tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10003856.post113968967025517268..comments2023-08-08T20:33:36.701-05:00Comments on Incidental findings: Don't become a doctor #1 - the very worst in peopleincidental findingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13555979339487207044noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10003856.post-1152505589911132372006-07-09T23:26:00.000-05:002006-07-09T23:26:00.000-05:00Thanks. I think this is the most heartfelt thing a...Thanks. I think this is the most heartfelt thing anyone's posted on this blog.<BR/><BR/>But don't be so quick to laud me. I am simply a person who has learned how to deal with other people as people worthy of respect and compassion. That speaks nothing to my medical skill.<BR/><BR/>When I talk to my interns, my advice to them is peppered with stories of some lady whose kidneys I destroyed or some old guy who's 6 feet under because I didn't see that his belly was full of dead bowel. Or the one that haunts me: neutropenic sepsis.<BR/><BR/>If I had to choose between my ability to interact with patients and being more medically proficient, I'd choose proficiency, because even an asshole can take good care of someone.<BR/><BR/>Don't get me wrong, I love my patients. But they could have a better doctor than me.incidental findingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13555979339487207044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10003856.post-1152493724384959042006-07-09T20:08:00.000-05:002006-07-09T20:08:00.000-05:00I've read all of Fake Doctor (Ah, Yes, Medical Sch...I've read all of Fake Doctor (Ah, Yes, Medical School) and now I'm devouring your series. <BR/><BR/>You see, I was a pre-med, had a son, and said "residency can never compete with motherhood". So I quit school, and have been a Mom ever since, happily homeschooling and parenting and being a family.<BR/><BR/>I'm a cancer survivor from last summer. Stage 1A endometrial. As I like to joke, if you have to have cancer, it's the one to have. ;)<BR/><BR/>Somehow in stumbling around Mommy Blogs, I wound up on cancer blogs. And doctor blogs. And uh-oh... Medicine is calling. Worse than ever, because after 6 years of my husband working for a large and awful HMO, and cancer, and the entire comedy of errors that was our experiences with this HMO... I know I could do better. I actually give a damn. And I've been through so much in my life, that I'm pretty hard to scare. Even that distant fear of gross anatomy isn't quite so frightening. I've stared death in the face (okay, for the 6 weeks waiting for surgical staging with elevated CA-125). We all die. Period.<BR/><BR/>So I thank you for this series. <BR/><BR/>Why I'm posting here, is I have to quibble.<BR/><BR/>Kids who have been through what you listed do not have to deal with it forever. Granted, it's rare for them to heal. But I believe only because it's *hard*. But not impossible. I am one example. I've been through everything, or damn close, on your list. I pushed everyone away, acted out, loathed myself. And I met my husband. Who loved me no matter what. No matter how hard I pushed. He didn't get caught up in the drama, he just kept being a good, decent, honorabl and trustworthy person, and kept reflecting a side of me nobody had bothered to see before.<BR/><BR/>The past can not be erased, but it can be healed. <BR/><BR/>We had foster kids before we had a son with autism (and someday we'll have foster kids again, but right now, we're earning our Ph.D. in autism). We only had one kid we couldn't reach. I think she could have been reached, but she was 17 by the time she came to us. She'd had enough. She didn't want to work hard, she wanted an easy way out.... I still grieve that I couldn't reach her, but she had to meet us half way. I couldn't do it for her. I could only reach out my hand. <BR/><BR/>The rest though.... they all made progress. And they all learned there are honorable people in the world, and when you have a choice, choose honor. They learned to trust. And they learned why we thought each and every one of them hung the moon (even the one we couldn't reach).<BR/><BR/>Our society does not want to spend the time, money, or energy to do what it takes to reach these kids.<BR/><BR/>But when we have a better grip on autism, and have paid off the medical debt from last summer, I will be like the person throwing starfish back into the ocean. I can make a difference in the lives of these kids, one at a time.<BR/><BR/>And maybe, if I can find the time... finish my degree and go to med school.....<BR/><BR/>BTW.... You are an extraordinary person, and an incredible doctor. After our experiences with the HMO from hell, I get tears in my eyes reading your blog, the way I do with my new, non HMO doctor. He cares. And the buck stops with him. Amazing. I'm learning with him how to trust doctors again the way my husband taught me to trust people again.<BR/><BR/>So thank you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10003856.post-1140138230759299402006-02-16T20:03:00.000-05:002006-02-16T20:03:00.000-05:00I don't know if I had to do it over again if I'd c...I don't know if I had to do it over again if I'd choose IM again over child psych. It was a really tough call when I made that decision the first time. But I do enjoy IM. It helps that I'm good at it.incidental findingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13555979339487207044noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10003856.post-1140135298227667902006-02-16T19:14:00.000-05:002006-02-16T19:14:00.000-05:00Would you choose to go into IM again? Are you sick...Would you choose to go into IM again? Are you sick of it?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10003856.post-1140111575915592152006-02-16T12:39:00.000-05:002006-02-16T12:39:00.000-05:00It's also strangely addicting. But that could just...It's also strangely addicting. But that could just be the Catholic speaking.<BR/><BR/>CT<BR/>http://cardiactamponade.wordpress.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com