October 20th, 2009 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Book Reviews
No Comments »
EverythingHealth strongly recommends a wonderful new book called “The Water Giver” and I predict you will not be able to put it down. Author Joan Ryan is a remarkable writer who takes the reader on a journey she lived when her son, Ryan, sustained a near -fatal severe head and brain injury on a skateboard. It is both a medical drama and a meditation on motherhood.
The book begins with Joan’s description of her son’s learning difficulties and years of psychological and developmental testing. Her style as a mother was to intellectualize, do research and try to fix what was “wrong” with her son. The years went by with family stress and teachers conferences and medical consultations but it wasn’t until the day he fell, that Joan realized some things are too big to be studied and fixed.
The nightmare began when he was 16 and went skateboarding without a helmet. The fall on a hill near their home caused a huge brain bleed that obliterated much of his brain tissue. He remained in a coma for weeks and underwent multiple surgeries to relieve pressure. The book chronicles months of near death events in the Intensive Care Unit that nearly drove his parents insane with worry. I will let you read it to find out how it turns out. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
October 13th, 2009 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion
No Comments »
Medscape has a physician portal and they asked the question: “Where would you like to practice medicine?” The responses from physicians were varied with lots of complaining and joking like “Dubai”, but this reply from a family medicine doctor got my attention. I think he speaks for many physicians.
- I would like to work in a fantasy world.
- One where I didn’t have to worry about someones economic status. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
October 3rd, 2009 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
No Comments »
This little girl accidentally got Super Glue onto her eyelid. She came to the doctor without pain and she was able to move the eyeball under the lid but could not open it.
Her doctor in Decatur, Ala gently irrigated the eye area with normal saline and applied antibiotic ointment and a gauze patch over the eye area but the lid remained stuck together. The next day he was able to gently pull the lid open.
If you should ever glue parts of your body together with Super Glue (cyanoacrylate), the treatment is easy. Acetone, the ingredient found in nail polish remover will dissolve Super Glue. A Q-tip with acetone, gently applied to the area, will dissolve the bond without damaging the skin. Don’t pull the skin apart, but gently roll or peel it.
If Super Glue gets in the eyeball, the eye protein will disassociate from it over time. A warm sodium bicarbonate solution eyewash will help remove the adhesive.
Photo/story credit: Consultant
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
September 30th, 2009 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
No Comments »
I heard an interview with T.R.Reid and can’t wait to read his book The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care. He traveled the world and compared how developed countries manage health care. He makes the point that all other developed countries have universal coverage. No-one is left out.
He found four basic systems (some named after their founders):
Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
September 20th, 2009 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Opinion
No Comments »
I read a good post from NYT about Health Care Reform and ‘American Values’ and it got me a thinkin’…just what are American Values when it comes to health care? Usually I get a little anxious when I see “American Values” in a sentence, because what usually follows is something about rugged individuality, pulling oneself up by bootstraps, getting the damn government out of our lives and those damn immigrants and welfare mothers who won’t work and want to live off others.
But I have listened to about ten thousand patients over the past 25 years, and I have a good idea of what these Americans want for health care. They are the silent majority…the people who work, study, raise their kids and seldom call into a radio talk show. They don’t have time to go to town hall meetings and shout slogans.
They range from age 17 to 101 and most of them are middle class. They come in all races…Asian, Black, White, Pacific Islander and mixes of all.
Some are wealthy enough to have multiple homes and private planes.
Some are uninsured and watch their health care spending very closely. Most were thrilled to get Medicare and I’ve never heard a complaint from a Medicare patient.
Here is my list of what these Americans think about Health Care:
- They do agree that everyone should be covered for basic health care and would pay higher taxes if they could believe that there would not be fraud and waste. (The recent banking meltdown has destroyed all confidence that government can regulate or be independent from special interests)
- They want choice of physicians and hospitals
- They are sick of insurance companies and all feel like they have been screwed in one way or another. They are shocked at how little insurance companies pay toward the doctor visit and the way those fees are discounted.
- They are technocentric and want tests, imaging, referrals and think “more is better” when it comes to health care. They think tests are cures. Because of the perverse incentives, the “more is better” philosophy benefits doctors and hospitals, but not necessarily patients.
- They fear losing insurance if they have it.
- They are confused about the current reform debate and mostly fear losing whatever coverage they now have, because they know how impossible it is to get by without any coverage at all.
There are no such thing as “American Values” because we are a diverse group of people. But we all have certain things in common. We want to be healthy. We don’t want to be screwed by anyone (big business or the government).
We want to be able to manage our own health care but we don’t want to have to decide between numerous health plans every year with pages of information that cannot be understood. We are tired of not knowing where all the $trillions really are being spent.
We want to know the price of a service up front, and we want a trusted physician to help us decide if that is how our money should be spent. We want smart, committed physicians to know us, and not hurt us.
Sounds American to me.
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
EverythingHealth strongly recommends a wonderful new book called “The Water Giver” and I predict you will not be able to put it down. Author Joan Ryan is a remarkable writer who takes the reader on a journey she lived when her son, Ryan, sustained a near -fatal severe head and brain injury on a skateboard. It is both a medical drama and a meditation on motherhood.
