This past week I accompanied my wonderful wife to an appointment at the Mayo Clinic with the physician who helps her manage the severe arthritis in her knees and hips. Technically, he is not an orthopedist, but a doctor who specializes in musculoskeletal medicine.
This was the second time I have gone with my wife to see this physician. The first time all I said to him was “Hello, nice to meet you” and “Bye-Bye.”
This time I was a little more talkative. I pointed out some things to my wife in the most recent X-Rays and discussed treatment options out loud with her and the doctor. At one point he said, “Are you a…are you…you’re not a doctor, are you?”
That is hardly the first time I have had something similar said to me by a doctor or physician’s assistant. In fact, that was the third time just since November. In my life, the number of times that has happened is easily in double digits.
The funniest such comment did not come in a funny situation. I had to be taken to the Emergency Room in December, 2022. When the doctor in charge of my case visited for the first time after a few minutes he said, “Confess, you’re one of us aren’t you.” My wonderful wife and I just laughed.
More than a few years ago my wife began to experience pain in one of her heels. I told her I thought it was Achilles Tendinitis and a bone spur and recommended she sleep with a compression sleeve on her foot. After trying it, she said it was just not comfortable.
As the pain continued for a few more months she decided to make an appointment with an orthopedist. I accompanied her. The doctor took a history and then said he needed to do some imaging.
Twenty minutes after my wife returned from the X-Ray the doctor stepped into the office. He said, “You have Achilles Tendinitis and a bone spur.” We both started laughing and the physician asked what was so funny. I said, “We’re only here because I can’t write scripts. I gave her the same diagnosis months ago.”
After taking Meloxicam (an NSAID, Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug, similar to something like Ibuprofen) for a couple of months she finally agreed to sleep with a compression sleeve. After a few months the pain disappeared and has never returned.
I, in no way, think I know enough about medicine to ignore a physician’s advice or diagnosis. I can say, without fear of contradiction, that 99.99% of lay people know orders of magnitude less about medicine than a doctor.
However, I do believe it behooves everyone to realize that you are in charge of your health and that you become as knowledgeable as possible. That does NOT mean listening to advertisements for Helping Harry’s Healthy Pills. I think one of the worst decisions by the US government was to de-regulate supplements in 1994.
So, what would I advise as being important to good health? Don’t smoke (tobacco or marijuana), don’t drink alcohol and get regular exercise. None of that really costs money, just commitment and time.
Too many Americans are lazy. They want a magic pill, a magic diet or a magic surgery to make them healthy. Magic isn’t real; it’s an illusion. Being healthy takes effort.
#AreYouADoctor?
#MayoClinic
Disaffected Musings 