I offer these thoughts:

If you have a debilitating chronic disease, it's only logical for you to be fearful, depressed, frustrated, angry, and to suffer a deep loss of self-esteem. It's even understandable to feel you have the right to some self-pity. But you also have the right to redirect those energies toward managing your disease, and I'd like to help, if I can.

Several times each week, I receive letters or e-mail's that say, "I want to tell you how much it helped me to read an article I wrote, or a message I posted on an Internet forum, or other material they found through this site. I know I can't change the world, but it is a wonderful feeling to know that I've made the path a little more friendly for even one other person. [You might say it is my way of "lighting a candle, rather than cursing the darkness."] As long as I feel I'm succeeding at that, this site will continue to grow and, hopefully, improve.

Give Your Doctor A Break!

They sometimes make it almost impossible to believe, but we should remember that doctors are human, too. Some are too fat, are hooked on cigarettes or alcohol, or have lousy marriages. Some make terrible business decisions; some are downright lazy; some can't play golf worth a damn.

Sometimes the reason your doctor kept you waiting an hour past your appointment was because the patient ahead of you had a true emergency and, if it had been you, he would have let others wait. Some doctors seem aloof because they simply lack some social graces, and some have built a shell around themselves so they won't hurt so much when a patient dies.

Dealing with Medicare, insurance companies, and HMOs, and following all those rules and guidelines, and handling all that paperwork and phone calls, takes all the joy (and, most certainly, some of the pride) out of the practice of medicine.

A doctor must keep up with all the treatment advances in his field, and know all the new medicines, and be really careful of things that lead to spurious malpractice suits.

I don't think, if I could live my life over, that I would choose to be a doctor. However, I damned well expect mine to be technically perfect, deeply involved in my course of treatment, completely supportive of my efforts to manage my disease, and patiently considerate of my every emotional and psychological needs. And I think it would be nice if such service was delivered with a smile.

A Thought On Diagnostic Genius

Consider the challenge faced by the veterinarian: his patients can't tell him how they feel or where it hurts, and the animal’s owner knows either nothing or everything about the problem.
Not only does the vet have to come up with an accurate diagnosis, he has to deal with a client who is virtually hysterical with concern, either for the animal’s well-being, or for the cost of the whole thing.