Excerpt
From Anecdote to Antidote:
SECTION 1: “PEOPLE”
INTRODUCTION
“It is healthy
to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest
might err.”
––Mohandas K. (Mahatma) Gandhi
One of my main goals
with this book is to ease the intimidation I see in my patients’
eyes as I consult with them for the first time. Not because
I don’t enjoy being put on a pedestal (I do), but because
of how it influences their behavior while we discuss such
important things as their medical history, weight, allergies,
past medical procedures, et cetera. I can’t tell you
how many second opinions I’ve given, often in complete
reversal of a previous doctor’s diagnosis, that could
have been easily avoided if the patients had simply been more
honest and less intimidated by their doctor during their initial
consultation.
I can understand the sense of intimidation.
Sometimes people feel uncomfortable or insecure around someone
who may have had a more extensive education than they have.
In addition, as in any human situation, there is the issue
of “power”. Think about it: you’re entrusting
your health and well-being into the hands of someone outside
your family, someone you don’t know, someone who (in
most cases) went to school for an additional eight years after
college and regularly cut into corpses as practice for tending
to your healthcare needs. On top of which, you’re sitting
there in his office — on his turf — in a paper
dress with your rear end hanging out.
Of course, I could tell you the many ways in
which doctors are people. We take out our own trash, do our
own shopping, mop our own floors, even stand in front of the
over-the-counter drug aisle — just as perplexed as you
are — when we have a runny nose or stomachache. We forge
relationships with patients, develop individual likes and
dislikes, and can often both sympathize and empathize with
those in our care. We fall in and out of love, go through
mid-life crises, keep hobbies, and pursue interests —
like, say, writing a book — and we (hopefully) learn
something from each interaction and experience. As my creative
writing teacher once told me (or should I say, told me many,
many dozens of times), “It’s better to show than
tell.”
So here’s where I start. By recounting
the people I’ve met over the course of my career on
the following pages, and recounting the things I’ve
learned from them, I will show you the many ways in which
doctors — mainly myself — are more human than
one might expect and far more fallible than people give us
credit for. It is not my hope to throw egg on my face or the
faces of my colleagues, but instead to inspire you to be more
confident, brave, and forthcoming the next time you’re
sitting across from your own doctor and telling him about
your various aches and ills.
I could tell you to picture him in his
underwear, but I know that’s pretty hard to do when
you’re sitting there in yours. So instead, I’ll
show you, time and again, that doctors are human too.
Check out all three categories: “People”
– “Places”
– “Things”
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Copyright (©) 2006–8
Richard Klein, M.D.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or any other means electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission
of the publisher.
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