all the latest research in every area is naive. The only way to ensure you are receiving the best possible care is to be proactive, and keep on top of all the latest advancements related to your disease, while at the same time keeping your doctors informed. Only then can you ever be sure that you are receiving the best possible care.

And with the advent of the internet, that job has never been easier.

There was one thing I learned at the first lymphoma conference I attended in LA, in 2002, shortly after my diagnosis, which I have never forgotten, and that was

NOBODY CARES MORE ABOUT YOU THAN YOU DO!

That goes for your spouse, your parents, your siblings, your doctor, and especially anyone on those message boards.

NOTE: I also posted this at my blog over at The Medical Blog Network, hoping to solicit views from doctors.

So far I have received one comment from Steve Beller, PhD which I found very interesting. It’s a little long, but he does give some reasons to be concerned.

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 Posted by Marc at 11:36 am

Life’s just full of little surprises!

 Life  2 Responses »
Oct 102006
 

Just when you think things maybe aren’t that bad, life throws you that unexpected curve ball. Not only that, but I’ve been thrown that curve ball three times in the past month.

First my highly anticipated trip to Italy, turned out not to be as expected.

Then when I get back from Italy, an email arrives from the person that typically audits the company I work for, informing me that she will no longer be auditing the company for compliance to AS9100. (BTW, I happen to be the Director of Quality and Metallurgy for my company, and the AS9100 representative.)

And then to top it off, just now when I called to schedule my wife’s car for servicing, I discovered the auto mechanic, I have been going to for the past 17 years, sold his business.

And to think, two months ago, I thought I was leading a charmed life (sorta), and all I had to worry about was my MCL! Boy did I ever get hit with a great big dose of reality.

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 Posted by Marc at 12:20 pm

Our trip to Italy – Final Report

 Italy, Vacations  1 Response »
Oct 082006
 

I know I said I was going to give a complete report on our trip to Italy, with lots of pictures, but I just can’t seem to get motivated. And when I tried, all I could motivate myself to do, was change my blogs appearance. (Comments would be appreciated!) Besides, I think I’ve already given a pretty good account of the trip in my previous 4 posts.

Instead I uploaded all the pictures to my Picasa web page, and captioned all the pictures. It does a good job of chronicling our trip through Italy, and it was definitely a lot easier to finish.

So just click here, and you’ll be transported to Italy. You can view it as a slide show, and the pictures will advance automatically at what ever interval you desire, or just click on the first picture, and advance them manually. Enjoy! :)

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 Posted by Marc at 11:18 am  Tagged with:

So much to do, so little time!

 Italy, Life, Vacations  3 Responses »
Oct 042006
 

Ever since my diagnosis, I feel as though I need to accomplish so much before it is too late.

There was even an old television series starring Ben Gazzara, called Run for Your Life, which dealt with the issue of a successful lawyer diagnosed with a terminal illness, setting out to do everything he never had time to do before.

I didn’t realize at the time, just how much I would be able to relate to his situation, but my recent trip to Italy put that entire perspective into reality. It was a hectic and tiring trip, and now even after being at home, I have still not managed to get my body clock in order.

And we even flew business class. I can’t even begin to imagine what it would have been like had we flow coach!

Now the trip was not a total downer, and I am glad I went, but had I known what I know now, I doubt I would have gone, or at least I would have done it a lot differently.

I would have skipped all the tourist attractions, not made any reservations ahead of time, except for a rental car, and just toured the countryside, stopping at what ever bed and breakfast or hotels we would have encountered along the way. That is what we did during our trip to France in 2003, and loved it. Of course the food is much better in France.

I don’t like being tied down to a schedule, and that’s what I had done for this trip. I had heard so many stories about accommodations being at a premium in Italy, I thought it was important to book in advance. We didn’t discover that to be the case, even in high season.

There were so many bed and breakfasts and hotels along the route, I am certain we could have easily found a place. They might not have been 5 star rated, but that’s what makes traveling an adventure worth doing. (And there is always the car.) Just like Ben Gazzara in Run for Your Life.

I also think I set my expectations up too high. I had heard from a few friends just how wonderful Italy was, and how great the food was. Well the countryside was beautiful, but if you’ve seen one town built on a hillside, you’ve seen them all, that is except for one little town called Civita in Bagnoregio only accessible by foot bridge! It was almost worth the entire trip to Italy, just to go there.

And as far as the food goes, all I’ll say is Italy can’t hold a candle to France. Except for dinner at the Costello Banfi winery restaurant, in Montalcino, which was a French restaurant, I can get just as good Italian food right here in good old Long Beach, California.

My only real regret about the trip was planning too much. Prearranging all our accomodations just made the trip seem more like a job, with deadlines to meet, rather than a time of relaxation and enjoyment. I won’t make that same mistake again.

Oh yeah, and I still promise to chronicle our entire trip, with lots of pictures, once I can get my body clock back in sync, but in the mean time, you can view all the pictures we took (not captioned) at my picassa website.

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 Posted by Marc at 7:03 am  Tagged with:
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