Give your doctor some flowers?
Richard Reece’s recent blog post echoes my sentiments – that it is important, in the midst of a broken healthcare system (and all the frustration that it creates), to stop and ponder the good things that yet exist. There are flowers popping up between the concrete slabs of our system…
Dr. Reece writes,
This is an anti-hero age. We no longer send bouquets or offer praise or optimism, beauty, life, or achievements.
Instead we doubt, dissect, disparage, analyze, impugn, question, and investigate.
Boy, do we investigate. We investigate Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Attorney Generals, Politicians, Army Generals, Priests, Physicians, and Establishment Institutions. The prevailing attitude is: if they or it have succeeded in our society, something must be wrong. Our most prominent heroes, even Mohammad Ali, have feet of Clay. So we send no flowers, only regrets that things are not perfect.
And physicians?
Well, they are the worst. Imagine. They err like other mortals. They occasionally misinterpret signs, symptoms, and results. They cannot guarantee perfect results under all circumstances. They cannot even repeal the Laws of Nature, or the inevitable Limits of Longevity. Physicians are not even omnipotent, omniscient, or omnipresent
…
Maybe we should praise our doctors and their institutions, considered many to be “the best in the world.” That may be why the U.S. introduces 80% of the world medical innovations and wins 80% of the world’s Nobel Laureates in Medicine even though we only have 5% of the world’s doctors. Maybe we should give our doctors flowers, instead of defoliating them. Maybe they should be our heroes, rather than our villains. American doctors are not miracle workers, but given limited resources and Nature’s limitations, they are damn good.
I encourage you to read Dr. Reece’s whole post. This excerpt doesn’t do it justice.
And if you’d like to give a shout out to a good doctor you know (in lieu of flowers) please comment here!
This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
I thoroughly enjoyed Dr. Reece’s pieces of advice today, especially his comment about how even Mohammad Ali has feet of Clay. I hereby send everyone at Revolution Health some virtual bouquets of roses.
That’s one of the benefits of having the Doctor’s Rating section on this web site. Maybe it should be called “Doctor Ravings!”
Some of us actually do send our doctors flowers. I did. A maxillofacial surgeon did a fantastic job on my face after I had a severe accident during a business trip. Given the extent of my injury, I was terrified of what I would look like for the rest of my life, but the doc just took his time and put all the bits back together using a magnifying glass and tiny stitches. When the swelling went down and I saw how well I was healing, I sent him flowers. A year later I was in the same city, so I decided to go to his office and show him just how well his work turned out. When I walked in, the receptionist was nervous–apparently, most people come to complain, not to compliment. I told the receptionist that I was very grateful and wanted to say so in person. The doctor told me that my visit made his day.
What a wonderful story – it’s so great that you took the time to thank your surgeon. Your encouragement means more to him than you know.
Hi,
I
don’t believe anything anymore! Too many experts tell too many stories. I
reduced my diet to all vegetables and fruits and less meat and dairy products.
As for actual medication I take next to nothing except for the occasional Bach
treatment. Those are flower remedies that are taken as drops in water – all
natural and healthy!
See
this blog entry about “flower remedies” at http://www.beyondblossoms.com.
Bye, Chris