I have been in shock the past week or so after finding out that someone I used to know and care about killed himself. His family is left in anguish, and I was not there to be of any comfort when this happened several months ago and had no way of knowing. Sometimes, these things hit you like a wake-up call. I have felt suicidal before. It was a regular game with my mother, and other members in my family to play the blame game that they would want to kill themselves because of something that happened in their lives. More than one attempt had occurred during my years living with them in that household. I love them and have forgiven them, but the tendency towards my own severe depression and self-destructive thoughts does not go away. I was just reading today on another site about someone whose friend had committed suicide all because of a girl. For whatever reason people do this, one thing is for certain…I believe suicide is becoming a growing trend. It destroys families and maybe even leads to a slew of related deaths. I truly believe people can die from broken hearts. I also believe people who are alone, ill, and without proper love and even medical care are at risk. With this country in so much peril and economic crisis, and homelessness and unemployment being on the rise, more and more people are becoming overly taxed and severely depressed. There are more people becoming suicidal it seems, and less and less love, patience, and resources to go around. One minute a person might seem fine…and they next they are gone. Just like that…

R.I.P. Big Buddy…may God keep your soul in his ever loving grace…

 

One thing many people get into spats over is obesity or being even just overweight.

Many people in the mainstream and even the media make fun of those who are weight-challenged to the point of vulgarity even. Yes, and sadly enough even medical professionals have at times in public or on-line made crude and inexcusable comments towards the obese population.

The word “obese” is not the problem. I feel that there could be other terms for many things used all around, but that is just my pet peeve. It is true that America has an ever-increasing problem with obesity. Obesity in and of itself is a health concern to so many people who struggle with this every day.

But, what so many may not realize is that targeting people who are heavyset has so many destructive implications.

It is understandable that every physician or health practitioner has the obligation to make sure their patient does whatever possible to maintain or to improve upon their health. This is also true of those who have weight issues. Mentioning a patient’s weight challenge to them in an appropriate and serious manner without degradation is a must and ok so long as it is not overdone. But, too many times there are those who only see the weight and not the person inside. This even happens in doctor’s offices.

I cannot tell you how many times I have heard from others, read, or even personally experienced the blame of a medical problem on weight without any further evaluation. It is already humiliating enough to be uncomfortable with oneself, than to be scrutinized or dismissed by others…especially when needing help.This can lead to depression. This can lead to frustration. This can lead to the inevitable reversal of someone who has an emotional eating problem to perhaps cause further damage. It could also lead up to a patient deciding not to go to the doctor anymore for fear that they will be dismissed, brushed off, or merely because they are too ashamed to show their face.

It happens in society too. People who are weight-challenged are more likely to be teased or discriminated against in public. Some may develop social anxiety, depression, and general terror or fear of going out of the house if they feel that badly about themselves or are afraid of how others will see them. Another possibility is the extreme result in an obese individual resorting to such behaviors as binging, purging, and strict calorie reduction.

I know…I have done all three…

I am going to list some blogs that I find to uphold standards of ethics put in place for medical professionals. It is a short list so far, because I have only recently begun to read this genre of blogs.

I am sure there are many many good ones out there, and I will put them in my post as I see them.

I am not going to list the ones that I have read that are enough to make me cry, or run away and hide.

In renewing my trust in physicians, it is a good thing I have happened upon all this lately. The good, the bad, and the ugly I have happened upon… But here I am dedicating this post to the GOOD Doctor Blogs that I have read.

When I get a chance and have come across GOOD nursing blogs, paramedic blogs, etc. I will make them a special section too. God bless these good doctors for having a head on their shoulders, humanity, and wittyness. These are listed in no particular order because I respect them all.

Shrink RAP

http://psychiatrist-blog.blogspot.com/

Wow, this is a great blog. It is written and maintained by psychiatrists. No throwing around of bad words, disgusting harshness, and paradigms that would make their patients cringe if they read it. WAY to GO…

Fatdoctor’s BLOG

http://fatdoctor.blogspot.com/

FatDoctor’s blog is very witty and enlightening. The author of this blog is an excellent doctor and an excellent human being. She is Christian. Her blog is very fun to read and also gives insight on what a physician deals with on a day to day basis. Check it out…

Dr Edwin Leap

http://www.edwinleap.com/joom/

Dr. Leap mixes family, fun, ethics, faith, and a big blessing all into one blog. I still have to read more of his blog, but from what I have read he is an excellent doctor and family man. I came upon his blog by mistake through another patient’s blog where he has posted some fair and wise commentary upon. I felt immediate respect for this man and had to put his blog here.

Another Website of mention belongs to a top notch nephrologist who does research as well.

Precious Bodily Fluids

http://pbfluids.blogspot.com/

This doctor’s research and teaching on renal disorders is excellent. His website and presentation are put together very well. I felt he deserved a mention here because I hold his work in high esteem.

I believe that fibromyalgia is a real diagnosis. I also believe that Chronic fatigue is very real and that both of these illnesses can be something that co-exists or perhaps not. What makes me sad, is that it seems some medical entities do not believe in these illnesses from some comments I have seen posted in various blogs. Posters who identify themelves on such blogs as medical personnel really have an issue with people that have Chronic Pain, Fibromyalgia,Obesity and even migraines. It makes me sad really to see that people can be so hateful.

I am not going to provide research, or links, of information about any of these conditions. I am just going to write what I think. If people don’t agree with me, not much I can do about it. I do believe Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome are real…but I also believe that doctors sometimes put patients in these categories without doing further testing to test for vitamin and mineral deficiencies, autoimmune disease, and even longstanding chronic viral illness. It is a shame really in this day and age that people still cannot get a diagnosis sometimes after waiting years and years and years.

Say for example they see a patient who has raynauds and other symptoms and some borderline results. They will not and probably cannot give the Patient a diagnosis of an autoimmune disease unless the lab work and signs are florid, so instead they may label the patient as having fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome instead of doing more labwork later on, or even further testing.

I have a real problem with an illness that some doctors and medical personnel consider as fake or overdiagnosed…yet they are the ones diagnosing it. IT seems just a tiny bit peculiar to me.

 BE NICE TO YOUR DOCTOR!

After reading enough recently on some of the blogs, I also realize many are hurting inside and bitter because of the treatment they receive wherever they work. This goes for nurses, social workers, and others too. You cannot expect a doctor to be patient and nice to you if you are always rude and obnoxious to them. They should bite their tongue, but it is not always possible. Do you always bite your tongue? I don’t…

My biggest gripe is that people should not say mean things about other human beings, or joke about them in a crude manner. I don’t like the fact that I have seen some blogs making jokes about obese people and even about the elderly. Some of the things were so vulgar I blushed. But, people also say nasty things about doctors and other medical professionals too. Two wrongs don’t make a right.

So, treat others how you would like to be treated.

JESUS is ALWAYS RIGHT!!!

Patients are at the mercy of their doctors, therapists, nurses, and even caregivers.

On the top of the totem poll for many who are ill is the God-like Doctor. Of course, we all know that physicians are not God, but many of us put our faith in them anyways especially when we are forced to turn to them for help for ourselves or a loved one. There are many wonderful, intelligent, compassionate, and empathic physicians out there who still do their job because they care about the sick and want to do their best. They may go about their work unappreciated in their daily lives seeing countless numbers of patients, and perhaps not getting too much gratitude. This also is true for people in the many avenues of medical work. On the flip side of the coin, there are those who judge harshly, argue with their patient, belittle, and even fail to bother to do appropriate testing or provide proper care for whatever reason. In the extreme, there are the medical professionals who belittle patients on a public forum with rude jokes, inappropriate comments, and exhibit possible illegal behavior by giving too much detail about a story in the workplace even if a name is not given about a particular patient. For this reason, I am beginning a blog and thus I am expressing my concerns in this first entry.

Medical professionals who only see patients as migraineurs, fake fibromyalgia freaks, fatties, retards, drug seeking wastes of breath, psychos, smelly,disgusting, apathetic, nothing but whiners, and hypochondriacs, attention seekers, etc. are every patient’s worst nightmare. For those who are relatively healthy, usually a visit to a medical establishment will produce good and satifactory results. But for those with chronic illness of any kind, such medical professionals could pose a risk to their physical and mental well being for so many reasons on so many levels. Sometimes, a trip to see a doctor or even another type of service provider, can turn into a disaster. This may be only in a minority of cases, but I personally believe it happens way too much.

For the patients who are truly ill, and truly need care, they need a good understanding physician to be there to coordinate proper evaluation and treatment options depending upon their specific complaint or diagnosis. If a medical professional is unable to handle a certain problem, then he or she should always refer a patient to whomever can provide the best care possible. If a doctor cannot figure out what is wrong, then they should be honest about it in a professional manner. No doctor should purposely bicker with, yell at, or make unnecessary comments to their patient. Even if he or she sees their patient in a certain way legitimately, it is in both the physician’s and the patient’s best interest that the physician remain as cool and collected as possible in light of the situation. A good doctor, nurse, therapist, etc. should remember that their patients are only human and that they cannot possibly begin to know what the individual has gone through if they cannot put themselves in the client’s place. There is little time with a shortage of physicians, nurses, etc. for proper care as it is nowadays. Patients may feel as if they are on an assembly line only to wait forever in an office, to be brushed off or not even listened to. Sometimes, it might be because a patient has had one too many bad experiences in the care of a medical professional. At other times, it might be that the individual is overly sensitive for one reason or another. But he/she is the patient, and the medical professional is the expert. Just like an adult shouldn’t bicker with a child, under most circumstances I feel that a medical professional should avoid bickering with a patient.

What good does it do to scare someone away? Some doctors for example, would rather have a certain person out of their hair because he/she is too difficult or even belligerent. But many have lost the ability to be understanding and not take everything too personally as well. It may very well be that the patient is frustrated because of their illness, or even because of something that the medical professional has done wrong or not done at all. These are all things to consider. Being amongst others who suffer from chronic illness, I hear these complaints all the time. Many of us go into an appointment or ER with a good attitude and treat our doctors with as much patience and respect as possible, only to be shunned, rejected, made fun of, brushed off, or turned away. Not one of us is perfect, but each patient has a story of their own and they are not just another number on a chart. Unfortunately, this is how many of us feel.