How to Buck the Healthcare System by Becoming Your Own Doctor

PR Log (Press Release) – Oct 19, 2009 – Several years ago I had a patient come to my office for a routine physical. He complained of migraines, back pain and sinus issues, but mostly considered himself a healthy person. I didn't disagree, until I saw his blood work. His cholesterol was 430 and his liver was showing signs of distress from all the over-the-counter medication he had been taking for pain.

I broke the bad news to him while scribbling in my prescription pad. I'm a Doctor, after all, and fixing things more often than not means finding the right drug, which in my experience is going to be far more effective than getting someone to make lifestyle changes - whatever those might be. But he refused. No drugs, he said. He was going to cure himself. Secretly I thought he was nuts, but I agreed and made an appointment to get his blood checked followed by an exam in four weeks. Faced with is own inability to make real changes, I figured, he would be more amendable to using drugs.

The next time I saw him he was a new man. His cholesterol was 210, his liver was recovering nicely, he had lost weight and the headaches were gone. I couldn't believe my eyes. "How did you do it?" I asked.

He said, "Doctor, with all do respect, I decided to do your job."

I thought about this long and hard ever since. I don't think my patient was suggesting that I had failed him. Statistically, most people would prefer a pill to the hard work of understanding their malady and the life changes true healing might entail. This is our health care system. You bring us a problem and we find the right drug by which to fix it. Most of the time it is remarkably successful. But does it truly heal? Probably not.

What he was suggesting was more about empowerment. He decided to take his personal health into his own hands. He was going to learn about his body, learn how to listen to it, respond to it - trust himself to treat his own ailments. There was another path to health other than our system, and he was determined to find it. He did research, changed his diet, became more open to alternative treatments. He questioned standard medical practices, read books, sought alternatives to drugs and the pressure to use them. Instead of drinking coffee all day long, he began to drink herbal teas formulated by an herbal tea apothecary he found online at http://www.homegrownherbandtea.com. He studied herbs and became familiar with Ayurveda medicine. He began taking supplements and exercising. In short, he became his own Doctor.

I now suggest to all my patients that they become their own Doctor. I am always here to help and to advise, and, if all else fails, prescribe the drugs that may help them. But I prefer now to do this as a last resort, unless the medical condition warrants immediate intervention. Now I prefer to listen. Learn more about their habits, what they eat and drink, how often they exercise or don't. Statistically, the odds are against me. Most people don't want to do the work. But the real hurdle is not getting them past their laziness. It's getting them past their self doubt that they are qualified to be their own Doctor. That they can take their health into their own hands. That they don't need me to fix them. That if they work at it, they can do it themselves.