Seeking Care When Needed
SJ Dodgson MJoTA 2020 vol15 p0106
I was born to two UK-trained physicians, who told me to "stay away from
doctors unless absolutely necessary". Which is great advice for anyone
who knows what "absolutely necessary" means.
In
1992 I had my first mammogram in NJ at 40, and lumps were found, which explained the
occasional pain that appeared when I was 36 and pregnant with my third
son.
My
general physician told me "if
she were me" she would get a biopsy, and so should I. Looking
statistically at my chances of getting breast cancer and deciding they
were around zero, I said no, I will
come back for another mammogram in 6 months, and again in another 6
months. I did. At the same time I went to a dentist in Germany who told
me I needed
three teeth pulled out because of infection. I went to another dentist
in Germany who drilled into my gum and removed the infection, saving my
three
teeth. The third mammogram showed no change, so on my 42nd birthday, in
the high Black Forest, I
conceived my daughter, with all of my and her body parts intact. My
daughter is a magnificent
American-German-British adult, who would not be here if I had not been
able to resist nonsense from trained professionals who were recommending
treatments that would increase their own wealth, and benefit me in no
way at all.
So
the question is: how do you know what is absolutely necessary? When I
fell in a ditch in Zambia and heard a loud crack, I knew immediately
that I needed medical care. Wonderful Zambians came from
everywhere, lifted me out of the ditch and away from the road, young
women fetched water and washed my feet while I waited for members of
GWRAZ to come and take me to hospital. Thanks to expert care by health
professionals in Zambia, and in the US, I was x-rayed, plastered, filled
with titanium, and now generally walk five to ten miles a day. So that
did not take a lot of thought about needing help. And, I cannot thank
the Affordable Care Act enough. And Medicare, which provided a neurosurgeon the following year to remove a spinal tumor which likely was the reason I had fallen.
Knowledge
is power, the more you understand your body and how it works and
reacts, the better you are able to make decisions about your own care.
Get yourself vaccinated against everything; if blood is coming out of
any part of you when it should not, seek medical help. If you have
trouble breathing, or eliminating waste, seek medical care. If you are
suddenly in massive pain, seek emergency care. Some things are obvious,
and greatly depend on whether you can get the care when you need it.
