It is difficult to get a [person] to understand something, when [their] salary depends on [them] not understanding it.
~ Upton Sinclair
Had I not left high school ahead of my graduating class, like three of my best friends (one whose family owned local pharmacies), I may have become a pharmacist.
I had a part-time job at a drugstore. The pharmacist was kind and inspired me to want to help reduce suffering through evidence-based medicine.
Although prescription drugs can be life-saving, and understanding pharmacology would have helped me more quickly grasp the healing mechanisms of neutraceuticals, I would inevitably have come to regret creating dependence on highly profitable lab-made chemicals.
Selling drugs would not resonate with my belief that given the right mindset, lifestyle, and dietary building blocks, we can manufacture and administer the precise balance of healing chemicals that can reverse illness and cure almost any disease.
It is not always easy for someone to understand something when expensive training indoctrinates them not to understand it. Forced compliance eventually leads to cognitive dissonance.
The universe had my back. For that, I am grateful.
Health Advocacy
When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something.
~John Lewis
Having had the privilege to witness miraculous healing has been empowering.
I have the courage to question the “experts” and advocate for informed consent.
While I take great interest in understanding pathways of disease and dysfunction and recognize that modern medicine is highly competent at dealing with emergencies and acute care, I have low tolerance for paternalistic medical protocols for chronic disease management. When fear is used to create compliance I do my research.
Twice now, I have had to sign hospital letters that held me responsible for having a patient discharged against medical advice. I understood the possible repercussions and did not make the decision lightly. I have the tools and ability to monitor vital signs. I advocated on behalf of the patients, and it paid off.
Having stayed overnight in hospitals with loved ones, whether in acute care for mental health or emergency waiting rooms, Intensive Care Units or oncology, general medicine and stroke wards, I have witnessed how stressed, dependent and powerless one can feel. Healing is impaired when the nervous system is in fight or flight.
Fear increases vulnerability. Love heals all
There is no painkiller as effective as love, no anti-depressant as soothing as cheer, no defibrillator as powerful as wisdom.
~ Abhijit Naskar
I recognize that for the have nots in society, a hospital stay can feel like a vacation. An understanding of the social determinants of health (where we live, learn, work, and play) helps one make more informed decisions.
Healing and recovery are more likely to occur when one can sleep peacefully without the constant interruption of hospital alarms, fluorescent lights, and other intrusions.
Eating nutrient-dense food, rather than the poor quality meals hospitals continue to serve, is bound to improve health outcomes.
With limited staff, intravenous attachments, and occasionally other restraints that keep the patient bedridden, clotting, wounds, and other adverse health events can happen. Being immobilized hurts.
Reducing the risk of hospital infections, more so now than ever, is another reason to heal at home when possible.
One would think hospitals would embrace freeing a bed for a needy patient, but this has not been my experience. The fear-based justifications and insistence that we stay put have been perplexing. To me, hospitals have felt lmore like prisons at times.
I’m not questioning the intention of professional caregivers who believe they know what is best for the patient. I am just concerned about the lack of agency the patient has.
I could write a book about the neglect I’ve witnessed in hospital care. In no other industry would we tolerate such neglect.
We need to move into an enlightened era of care with the patient and physician working collaboratively to achieve goals of wellness. It is my intent to continue to advocate for greater patient autonomy.
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