Who the hell do you think you are?
That is a really good question.
So i shall answer it.
I am someone who was left, for over 20 years with an undiagnosed, untreated prolactinoma and polycystic ovary syndrome.
Every time i appealed for help to my doctor, i was told to ‘lose weight. Fat women don’t have normal periods, so you know what to do, don’t you?’
Good job i never wanted children, isn’t it? Because I couldn’t have had them if i had wanted - without treatment that was so dismissively denied to me.
Fortunately that doctor retired, but it took a random meeting with a female consultant before any investigations were conducted and the diagnosis and treatment achieved.
Other occasions when the NHS has failed me include
‘Back pain? Take some anti-inflammatories and rest it’. That was a displaced sacro-illeac joint. A chiropractor corrected the displacement in a single treatment, after 2 years of constant pain.
‘Oh, you have sprained your ankle. Strap it up for a day or two, then walk on it as much as possible’. That was a dislocated ankle that made me scream when i put my weight on it. That was sorted by an osteopath.
‘Sore eyes? Looks like you are squinting. Go to an optician and get an eye test.’ That was an allergic reaction to mascara.
‘Reactive hypoglycaemia? Never heard of it. All in your mind. Have an antidepressant. And some antianxiety medication. Don’t want it? Oh dear. That makes you non-compliant. I will just mark that on your notes for posterity.’ Sorted the RH myself by learning which foods triggered the hypos, and avoid them. Not in the mind at all, as my glucometer will testify.
I am also someone who lost a good friend to breast cancer because ‘pregnant women often get lumpy breasts, don’t worry about it.’ She died when her baby was about 6 months old.
So my first reaction when i learned my blood glucose was too high was NOT to trot trustingly into the same dismissive arms of the NHS. It was to educate myself. Learn about the condition, about treatment, about complications, life expectancy, insulin resistance and diet.
And i am so glad I did. I now have excellent understanding of nutrition, feel better, and am very happy with my blood glucose control. I also have much lower insulin resistance than if I was injecting the stuff several times a day. That will serve me well in future years, when my odds of strokes and heart attacks will be reduced by having less insulin floating around.
If you are so sure of your ways, why are you going to your doctor, nurse, etc. Go and treat yourselves and don't waste the professionals time which could be spent on other patients.
I do treat myself. Every meal. Every day. And the last conversation I had with my (previous) doc, he denied I had ever had raised blood glucose. Apparently reading my notes was too much bother for him to look at.
Of course, if he
had bothered to read those notes he would have realised that I have had pre-diabetic and diabetic blood glucose test results (fasting and HbA1c) for 20+ years.
Why on earth would I trust my health to such a person?
I have since changed doctors, but my default setting will (through bitter experience) be to learn about a health condition, and where possible, treat myself. And i will never blindly follow medical advice ever again. It has caused me too much pain and ill health in the past.
If I break my leg or need surgery, then there is nowhere other than an NHS hospital that I want to be.
Most other health issues? My doc is not my first port of call, and i won’t ever trust what they suggest until I have verified it with a reputable information source.
@Sani Thomas
I am delighted that you have had excellent healthcare, so far.
But I don’t think that your experience gives you the right to criticise me for handling my health the way I do. Not everyone has had your experiences. I wonder (just speculation, of course) if your experiences have been influenced by you being a professional nurse. They probably don’t patronise you so much.
